January 5, 1929: Death of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia. Part I.

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Anastasia of Montenegro, Band Duke Nicholas Nikoleavich of Russia, Borzoi Hunting Dogs, Commander in Chief, Frederick William III of Prussia, Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas II of Russia

Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (November 18, 1856 – January 5, 1929) was a Russian general in World War I (1914–1918). The son of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1831–1891), and a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, he was commander in chief of the Imperial Russian Army units on the main front in the first year of the war, during the reign of his first cousin once removed, Nicholas II.

Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1831–1891) was named after his paternal grandfather, the Emperor Nicholas I, was born as the eldest son to Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich of Russia (1831–1891) and Alexandra of Oldenburg (1838–1900) on November 18, 1856. His father was the sixth child and third son born to Nicholas I of Russia and his Empress consort Alexandra of Prussia (1798–1860) a daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Nicholas’s mother, (Alexandra of Oldenburg) was the daughter of his father’s first cousin, Duke Constantine Peter of Oldenburg (1812–1881) and Princess Therese of Nassau (1815–1871). His maternal grandfather was a son of Duke Georg of Oldenburg and Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, daughter of Paul I of Russia and Maria Fedorovna of Württemberg. (Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, was later remarried to Wilhelm I of Württemberg.)

His maternal grandmother, Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg, was a daughter of Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau (1792–1839) and Princess Luise of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The Duke of Nassau was a son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau (1768–1816) and Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg. His paternal grandparents were Duke Charles Christian of Nassau-Weilburg (1735–1788) and Carolina of Orange-Nassau. Carolina was a daughter of Willem IV of Orange and Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange. Anne was the eldest daughter of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach.

A very tall man (1.98m / 6′ 6″), Grand Duke Nicholas was the first cousin once removed of Emperor Nicholas II. To distinguish between them, the Grand Duke was often known within the Imperial family as “Nikolasha”: the Grand Duke was also known as “Nicholas the Tall” while the Emperor was “Nicholas the Short.

Marriage

On April 29, 1907 Nicholas married Princess Anastasia of Montenegro (1869–1935), the daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro and sister of Princess Milica, who had married Nicholas’s brother, Grand Duke Peter. They had no children. She had previously been married to George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg, by whom she had two children, until their divorce in 1906. Since the Montenegrins were a fiercely Slavic, anti-Turkish people from the Balkans, Anastasia reinforced the Pan-Slavic tendencies of Nicholas.

Hunting

Nicholas was a hunter. Ownership of borzoi hounds was restricted to members of the highest nobility, and Nicholas’s packs were well-known. After the revolution, the dogs in his kennel were sold off by the new Soviet government. In his lifetime, Nicholas and his dogs caught hundreds of wolves. A pair of borzoi were used, which caught the wolf, one on each side, while Nicholas dismounted and cut the wolf’s throat with a knife. Hunting was his major recreation, and he traveled in his private train across Russia with his horses and dogs, hunting while on his rounds of inspection.

1870.

Grand Duke Nicholas was educated at the school of military engineers and received his commission in 1873. During the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78, he was on the staff of his father who was commander in chief. He distinguished himself on two occasions in this war. He worked his way up through all the ranks until he was appointed commander of the Guard Hussar Regiment in 1884.

He had a reputation as a tough commander, yet one respected by his troops. His experience was more as a trainer of soldiers than a leader in battle. Nicholas was a very religious man, praying in the morning and at night as well as before and after meals. He was happiest in the country, hunting or caring for his estates.

September 25, 1744: Birth of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia

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Frederick II of Prussia, Frederick the Great, Frederick William II of Prussia, Frederick William III of Prussia, French Revolution, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, Mistresses, Morganatic Marriages

Friedrich Wilhelm II (September 25, 1744 – November 16, 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death. He was in personal union as the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg and (via the Orange-Nassau inheritance of his grandfather) was the sovereign P rince of the Canton of Neuchâtel. Pleasure-loving and indolent, he is seen as the antithesis to his predecessor, Friedrich the Great. (Friedrich II).

Under the reign of Friedrich WilhelmII, Prussia was weakened internally and externally, as he failed to deal adequately with the challenges to the existing order posed by the French Revolution. His religious policies were directed against the Enlightenment and aimed at restoring a traditional Protestantism. However, he was a patron of the arts and responsible for the construction of some notable buildings, among them the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Early life

Friedrich Wilhelm was born in Berlin, the son of Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia (the second son of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia) and Duchess Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. His mother’s elder sister, Elisabeth, was the wife of August Wilhelm’s brother, King Friedrich II.

Friedrich Wilhelm became heir-presumptive to the throne of Prussia on his father’s death in 1758, since Friedrich II had no children. The boy was of an easy-going and pleasure-loving disposition, averse to sustained effort of any kind, and sensual by nature.

His marriage with his first cousin Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, daughter of Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his wife Philippine Charlotte, (daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia) that was contracted on July 14, 1765 in Charlottenburg, was dissolved in 1769.

Friedrich Wilhelm then married Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken on July 14, 1769 also in Charlottenburg. Although he had seven children by his second wife, he had an ongoing relationship with his mistress, Wilhelmine Enke (created Countess Wilhelmine von Lichtenau in 1796), a woman of strong intellect and much ambition, and had five children by her—the first when she was still in her teens.

Friedrich Wilhelm, before the corpulence of his middle age, was a man of singularly handsome presence, not without mental qualities of a high order; he was devoted to the arts – Boccherini, Mozart and the young Beethoven enjoyed his patronage, and his private orchestra had a Europe-wide reputation. He also was a talented cellist.

However, an artistic temperament was hardly what was required of a king of Prussia on the eve of the French Revolution, and Friedrich II the Great, who had employed him in various services (notably in an abortive confidential mission to the court of Russia in 1780), openly expressed his misgivings as to the character of the prince and his surroundings. For his part, Friedrich Wilhelm, who had never been properly introduced to diplomacy and the business of rulership, resented his uncle for not taking him seriously.

Reign

The misgivings of Friedrich II appear justified in retrospect. Friedrich Wilhelm II’s accession to the throne (August 17, 1786) was, indeed, followed by a series of measures for lightening the burdens of the people, reforming the oppressive French system of tax-collecting introduced by Friedrich II, and encouraging trade by the diminution of customs dues and the making of roads and canals.

This gave the new king much popularity with the masses; the educated classes were pleased by Friedrich Wilhelm II’s reversal of his uncle’s preference for the French language and the promotion of the German language, with the admission of German writers to the Prussian Academy, and by the active encouragement given to schools and universities. Friedrich Wilhelm II also terminated his predecessor’s state monopolies for coffee and tobacco and the sugar monopoly. Under his reign the codification known as Allgemeines Preußisches Landrecht, initiated by Friedrich II, continued and was completed in 1794.

Mysticism and religious policies

In 1781 Friedrich Wilhelm II, then The Prince of Prussia, inclined to mysticism, had joined the Rosicrucians, and had fallen under the influence of Johann Christoph von Wöllner and Johann Rudolf von Bischoffswerder. On August 26, 1786 Wöllner was appointed privy councillor for finance (Geheimer Oberfinanzrath), and on October 2, 1786 was ennobled. Though not in name, he in fact became prime minister; in all internal affairs it was he who decided; and the fiscal and economic reforms of the new reign were the application of his theories.

Bischoffswerder, too, still a simple major, was called into the king’s counsels; by 1789 he was already an adjutant-general. The opposition to Wöllner was, indeed, at the outset strong enough to prevent his being entrusted with the department of religion; but this too in time was overcome, and on July 3, 1788 he was appointed active privy councillor of state and of justice and head of the spiritual department for Lutheran and Catholic affairs. From this position Wöllner pursued long lasting reforms concerning religion in the Prussian state.

The king proved eager to aid Wöllner’s crusade. On July 9, 1788 a religious edict was issued forbidding Evangelical ministers from teaching anything not contained in the letter of their official books, proclaimed the necessity of protecting the Christian religion against the “enlighteners” (Aufklärer), and placed educational establishments under the supervision of the orthodox clergy.

On December 18, 1788 a new censorship law was issued to secure the orthodoxy of all published books. This forced major Berlin journals like Christoph Friedrich Nicolai’s Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek and Johann Erich Biester’s Berliner Monatsschrift to publish only outside the Prussian borders. Moreover, people like Immanuel Kant were forbidden to speak in public on the topic of religion.

Finally, in 1791, a Protestant commission was established at Berlin (Immediate-Examinationscommission) to watch over all ecclesiastical and scholastic appointments. Although Wöllner’s religious edict had many critics, it was an important measure that, in fact, proved an important stabilizing factor for the Prussian state. Aimed at protecting the multi-confessional rights enshrined in the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, the provisions of Wöllner’s edict were intended to safeguard against religious strife by imposing a system of state sponsored limits.

The edict was also a notable step forward regarding the rights of Jews, Mennonites, and Herrnhut brethren, who now received full state protection. Given the confessional divides within Prussian society, primarily between Calvinists and Lutherans but increasingly Catholics as well, such a policy was important for maintaining a stable civil society.
In his zeal for establishing Prussia as a paragon of stable Christian statehood, Friedrich Wilhelm II outstripped his minister; he even blamed Wöllner’s “idleness and vanity” for the inevitable failure of the attempt to regulate opinion from above, and in 1794 deprived him of one of his secular offices in order that he might have more time “to devote himself to the things of God”; in edict after edict the king continued to the end of his reign to make regulations “in order to maintain in his states a true and active Christianity, as the path to genuine fear of God”.

Foreign policies

The attitude of Friedrich Wilhelm II towards the army and foreign policy proved fateful for Prussia. The army was the very foundation of the Prussian state, as both Friedrich Wilhelm II and Friedrich II the Great had fully realised. The army had been their first care, and its efficiency had been maintained by their constant personal supervision.

Friedrich Wilhelm II had no taste for military matters and put his authority as “Warlord” (Kriegsherr) into commission under a supreme college of war (Oberkriegs-Collegium) under the Duke of Brunswick and General Wichard Joachim Heinrich von Möllendorf. It was the beginning of the process that ended in 1806 at the disastrous Battle of Jena. Although the Prussian army reached its highest peacetime level of manpower under Friedrich Wilhelm II (189,000 infantry and 48,000 cavalry), under his reign the Prussian state treasury incurred a substantial debt, and the quality of the troops’ training deteriorated.

Under the circumstances, Friedrich Wilhelm II’s interventions in European affairs were of little benefit to Prussia. The Dutch campaign of 1787, entered into for purely family reasons, was indeed successful, but Prussia received not even the cost of her intervention. An attempt to intervene in the war of Russia and Austria against the Ottoman Empire failed to achieve its objective; Prussia did not succeed in obtaining any concessions of territory, and the dismissal of minister Hertzberg (July 5, 1791) marked the final abandonment of the anti-Austrian tradition of Friedrich II the Great.

Meanwhile, the French Revolution alarmed the ruling monarchs of Europe, and in August 1791 Friedrich Wilhelm II at the meeting at Pillnitz Castle, agreed with Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II to join in supporting the cause of King Louis XVI of France. However the king’s character and the confusion of the Prussian finances could not sustain effective action in this regard. A formal alliance was indeed signed on February 7, 1792, and Friedrich Wilhelm II took part personally in the campaigns of 1792 and 1793, but the king was hampered by want of funds, and his counsels were distracted by the affairs of a deteriorating Poland, which promised a richer booty than was likely to be gained by the anti-revolutionary crusade into France.

A subsidy treaty with the sea powers (Great Britain and the Netherlands, signed at The Hague, April 19, 1794) filled Prussia’s coffers, but at the cost of a promise to supply 64,000 land troops to the coalition. The insurrection in Poland that followed the partition of 1793, and the threat of unilateral intervention by Russia, drove Friedrich Wilhelm II into the separate Treaty of Basel with the French Republic (April 5, 1795), which was regarded by the other great monarchies as a betrayal, and left Prussia morally isolated in the struggle between the monarchical principle and the new republican creed of the Revolution.

Although the land area of the Prussian state reached a new peak under his rule after the third partition of Poland in 1795, the new territories included parts of Poland such as Warsaw that had virtually no German population, severely straining administrative resources due to various pro-Polish revolts; it also removed the last remaining buffer state between Prussia and Russia.

Personal life and patronage of the arts

Friedrich Wilhelm II’s first marriage, to Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick (his first cousin) had ended after four years during which both spouses had been unfaithful. Their uncle, Friedrich II, granted a divorce reluctantly, as he was more fond of Elisabeth than of Friedrich Wilhelm. His second marriage lasted until his death, but he continued his relationship with Wilhelmine Enke. In 1794–1797 he had a castle built for her on the Pfaueninsel.

Moreover, he was involved in two more (bigamist) morganatic marriages: with Elisabeth Amalie, Gräfin von Voß, Gräfin von Ingenheim in 1787 and (after her death in 1789) with Sophie Juliane Gräfin von Dönhoff. He had another seven children with those two women, which explains why his people also called him der Vielgeliebte (“the much loved”) and der dicke Lüderjahn (“the fat scallywag”).

His favourite son—with Wilhelmine Enke—was Graf Alexander von der Mark. His daughter from Sophie Juliane, Countess Julie of Brandenburg (January 14, 1793 – January 29, 1848, Vienna), married to Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Anhalt-Köthen.

Other buildings constructed under his reign were the Marmorpalais in Potsdam and the world-famous Brandenburger Tor in Berlin.

On November 16, 1797, Friedrich Wilhelm II died in Potsdam. He was succeeded by his son, Friedrich Wilhelm III, who had resented his father’s lifestyle and acted swiftly to deal with what he considered the immoral state of the court. Friedrich Wilhelm II is buried in the Berliner Dom.

The Descent of King Haakon VII of Norway from King Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia.

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Carl XV of Sweden-Norway, Frederick of the Netherlands, Frederick VIII of Denmark, Frederick William III of Prussia, Geneaology, Haakon VII of Norway, Louise of Prussia, Louise of Sweden, Louise of the Netherlands

Yesterday, August 3, was the anniversary of the birthday of King Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia (1770 – 1840) and King Haakon VII of Norway (1873 – 1957). I noticed that the two looked similar and sure enough King Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia is the great-great grandfather of King Haakon VII of Norway. I do find it fascinating how genes are passed throughout the Royal Houses of Europe.

Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia

King Haakon VII of Norway

Here is how King Haakon VII of Norway descends from King Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia.

Friedrich-Wilhelm III was King of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. Friedrich-Wilhelm was born in Potsdam in 1770 as the son of Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia and Frederica-Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt. On December 24, 1793, Friedrich-Wilhelm married Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the fourth daughter and sixth child of Duke Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his wife Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt. (the two Frederika’s of Hesse-Darmstadt mentioned here were first cousins).

Friedrich-Wilhelm III and Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz had 10 children and the the third surviving daughter and ninth child was Princess Louise of Prussia (February 1, 1808 – December 6, 1870).

Louise of Prussia

Frederick of the Netherlands

Louise was born in Königsberg or Berlin. She and Prince Frederick of the Netherlands knew each other from childhood because of Frederick’s frequent visits in Berlin. They became engaged in 1823, and married on May 21, 1825 in Berlin.

Louise of Prussia and Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau were also first cousins with him being the son of the second son of Willem I of the Netherlands and his wife, Wilhelmine of Prussia. His mother, Princess Wilhelmine, was born in Potsdam. She was the fourth child of eight born to King Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia and Frederica-Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt and was the sister to Friedrich-Wilhelm III.

They had four children, and the eldest was Louise of the Netherlands (August 5, 1828 – March 30, 1871). In 1849, Louise was selected as a suitable spouse for Crown Prince Carl, the son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway and Josephine of Leuchtenberg. The marriage was arranged after the negotiations to arrange a marriage between Carl and his cousin Princess Louise of Prussia had failed.

Louise of the Netherlands

King Carl XV-IV of Sweden-Norway

Her husband, Carl XV (May 3, 1826 – September 18, 1872) was King of Sweden (Carl XV) and Norway, there often referred to accurately as Carl IV, from 1859 until his death.

Louisa and Carl XV had two children together. The eldest Louise of Sweden (October 31, 1851 – March 20, 1926), was Queen of Denmark as the spouse of King Frederik VIII, the eldest son and child of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (future King Christian IX of Denmark) and Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel-Rumpenheim.

future Frederik VIII of Denmark and Louise of Sweden. (Parents)

She was the mother of both King Christian X of Denmark and King Haakon VII of Norway.

Haakon VII (born Prince Carl of Denmark; August 3, 1872 – September 21, 1957) was the King of Norway from his election in 1905 until his death in 1957.

Intermarriage between the Schwerin and Strelitz lines of the House of Mecklenburg. Part IV.

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Adolf Friedrich II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Adolf-Friedrich VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz., Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg- Strelitz, Congress of Vienna, Frederick Francis IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick William III of Prussia, German Empire, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Intermarriage, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

In 1695, the Mecklenburg-Güstrow branch of the House of Mecklenburg became extinct with the death of Duke Gustaf-Adolph of Mecklenburg-Güstrow.

After more than five years of dispute over succession to the House of Mecklenburg, the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was established in 1701 in the territory of the former duchy of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. With the death of Duke Gustaf-Adolph in 1695, Duke Friedrich-Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Schwerin claimed heirship, a move which his uncle, Prince Adolf-Friedrich strongly opposed. Adolf-Friedrich, was the husband of Marie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, the daughter of Duke Gustaf-Adolph, strengthening his claim to the territory. The emissaries of the Lower Saxon Circle finally negotiated a compromise on March 8, 1701.

Adolf-Friedrich II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

The agreement they reached created the final, definitive division of Mecklenburg and was sealed with the 1701 Treaty of Hamburg. Section 2 of the treaty established Mecklenburg-Strelitz as a duchy in its own right and assigned it to Adolf-Friedrich (Duke Adolf-Friedrich II) together with the Principality of Ratzeburg on the western border of Mecklenburg south of Lübeck, the Herrschaft Stargard in the southeast of Mecklenburg, with the cities of Neubrandenburg, Friedland, Woldegk, Strelitz, Burg Stargard, Fürstenberg/Havel and Wesenberg, and the commandries of Mirow and Nemerow.

At the same time the principle of primogeniture was reasserted, and the right to summon the joint Landtag was reserved to the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The 1701 provisions were maintained with minor changes until the end of the monarchy. Both parties continued to call themselves Dukes of Mecklenburg; Adolf-Friedrich II took his residence at Strelitz. Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Adolf-Friedrich II (October 19, 1658 – May 12, 1708), was born in Grabow as the posthumous son of Duke Adolf-Friedrich I of Mecklenburg and his second wife, Maria Katharina of Brunswick-Dannenberg (1616–1665).

In 1684 Adolf-Friedrich II married firstly to his cousin Princess Maria of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1659 – 1701), daughter of Gustaf-Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. They had five children:
* Adolf-Friedrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1686 – 1752).
* Duchess Magdalena Amalia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1689 – 1689).
* Duchess Maria of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (born and died August 1690).
* Duchess Eleonore Wilhelmina of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (born and died, July 1691)
* Duchess Gustave Caroline of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1694 – 1748) she married Christian Ludwig II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

On June 20, 1702, Adolf-Friedrich II married secondly to Princess Johanna of Saxe-Gotha (1680 – 1704), a daughter of Friedrich I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, and Magdalena-Sybille of Saxe-Weissenfels. There were no children from this marriage.

On June 11, 1705 at Neustrelitz, Adolf-Friedrich II married thirdly to Princess Christiane Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, a daughter of Christian-Wilhelm I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Countess Antonie-Sybille of Barby-Mühlingen (1641–1684).

They had two children:
* Duchess Sophia Christina Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1706 – 1708).
* Duke Charles I Ludwig Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1708 – 1752), Prince of Mirow.

Through his granddaughter Charlotte, Adolf-Friedrich II is the ancestor of every British monarch beginning with George IV, who ascended the throne of the United Kingdom in 1820.

The Strelitz duchy remained one of the most backward regions of the Empire. Nevertheless, its princesses achieved prominent marriages: Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, sister of Duke Adolf-Friedrich IV, married King George III of Great Britain in 1761, thus becoming queen consort of Great Britain.

Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Great Britain

Her niece Princess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, daughter of Duke Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, married Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia in 1793 and became queen consort of Prussia in 1797. Her other niece, Louise’s sister, Princess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz married in 1815 Prince Ernst-Agust, Duke of Cumberland, who, in 1837, became King of Hanover, making her queen consort of Hanover.

Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia

Princess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Mecklenburg-Strelitz adopted the constitution of the sister duchy in September 1755. In 1806 it was spared the infliction of a French occupation through the good offices of the king of Bavaria. In 1808 its duke, Charles (d. 1816), joined the Confederation of the Rhine, but in 1813 he withdrew from it. The Congress of Vienna recognized both Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Mecklenburg-Schwerin as Grand Duchies and members of the German Confederation. In 1871 Both Grand Duchies became part of the German Empire.

Following the 1918 suicide of Grand Duke Adolf-Friedrich VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, (this occurred prior to the abolition of the monarchy) Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin took up the regency of Strelitz. This happened because the heir presumptive Duke Charles-Michael was serving in the Russian Army at the time and had indicated that he wished to renounce his succession rights. Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz IV abdicated the grand ducal throne on November 14, 1918 following the German Empire’s defeat in World War I; the regency ended at the same time.

After his abdication, he was initially not allowed to live in Mecklenburg and had to move to Denmark. A year later, he was permitted to return. He recovered some of his former properties and occupied some of his former homes. Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz IV died on November 17, 1945 in Flensburg after being arrested by No6 RAF Security section on November 9, 1945. He was succeeded as head of the grand ducal house by his son Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz V.

In May 1931 against the will of his father, Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin joined the SS and by 1936 he had been promoted to the rank of Hauptsturmführer (Captain).

He was posted to Denmark during World War II where he worked at the German embassy as a personal aide to Werner Best. He spent the summer months of 1944 serving with the Waffen-SS tank corps.

In May 1943, a family council was called by the Grand Ducal family and Friedrich Franz was passed over as heir in favour of his younger brother Duke Christian-Ludwig (III), who would instead inherit the family property.

On July 5, 1954 in Glücksburg, Christian-Ludwig married in a civil wedding Princess Barbara of Prussia, daughter of Prince Sigismund of Prussia and Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Altenburg. They married in a religious ceremony on 11 July 1954. They had two daughters. Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

With the extinction of Schwerin branch, with the death of Christian-Ludwig (III), Mecklenburg-Strelitz is now the only surviving branch of the Grand Ducal house in the male line. The current head of this house is Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg. His grandfather was Count Georg of Carlow, the morganatic son of Duke George Alexander of Mecklenburg (1859–1909).

Duke Georg (II) was adopted in 1928 by his uncle Duke Charles-Michael of Mecklenburg, the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He then assumed the title and style of “His Serene Highness The Duke of Mecklenburg”, which was confirmed by the head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich on July 18, 1929 and recognized on December 23, by Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He succeeded his uncle as head of the house on December 6, 1934 and was granted the style of Highness on 18 December 18, 1950.

In addition to Duke Borwin, the current members of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz are his wife Duchess Alice (née Wagner; born 1959); their children Duchess Olga (born 1988), the Dukes Alexander (born 1991) and Michael (born 1994); and his sisters, the Duchesses Elisabeth -Christine (born 1947), Marie Catherine (born 1949) and Irene (born 1952).

The lines of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Güstrow did briefly intermarry. Once the establishment of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz the only intermarriages of the Strelitz line had was with the Mecklenburg-Güstrow line was in the beginning in 1684 when Adolf-Friedrich II married Princess Maria of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1659 – January 1701), daughter of Gustaf-Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow.

The singular marriage between the Schwerin line and the Strelitz line was when Duchess Gustave-Caroline of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1694 – 1748), daughter of Adolf-Friedrich II and Princess Maria of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1659 – 1701), daughter of Gustaf-Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow – married Christian-Ludwig II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

After that there was no intermarriage between the Schwerin and Strelitz lines.

June 11, 1829: Marriage of Wilhelm I of Prussia and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

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Eliza Radziwill, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick William IV of Prussia, Prince Charles of Prussia, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Princess Charlotte of Prussia, Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Wilhelm I of Germany

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Augusta Marie Luise Katharina; September 30, 1811 – January 7, 1890)
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Augusta was the second daughter of Charles-Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a daughter of Paul I of Russia and Sophie-Dorothea of Württemberg.

Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; March 22, 1797 – March 9, 1888) of the House of Hohenzollern was King of Prussia from January 2, 1861 and the first German Emperor from 18 January 18, 1871 to his death. Wilhelm was the first head of state of a united Germany, and was also de facto head of state of Prussia from 1858 to 1861, serving as regent for his brother, Friedrich-Wilhelm IV.

Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Meeting with Wilhelm

Augusta was only fifteen years old when, in 1826, she first met her future husband, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia who was more than fourteen years older than her. Wilhelm thought the young Augusta had an “excellent personality,” yet was less attractive than her older sister Marie, whom Wilhelm’s younger brother, Charles of Prussia, had already married. Above all, it was Wilhelm’s father who pressed him to consider Augusta as a potential wife.

While the marriage of Augusta and Willem was bumpy the marriage of Marie and Charles was happy. Although they had married for family and dynastic reasons, their marriage had been happy and harmonious, and they had been deeply attached to each other.

Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

At this time, Wilhelm was in love with the Polish Princess Elisa Radziwill. The Crown Prince at the time was Wilhelm’s elder brother, Crown Prince Friedrich WilhelM (later King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV). He and his wife Elisabeth Ludovika, daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his Queen Friederike, Margravine of Baden, had been married three years and had no children. Although it was not anticipated that they would remain childless (which turned out to be the case), the court did expect that Wilhelm, as heir presumptive to the throne, should make a dynastic marriage and produce further heirs.

King Friedrich-Wilhelm III was indulgent of the relationship between his son Wilhelm and Elisa, but the Prussian court had discovered that her ancestors had purchased their princely title from Emperor Maximilian I, and she was not deemed noble enough to marry a potential King of Prussia. Ironically, Crown Princess Elisabeth Ludovika, who as a Bavarian princess was considered to be of correct rank, counted both Bogusław Radziwiłł and Janusz Radziwiłł among her ancestors, albeit through female descent.

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

It was suggested by some courtiers that if Eliza Radziwill was adopted by a family of adequate rank, then a marriage with Prince Wilhelm was possible. In 1824, the Prussians turned to the childless Emperor Alexander I of Russia to adopt Elisa, but the Russian Emperor declined. The second adoption plan by Elisa’s uncle, Prince August of Prussia, likewise failed because the responsible committee considered that adoption does not change “the blood.” Another factor was the Mecklenburg relations of the deceased Queen Louise’s influence in the German and Russian courts (she was not fond of Elisa’s father).

Thus, in June 1826, Wilhelm’s father felt compelled to demand the renunciation of a potential marriage to Elisa. Thus, Wilhelm spent the next few months looking for a more suitable bride, but did not relinquish his emotional ties to Elisa. Eventually, Wilhelm asked for Augusta’s hand in marriage on August 29, (in writing and through the intervention of his father). Augusta agreed and on October 25, 1828, they were engaged.

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Historian Karin Feuerstein-Prasser has pointed out on the basis of evaluations of the correspondence between both fiancées, what different expectations Wilhelm had of both marriages: He wrote to his sister Charlotte, the wife of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, with reference to Elisa Radziwill: “One can love only once in life, really” and confessed with regard to Augusta, that “the Princess is nice and clever, but she leaves me cold.” Augusta liked her future husband and hoped for a happy marriage, in the end, it was an inwardly happy marriage despite outward appearances.

On June 11, 1829, Wilhelm married his fiancée in the chapel of Schloss Charlottenburg.

Married life

The first weeks of marriage were harmonious; Augusta was taken favorably in the Prussian King’s court, however, Augusta soon started to be bored with its military sobriety, and most courtly duties (which may have counteracted this boredom) were reserved to her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Elisabeth.

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Queen of Prussia and German Empress

In a letter which Wilhelm wrote on January 22, 1831 to his sister Charlotte, he has mixed feelings of his wife’s “lack of femininity”. Prince Friedrich (later Emperor Frederick III of Germany), was born later that year on October 18, 1831, three years after their marriage and Louise, was born on December 3, 1838, seven years later.

March 9, 1888: Death of Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany, King of Prussia. Part I.

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Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Elisa Radziwill, Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany, Frederick the Great, Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick William IV of Prussia, King Wilhelm I of Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia, Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Wilhelm I (March 22, 1797 – March 9, 1888) of the House of Hohenzollern was King of Prussia from January 2, 1861 and the first German Emperor from January 18, 1871 to his death. Wilhelm was the first head of state of a united Germany, and was also de facto head of state of Prussia from 1858 to 1861, serving as regent for his brother, Friedrich Wilhelm IV.

The future king and emperor was born Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia in the Kronprinzenpalais in Berlin on March 22, 1797. As the second son of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (the fourth daughter and sixth child of Duke Charles of Mecklenburg and his wife Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt). Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm himself was the son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. His grandfather died the year he was born, at age 53, in 1797, and his father became King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.

Wilhelm was not expected to ascend to the throne. He was educated from 1801 to 1809 by Johann Friedrich Gottlieb Delbrück, who was also in charge of the education of Wilhelm’s elder brother, the Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm. At age twelve, his father appointed him an officer in the Prussian army. The year 1806 saw the defeat of Prussia by France and the end of the Holy Roman Empire.

Queen Louise of Prussia with her two eldest sons (later King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia and the first German Emperor Wilhelm I), circa 1808

Wilhelm served in the army from 1814 onward. Like his father he fought against Napoleon I of France during the part of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1815, Wilhelm was promoted to major and commanded a battalion fought under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at the Battles of Ligny and Waterloo. He became a diplomat, engaging in diplomatic missions after 1815..

In 1814 the Russian imperial family arranged the marriage of Wilhelm’s sister, Princess Charlotte of Prussia, to Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich of Russia, for political reasons, and in 1817 he accompanied her to Saint Petersburg. The couple married on July 1, 1817. Upon her marriage, Charlotte converted to Russian Orthodoxy, and took the Russian name Alexandra Feodorovna. Ideally matched with her husband, she had a happy marriage that produced a large family; seven of her children survived childhood. Following the death of her brother-in-law, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, in December 1825, Alexandra’s husband became the new Russian emperor, Emperor Nicholas I.

In 1826 Wilhelm was forced to abandon a relationship with Polish noblewoman Princess Elisa Radziwill. Princess Elisa was a daughter of Prince Antoni Radziwiłł and Princess Louise of Prussia (the second daughter of August Ferdinand of Prussia by his wife Margravine Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt), niece of King Friedrich II the Great of Prussia. Therefore Prince Wilhelm was when he met with and fell in love with her.

Princess Elisa Radziwill

Wilhelm’s father, King Friedrich Wilhelm III was actually fond of the relationship between Wilhelm and Elisa, but some in the Prussian court had discovered historical allegations that her ancestors had bought their princely title from Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. In the eyes of certain people, she was not deemed of sufficiently high nobility to marry the heir to the Prussian throne.

Princess was not considered royal, because her father was not a reigning prince. Wilhelm’s older brother, the future Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia was married to Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria, the daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Caroline of Baden.and Elisabeth was descended from both Bogusław Radziwiłł and Prince Janusz Radziwiłł. A way was sought to make Elisa more acceptable to those that felt she was unsuitable.

Thus in 1824, the King of Prussia turned to the childless Emperor Alexander I of Russia to adopt Elisa, but the Russian ruler declined. The second adoption plan by Elisa’s uncle, Prince August of Prussia likewise failed as the responsible committee considered that adoption “does not alter the blood” (a principle which governs noble and royal connections to the present day). Another factor was the influence of the Mecklenburgish kinsmen of the deceased Queen Louise in the German and Russian courts who were not fond of Elisa’s father and opposed the possible marriage.

Eventually, in June 1826, Wilhelm’s father was obligated to demand the renunciation of a potential marriage to Elisa. Wilhelm spent the next few months looking for a more suitable bride, but did not relinquish his emotional ties to Elisa.

It is alleged that Elisa had an illegitimate daughter by Wilhelm who was brought up by Joseph and Caroline Kroll, owners of the Kroll Opera House in Berlin, and was given the name Agnes Kroll. She married a Charles Friedrich Ludwig Dettman (known as “Louis”) and emigrated to Sydney, Australia, in 1849. They had a family of three sons and two daughters. Agnes died in 1904. Wilhelm saw his cousin, Elisa, for the last time in 1829. Elisa was later engaged to Prince Friedrich of Schwarzenberg, but the engagement failed. She died, unmarried, in 1834, of tuberculosis while at a spa seeking a cure.

Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Eventually, Wilhelm asked for the hand of Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, fourteen years his junior, the daughter of Grand Duke Charles Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Grand Duchess María Pavlovna of Russia, sister of Emperor Alexander I and Nicholas I of Russia. Augusta met her future husband in 1826 when she was only fifteen years old and Prince Wilhelm was more than fourteen years older than her. Wilhelm thought the young Augusta had an “excellent personality,” yet was less attractive than her older sister Marie, whom Wilhelm’s younger brother, Charles had already married. Above all, it was Wilhelm’s father who pressed him to consider Augusta as a potential wife.

Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Augusta’s sister and wife of Prince Charles of Prussia, Wilhelm’s brother)

Their marriage which took place on on August 29, 1826 was outwardly stable, but not a very happy one. The first weeks of marriage were harmonious; Augusta was taken favorably in the Prussian King’s court, however, Augusta soon started to be bored with its military sobriety, and most courtly duties (which may have counteracted this boredom) were reserved to her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Elisabeth.

Historian Karin Feuerstein-Prasser has pointed out, on the basis of evaluations of the correspondence between both fiancées, the different expectations Wilhelm had of both marriages: In a letter which Wilhelm wrote on January 22, 1831 to his sister Empress Alexandra Feodorovna regarding Elisa Radziwill, that “One can love only once in life, really”, but confessed regarding Augusta that “the princess is nice and clever, but she leaves me cold.” Wilhelm also noted to his sister his mixed feelings were also due to his wife’s “lack of femininity”.

Wilhelm and Augusta did have two children. Friedrich Wilhelm (later Emperor Friedrich III of Germany), was born later that year on October 18, 1831, three years after their marriage and Louise, was born on December 3, 1838, seven years later.

King Frederick William IV of Prussia

Friedrich Wilhelm III died on June 7, 1840 in Berlin, from a fever, survived by his second wife (In 1824 Friedrich Wilhelm III remarried morganatically Countess Auguste von Harrach, Princess of Liegnitz. They had no children) Friedrich Wilhelm III’s eldest son, Frederick William IV, succeeded him. Since the new king had no children, Willem was first in line to succeed him to the throne and thus was given the title Prinz von Preußen (Prince of Prussia).

Ludwig II of Bavaria & Linderhof Palace

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Frederick William III of Prussia, German Empire, German Reich, Kingdom of Bavaria, Linderhof Palace, Ludwig II of Bavaria, Marie of Prussia, Maximilian II of Bavaria, Palace of Versailles

Linderhof Palace (German: Schloss Linderhof) is a Schloss in Germany, in southwest Bavaria near Ettal Abbey. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.

Ludwig II (August 25, 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or der Märchenkönig (“the Fairy Tale King”). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, and Duke in Swabia.

Born at Nymphenburg Palace, he was the elder son of the then Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Bavaria, who became King Maximilian II of Bavaria Queen Marie in 1848 after the abdication of the former’s father, Ludwig I, during the German Revolution.

Ludwig’s mother, Marie of Prussia, was a daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, (a younger brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia) and his wife Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg.

His parents intended to name him Otto, but his grandfather insisted that his grandson be named after him, since their common birthday, August 25, is the feast day of Saint Louis IX of France, patron saint of Bavaria (with “Ludwig” being the German form of “Louis”). His younger brother, born three years later, was named Otto.

Ludwig II commissioned the construction of two lavish palaces and Neuschwanstein Castle, and he was a devoted patron of the composer Richard Wagner. Ludwig spent all his royal revenues (although not state funds as is commonly thought) on these projects, borrowed extensively, and defied all attempts by his ministers to restrain him. This extravagance was used against him to declare him insane, an accusation which has since come under scrutiny. Today, his architectural and artistic legacy includes many of Bavaria’s most important tourist attractions.

Development of the building

Ludwig already knew the area around Linderhof from his youth when he had accompanied his father King Maximilian II on his hunting trips in the Bavarian Alps. When Ludwig II became King in 1864, he inherited the so-called Königshäuschen from his father, and in 1869 began enlarging the building. In 1874, he decided to tear down the Königshäuschen and rebuild it on its present-day location in the park. At the same time three new rooms and the staircase were added to the remaining U-shaped complex, and the previous wooden exterior was clad with stone façades. The building was designed in the style of the second rococo-period. Between 1863 and 1886, a total of 8,460,937 marks was spent constructing Linderhof.

Symbolic background

Although Linderhof is much smaller than Versailles, it is evident that the palace of the French Sun-King Louis XIV (who was an idol for Ludwig) was its inspiration. The staircase, for example, is a reduction of the famous Ambassador’s staircase in Versailles, which would be copied in full in Herrenchiemsee. Stylistically, however, the building and its decor take their cues from the mid-18th century Rococo of Louis XV, and the small palace in the Graswang was more directly based on that king’s Petit Trianon on the Versailles grounds.

The symbol of the sun that can be found everywhere in the decoration of the rooms represents the French notion of absolutism that, for Ludwig, was the perfect incorporation of his ideal of a God-given monarchy with total royal power. Such a monarchy could no longer be realised in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century. The bedroom was important to the ceremonial life of an absolute monarch; Louis XIV of France used to give his first (lever) and last audience (coucher) of the day in his bedchamber. In imitation of Versailles, the bedroom is the largest chamber of Linderhof Palace. By facing north, however, the Linderhof bedroom inverts the symbolism of its Versailles counterpart, showing Ludwig’s self-image as a “Night-King.”

The location of the palace near Ettal Abbey again presents another interesting point. Because of its architecture Ludwig saw the church of the monastery as the room where the holy grail was preserved. This fact connects the idea of a baroque palace to the one of a “medieval” castle such as Neuschwanstein and reminds of the operas of Richard Wagner whose patron Ludwig was. Ludwig was also not unaware that the abbey had been founded by his ancestor and namesake, Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV.

In 1878, construction was completed on Ludwig’s Schloss Linderhof. The grounds contained a Venus grotto lit by electricity, where Ludwig was rowed in a boat shaped like a shell. Ludwig saw himself as the “Moon King”, a romantic shadow of the earlier “Sun King”, Louis XIV of France. From Linderhof, Ludwig enjoyed moonlit sleigh rides in an elaborate eighteenth-century sleigh, complete with footmen in eighteenth century livery.

November 16, 1797: accession of Friedrich Wilhelm III on the Prussian Throne.

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Acsession, Berlin, Frederick William II of Prussia, Frederick William III of Prussia, King George III of Great Britain, Kingdom of Prussia, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelizt, William I of Prussia

Friedrich Wilhelm III was born in Potsdam on August 3, 1770 as the son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, the daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, and Caroline of Zweibrücken. Friedrich Wilhelm was considered to be a shy and reserved boy, which became noticeable in his particularly reticent conversations distinguished by the lack of personal pronouns. This manner of speech subsequently came to be considered entirely appropriate for military officers. He was neglected by his father during his childhood and suffered from an inferiority complex his entire life.

King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia

As a soldier, he received the usual training of a Prussian prince, obtained his lieutenancy in 1784, became a lieutenant colonel in 1786, a colonel in 1790, and took part in the campaigns against France of 1792–1794. On December 24, 1793, Friedrich Wilhelm married Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was the fourth daughter and sixth child of Duke Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his wife Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her father Karl was a brother of Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III of the United Kingdom. Her mother Frederike was a granddaughter of Ludwig VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. Louise bore Friedrich Wilhelm III ten children (including future Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV and German Emperor Wilhelm I, and Charlotte the wife of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia).

In the Kronprinzenpalais (Crown Prince’s Palace) in Berlin, Friedrich Wilhelm lived a civil life with a problem-free marriage, which did not change even when he became King of Prussia in 1797. His wife Louise was particularly loved by the Prussian people, which boosted the popularity of the whole House of Hohenzollern, including the King himself.

Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Friedrich Wilhelm succeeded to the throne on November 16, 1797. He also became, in personal union, the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel (1797–1806 and again 1813–1840). At once, the new King showed that he was earnest of his good intentions by cutting down the expenses of the royal establishment, dismissing his father’s ministers, and reforming the most oppressive abuses of the late reign.

He had the Hohenzollern determination to retain personal power but not the Hohenzollern genius for using it. Too distrustful to delegate responsibility to his ministers, Friedrich Wilhelm III greatly reduced the effectiveness of his reign since he was forced to assume the roles he did not delegate. This is a main factor of his inconsistent rule.

Disgusted with the moral debauchery of his father’s court (in both political intrigues and sexual affairs), Friedrich Wilhelm III’s first, and most successful early endeavor, was to restore the moral legitimacy to his dynasty. The eagerness to restore dignity to his family went so far that it nearly caused sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow to cancel the expensive and lavish Prinzessinnengruppe project, which was commissioned by the previous monarch Friedrich Wilhelm II. He was quoted as saying the following, which demonstrated his sense of duty and peculiar manner of speech:

Every civil servant has a dual obligation: to the sovereign and to the country. It can occur that the two are not compatible; then, the duty to the country is higher.