Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess Friedrich of Württemberg

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2017

Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess Friedrich of Württemberg; Credit – Wikipedia

Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the first wife of the future King Friedrich I of Württemberg. She was born August Caroline Friederike Luise (known in the family as Zelmira) on December 3, 1764, in Brunswick, Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, now in Lower Saxony, Germany. Her parents were Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Augusta of Great Britain, a sister of King George III. Augusta had six siblings:

Friedrich of Württemberg. source: Wikipedia

On October 15, 1780, in Brunswick, Augusta married Prince Friedrich of Württemberg (later King Friedrich I). He was the son of Friedrich Eugen, Duke of Württemberg and Margravine Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Despite an unhappy marriage, Augusta and Friedrich had four children:

Koluvere Castle. photo: By MinuHiiumaa – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 ee, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35791062

The marriage was a disaster from the start, with Augusta wanting to leave her husband as early as her first pregnancy. However, they remained married for several years. In 1782, Friedrich had impressed Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia while visiting Russia, and she made him Governor-General of Eastern Finland. Four years later, while they were visiting the Empress in St. Petersburg, Augusta asked Catherine for protection from her husband. She claimed that Friedrich was abusive to her, and was having affairs with several men. The Empress took Augusta in and told Friedrich to leave the country. Augusta hoped to obtain a divorce, but her father would not permit it. So the Empress provided Augusta with a home at Koluvere Castle in Estonia, along with a custodian, Wilhelm von Pohlmann. Soon, Augusta and von Pohlmann began an affair and she became pregnant.

Augusta’s tomb in the Kullamaa Church. photo: By Avjoska – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16334954

On September 27, 1788, Augusta went into premature labor. Fearing that their affair would become known, von Pohlmann refused to call for a doctor and Augusta died of blood loss. She was quickly buried in an unmarked grave in the nearby Kullamaa Church. To avoid a scandal, both Empress Catherine II and Augusta’s father were told that she had died suddenly, with a broken blood vessel as the cause of death. The truth did not come out until many years later when her son had her body exhumed and the details of her death investigated.

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