attempted suicide by jumping from a sixth-floor window, leaving her
critically injured. The charges against Hofer eventually expired and
were dropped in 1987.HOHENLOHE, STEPHANIE VON (1891–1972). A resilient and re-
sourceful international figure widely suspected of being a Nazi agent,
Stephanie von Hohenlohe was born Stephanie Richter in Vienna on
16 September 1891, the illegitimate daughter of Jewish parents. On
12 May 1914, she married Prince Friedrich Franz von Hohenlohe-
Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst in London, but their union ended in
divorce six years later. After working as a volunteer Red Cross nurse
during World War I, she chose Hungarian citizenship with the de-
mise of the dual monarchy and continued to cultivate her ties among
international high society. A critical relationship was formed with the
British press magnate Lord Rothermere, who engaged her services
as an informant and liaison. Although he had come to support the
monarchy’s restoration in Hungary and Germany, it was the appoint-
ment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor that provoked his greatest interest.
Desiring a personal interview, Rothermere appointed Hohenlohe as
his emissary, who made the arrangements and then served as hostess
for their meeting in Berlin in December 1934. (The relationship with
Rothermere later deteriorated and ended in an unsuccessful lawsuit
by Hohenlohe alleging the promise of an annual lifetime retainer.)
Hohenlohe received the relatively restricted Gold Medal of the
Nazi Party in 1937. Her role as a liaison between members of the
British elite and officials of the Third Reich continued, culminating
in a meeting at the Berghof between Hitler and Edward, Duke of
Windsor, accompanied by his wife Wallis Simpson. Hohenlohe also
began an intense affair with Friedrich Wiedemann, one of Hitler’s
four personal adjutants. When Hitler learned of the affair in 1939,
Wiedemann was dismissed, while SS chief Heinrich Himmler
produced evidence linking Hohenlohe with British intelligence. Ap-
pointed consul general in San Francisco, Wiedemann was joined
by Hohenlohe the following year, and both were kept under close
surveillance by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). A
meeting took place on 27 November 1940 between Hohenlohe, Wie-
demann, and William Wiseman, former head of the British Secret
Intelligence Service in the United States, but nothing materialized
196 • HOHENLOHE, STEPHANIE VON