Walther Sommerlath

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Carl August Walther Sommerlath (January 22, 1901 - October 21, 1990), father of Queen Silvia of Sweden, was a German businessman, president of the Brazilian subsidiary of the Swedish steel-parts manufacturer Uddeholm Tooling.

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[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

He was born and raised in Heidelberg. Son of Louis Carl Moritz Sommerlath (Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, January 2, 1860 - Heidelberg, March 21, 1930), from an armed family of the German Bourgeoisie, and wife (married at Lewe, October 6, 1886) Erna Sophie Christine Waldau (Lewe, February 21, 1864 - Leipzig, March 15, 1944). In the mid 1920s, Walther Sommerlath moved to São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil where he worked for the steel company Acus Roechling Boulerus do Brasil, a subsidiary in the German steel group Roechling. On December 10, 1925 he married Alice Soares de Toledo (São Manuel, São Paulo, May 15, 1906 - Heidelberg, March 9, 1997), in Santa Cecília, São Paulo. She was of Portuguese and remote Spanish descent, daughter of Arthur Floriano de Toledo (Porto Feliz, São Paulo, 1873 - São Paulo, São Paulo, November 15, 1935) and wife (married at São Manuel, São Paulo, April 3, 1900) Elisa de Novaes Soares (São José, São Paulo, April 18, 1881 - São Paulo, São Paulo, February 26, 1928).

In 1938, Walther Sommerlath left Brazil and returned to Heidelberg. In 1939 he moved to the German capital Berlin. Between 1939 and 1943, Sommerlath ran a company in Berlin that manufactured arms to be used in the War. In 1943, Sommerlath’s plant was destroyed by allied bombs. Later that year, the Sommerlath family returned to Heidelberg, and the same year, Silvia was born.

After the War, in 1947 the Sommerlath family returned to Brazil, where Walther Sommerlath worked as the president of the Brazilian subsidiary of the Swedish steel-parts manufacturer Uddeholm. The family finally moved back to Heidelberg in 1957. Walter Sommerlath died in Heidelberg in 1990.

[edit] Membership of the Nazi Party

Not very much is publicly known about Sommerlath's Nazi affiliations. Living as a German citizen in São Paulo, Brazil, Sommerlath joined as an expatriate member the German National Socialist Worker's Party, NSDAP/AO on December 1, 1934, as member no. 3592030. His brother Paul Sommerlath had joined the Party in 1933. The Sommerlath brothers remained members of the Nazi party until the party was banned and dissolved by the allies in 1945.

In 1976, when Silvia was to marry King Carl Gustaf, the Swedish daily Expressen interviewed Sommerlath about his Nazi background. In the interview, Sommerlath denied that he had any connections with the Nazi Party, saying that his only part of the War was his work at the arms factory in Berlin.

[edit] Death

He died in Heidelberg.

[edit] References