Ludwig Adolf Friedrich, 2nd Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg (8 June 1799 – 20 June 1866), from 1861 Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, was a Russian and German aristocrat. Among his properties were the famed Mir Castle Complex and Verkiai Palace.

Early life

Ludwig was born on 8 June 1799 in Kovno, Vilna Governorate. He was the eldest child of the celebrated German–Russian field marshal, Peter, 1st Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg. Ludwig was half-Polish through his mother, Antonia Cäcilie Snarska (1778–1856), and was formally known in Russian as Lev Petrovich Vitgenshtein (Лев Петрович Витгенштейн). He was also incorporated into the Russian nobility as a prince on 16 June 1834, where his family had been domiciled for two generations.

Upon Stefania's death in 1832, Ludwig married his first cousin once removed, Princess Leonilla Bariatinskaya at Castle Marino, Kursk Governorate. She was a daughter of Prince Ivan Ivanovich Baryatinsky (son of Princess Catherine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck) and Countess Marie Wilhelmine von Keller (a daughter of Count Christoph von Keller and Ludwig's aunt, Countess Amalie Louise zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg). Together, they had a further four children:

  • Prince Friedrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (1836–1909), who first married, morganatically, Pauline Lilienthal (their issue went by the name "von Falkenberg") in 1868. After her death in 1903, he married, also morganatically, Wilhelmine Hagen.
  • Princess Antoinette zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (1839–1918), who married Prince Mario Chigi della Rovere Albani and had issue, their son Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere was Prince Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
  • Prince Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (1843–1876), who married morganatically to Amalie Lilienthal, sister of Pauline Lilienthal; they did not have issue. After her death in 1881, he married, morganatically, Helena Królikowska, daughter of , member of the minor Polish nobility. (their issue went by the name "von Hachenburg").

After his retirement, he lived abroad from the 1840s until his death.

To ensure the property status of his children from his second marriage, he established, in 1846, another entailed estate of Sayn in German. These lands had belonged to his German ancestors in former times. From 1861 forward, he himself, and then his descendants (only the eldest in male lines), were called the Most Serene Princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, making the children from his Russian wife German again.