Category Archives: German Royals

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The County of Waldeck was a county within the Holy Roman Empire since 1180.  In 1625, the much smaller County of Pyrmont became part of the much larger County of Waldeck through inheritance and the combined territory was known as the County of Waldeck-Pyrmont. In 1712,  Friedrich Anton Ulrich, Count of Waldeck-Pyrmont was elevated to Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont by Holy Emperor Karl VI.

Friedrich, the last Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont, was the brother of Marie, the first wife of King Wilhelm II of Württemberg, Emma who married King Willem III of the Netherlands, and Helena, the wife of Queen Victoria’s hemophiliac son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and the mother of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Friedrich abdicated on November 13, 1918, and negotiated an agreement with the government that gave him and his descendants the ownership of the family home Arolsen Castle and Arolsen Forest. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont is located in the German states of Hesse and Lower Saxony

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Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont; Credit – By Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1969-041-62 / CC-BY-SA, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5482509

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont was the last heir apparent to the throne of the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont from 1946 until his death in 1967, and a convicted Nazi war criminal. Josias Georg Wilhelm Adolf was born on May 13, 1896, at Arolsen Castle in Arolsen, then in the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in the German state of Hesse. He was the eldest of the four children and the eldest of the three sons of Friedrich, the last reigning Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Princess Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe. Josias’ paternal grandparents were Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his first wife Princess Helena of Nassau. His maternal grandparents were  Prince Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Bathildis of Anhalt-Dessau. Through his father, Josias was the first cousin of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and two grandchildren of Queen Victoria, Charles Edward, the last reigning Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his sister Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone.

Josias had three younger siblings:

Beginning in 1902, Josias was educated by private tutors. In 1912, he began to attend the Royal Wilhelms-Gymnasium (link in German) in Kassel, then in the Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Hesse. In 1914, 18-year-old Josias passed the Notabitur (link in German), which replaced the usual Abitur, exams taken for a high school diploma, for students in the final years of high school who wanted to serve in the German Army during World War I.

When World War I broke out, Josias enlisted in the German army and was wounded several times, including a grazing shot to his head. After the defeat of the German Empire in World War I and the end of all the German monarchies, Josias’ father Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont abdicated on November 13, 1918. He was the only German prince who refused to sign an abdication agreement. However, Friedrich did negotiate an agreement with the new government that gave him and his descendants the ownership of the family home Arolsen Castle and the Arolsen Forest.

On August 25, 1922, at Rastede Palace in Rastede, in Lower Saxony, Germany, Josias married Duchess Altburg of Oldenburg, the daughter of Friedrich August II, the last reigning Grand Duke of Oldenburg, and his second wife Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Josias and Altburg had four daughters and one son. Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, the two most powerful Nazis, were among the godparents of their only son Wittekind.

  • Princess Margarethe of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1923 – 2003), married Franz II, Count of Erbach-Erbach von Warthenberg-Roth, had two children, divorced in 1979
  • Princess Alexandra of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1924 – 2009), married Botho, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt, had two children
  • Princess Ingrid of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1931 – ), unmarried
  • Prince Wittekind, Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont (born 1936), married, Cecilia Countess Goëß-Saurau, had three sons
  • Princess Guda of Waldeck and Pyrmont (born 1939), married Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Wied, had two children, divorced in 1962

Josias, with the rank of an SS-Obergruppenführer; Credit – By Franz Langhammer – Retrieved from germanianternational.com, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11725055

Josias’ parents both lived through World War II but neither joined the Nazi Party. However, their eldest son Josias, his wife Altburg, and their eldest child Margarethe were members of the Nazi Party. Josias joined the Nazi Party in 1929 and by 1930, he was a member of the Schutzstaffel, better known as the SS. The SS was the primary agency of security, surveillance, and terror in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. In September 1930, Josias became the Adjutant and Staff Chief of Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, and the main architect of The Holocaust. In 1933, Josias was promoted to the rank of SS Lieutenant General. He was promoted again in 1938, to the Higher SS and Police Leader for Weimar. In this position, he had supervisory authority over the Buchenwald concentration camp. His final rank was SS- Obergruppenführer, the highest commissioned SS rank and General of Waffen-SS. Members of the Waffen-SS were involved in numerous atrocities. At the Nuremberg Trials (1945 – 1946), the Waffen-SS was judged to be a criminal organization because of its direct involvement in numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Toward the end of World War II, Josias oversaw the efforts to conceal the horrors of the Buchenwald concentration camp by sending off inmates, resulting in thousands of deaths. Some inmates were sent on forced marches. Others were put in sealed trains for days. On one train trip that was supposed to last eighteen hours, only 300 of the 3,105 on the train survived the poor conditions, after days without any provisions for food or sanitation.

Josias; mug shot after being arrested; Credit – By unknown soldier or employee of the U.S. Army Signal Corps – Stiftung Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4783531

Josias was captured by American General George Patton’s forces at the Buchenwald concentration camp on April 13, 1945, the day the camp was liberated. While he was in custody, Josias learned of the death of his father on May 26, 1946. Josias was now the Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont and began to use the title Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont but Josias would soon face two trials during the post-war period.

Josias in black facing the judges as a defendant at the Buchenwald Trial in 1947; Credit – Wikipedia

The Buchenwald Trial or United States of America vs. Josias Prince of Waldeck et al was a war crime trial conducted by the United States Army from April 11 to August 14, 1947, at the internment camp for war criminals, the SS and important witnesses in Dachau, Germany at the site of the former Dachau concentration camp. Thirty-one people, including Josias and many of the doctors responsible for Nazi human experimentation, were indicted for war crimes related to the Buchenwald concentration camp and its satellite camps, and all thirty-one defendants were convicted. On August 14, 1947, Josias was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and was sent to Landsberg War Criminal Prison Nr. 1 in Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany.

On September 17, 1949, a denazification appeals court classified Josias as a Level 2 – Offender: Activist, Militant, or Profiteer, on the five-tier scale of the denazification system, with Level 1, Main Offender, being the worst. As a result, 70% of his property was seized along with other sanctions and fines.

On November 29, 1950, after serving just three years in prison, Josias was released. He was among the first to benefit from US High Commissioner for Germany John J. McCloy’s amnesty program. At the strong urging of the West German government, and under pressure from the West German people, McCloy approved recommendations for the commutation of sentences of some Nazi criminals. In 1953, Josias received an amnesty from Georg-August Zinn, Minister President of Hesse reducing his fine from the denazification appeals court by more than half of the original fine.

Schaumberg Castle where Josias spent his final years; Credit – By Carsten Steger – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122795425

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont spent the last years of his life in seclusion at Schaumburg Castle near Limburg an der Lahn in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. He was investigated in the late 1950s and early 1960s in connection to atrocities at the Buchenwald concertation camp, the war-time murder of civilian workers, and the Röhm Purge of 1934, a series of political executions without trials intended to consolidate Hitler’s power. However, most investigations were discontinued because the statute of limitations had expired or guilt could not be proven.

Waldeck-Pyrmont Princely Mausoleum and Cemetery; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont died, aged, 71, on November 30, 1967, at Schaumburg Castle, and was buried in the Princely Cemetery at Schloss Rhoden (link in German), the burial site of the Waldeck-Pyrmont family in Rhoden, now in the German state of Hesse. He was succeeded as Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont by his only son Prince Wittekind. Josias’ wife Altburg survived him by 34 years, dying on June 16, 2001, aged 98. She was buried with her husband in the Princely Cemetery at Schloss Rhoden.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2021). Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/friedrich-prince-of-waldeck-pyrmont/
  • Petropoulos, Jonathan. (2009). Royals and the Reich. Oxford University Press.
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Buchenwald Trial. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_trial
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Josias zu Waldeck und Pyrmont. German Wikipedia. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josias_zu_Waldeck_und_Pyrmont
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Josias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josias,_Hereditary_Prince_of_Waldeck_and_Pyrmont

Ellen Bischoff-Korthaus, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Ellen Bischoff-Korthaus, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

In 1647, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was formed through the division of the County of Schaumburg by treaties between the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and the Count of Lippe.  In 1808, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was raised to a Principality and Georg Wilhelm, Count of Schaumberg became the first Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Adolf II, the last Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918, and lived out his life in exile. In 1936, Adolf and his wife were killed in an airplane crash in Mexico.

Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe is in the German state of Lower Saxony.

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Born Elisabeth Franziska von Bischoff-Korthaus on November 6, 1894, in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, and known as Ellen Bischoff-Korthaus, she was the wife of Adolf II, the last reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.

Ellen was an actress under the stage name Ellen Korth. She had roles in two silent films in 1918: Othello, a play by William Shakespeare, directed by Max Mack, playing Desdemona, Othello’s wife, with renowned German actors Wilhelm Diegelmann, Julius Falkenstein, Max Gülstorff and Rosa Valetti, and Wanderratten (link in German) also directed by Max Mack and also with Wilhelm Diegelmann, Max Gülstorff and Rosa Valetti, and Rudolf Lettinger. After the films, Ellen concentrated on her stage career.

Adolf was not the first prince Ellen married. On August 24, 1918, she married Prince Eberwyn of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1882 – 1949), son of Alexis, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt, and Princess Pauline of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Ellen was the second of Prince Eberwyn’s three wives. The couple divorced on December 13, 1919.

Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

On January 10, 1920, in Berlin, Germany, 25-year-old Ellen married 37-year-old Adolf II, the last reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, the son of Georg, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Marie Anna of Saxe-Altenburg. Upon his father’s death on April 29, 1911, Adolf became the reigning Prince of Schaumberg-Lippe. After the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, Adolf II was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918, and the Principality of Schaumberg-Lippe became the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe, and later part of Germany. Adolf was exiled from the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe and lived mostly in the Brionian Islands, then Italy, now in Croatia. After her marriage, Ellen used the title Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe. In 1919, Germany abolished noble and royal titles and the privileges that the titles endowed but titles were allowed as part of surnames. The marriage of Ellen and Adolf was childless.

While living in Italy, Ellen and Adolf were investigated by the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei, Secret State Police) beginning in June 1934. They were later denounced by Kurt von Behr, head of the Nazi Party in Italy.

On March 26, 1936, Adolf, aged 53, and Ellen, aged 42, were killed in an airplane crash in Zumpango, Mexico, along with eight other passengers from Germany, Austria, and Hungary, and four crew members. Their plane developed engine trouble and crashed between the volcanoes Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl as they were flying from Mexico City, Mexico to Guatemala City, Guatemala. The plane had been chartered by Hamburg-American Line which brought the Europeans to Mexico on a tour. It was the worst Mexican plane crash at that time.

Bückeburg Mausoleum; Credit – Von Corradox – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7328133

The bodies of Adolf and Ellen were recovered and returned to Germany thanks to the intervention of Adolf’s youngest brother Friedrich Christian who was aide-de-camp to Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Friedrich Christian joined the Nazi Party in 1928, one of the first German princes to do so. He never distanced himself from the Nazi ideology and championed it until the end of his life. Initially, Friedrich Christian was against the idea of burying Ellen’s remains in the Bückeburg Mausoleum because he thought that she was not of Aryan origin. When Friedrich Christian was proven wrong, Ellen was buried with Adolf at the Bückeburg Mausoleum (link in German) on the grounds of Bückeburg Castle

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/adolf-ii-prince-of-schaumburg-lippe/ (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • IMDb (no date) Ellen Korth | actress, IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0466765/ (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • Timesmachine.nytimes.com. 1936. 14 Die In Worst Mexican Air Crash; Three Titled Germans Among Dead; Plane Carrying Ten Tourists From Europe And Four In Crew Falls Between Two Volcanoes, Killing All — Prince And Princess Adolf Of Schaumburg-Lippe Lose Lives. [online] Available at: <https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/03/27/87926235.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0> [Accessed 1 September 2023].
  • Staedeli, Thomas. (no date) Portrait of the actress Ellen Korth by Thomas Staedeli. Available at: https://www.cyranos.ch/smkore-e.htm (Accessed: 01 September 2023).

Maria Amalie of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, Electress of Bavaria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Amalie of Austria, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

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Archduchess Maria Amalie of Austria was the wife of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor who was also Karl I, Elector of Bavaria. Born on October 22, 1701, at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, Maria Amalie was the youngest of the three children and the second of the two daughters of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, King of Hungary and Princess Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Her paternal grandparents were Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife Eleonore Magdalena of Neuburg. Maria Amalie’s maternal grandparents were Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate.

Maria Amalie had two elder siblings. Her brother, her parents’ only son, died from hydrocephalus before his first birthday, eleven weeks before Maria Amalie’s birth.

Maria Amalie as a child, 1709; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Amalie was raised with her sister Maria Josepha who was less than two years older. Both girls received a strict Roman Catholic upbringing. Maria Amalie was proposed as a bride for Vittorio Amadeo, Prince of Piedmont, the heir to the Kingdom of Sicily and the Duchy of Savoy, in the hopes of improving relations between Austria and Sicily and Savoy. Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sicily and Duke of Savoy was not in favor of the marriage and his son died from smallpox in 1715.

Karl of Bavaria, as a young man; circa 1717 – 1719; Credit – Wikipedia

At the imperial court in Vienna, Maria Amalie met Karl of Bavaria, the heir to the Electorate of Bavaria. Karl thought a marriage into the House of Habsburg would widen his dynastic and economic prospects. On October 5, 1722, Marie Amalie married Karl of Bavaria, son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Prince-Elector of Bavaria and his second wife Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska.

Two of Maria Amalie and Karl’s children, Karl’s successor Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria and Joseph Ludwig; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Amalie and Karl had seven children but only four survived to adulthood:

Nymphenburg Palace; Credit – By Richard Bartz, Munich aka Makro Freak – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4083697

Maria Amalie and Karl lived at the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. In 1726, after his father died, Karl became Elector of Bavaria. He maintained good relations with both the Habsburgs and France, continuing his father’s policies. In May 1727, after the birth of an heir to the Electorate of Bavaria, Karl gave Maria Amalie Fürstenried Palace in Munich as her own residence. Despite Karl having a mistress and an illegitimate son, Maria Amalie and Karl’s marriage was relatively happy. The couple had similar personalities and interests. They both enjoyed the pomp and the festive life at court and together they made the Bavarian court a cultural center. Maria Amalie enjoyed opera, politics, and hunting, and loved to travel. She supported churches and convents and had a close relationship with her sister-in-law Maria Anna Karoline of Bavaria (1696 – 1750), a Poor Clare nun.

During his reign, Maria Amalie’s grandfather Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor had devised the 1703 Mutual Pact of Succession, a succession device, because there was a lack of males in the family. The Mutual Pact of Succession effectively made Maria Josepha, Maria Amalie’s elder sister the heir presumptive to the Habsburg hereditary lands if neither of his sons, the future Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and the future Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, had sons. However, when Maria Josepha and Maria Amalie’s 32-year-old father Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor died suddenly from smallpox in 1711, he was succeeded in the Habsburg hereditary lands by his brother Karl who was also elected Holy Roman Emperor. In 1713, Karl VI annulled the 1703 Mutual Pact of Succession with his Pragmatic Sanction which made his daughter Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria the heir presumptive to the Habsburg hereditary lands instead of her cousin Maria Josepha. Both Maria Josepha and Maria Amalie would have to renounce their succession rights to the Habsburg hereditary lands before they were allowed to marry.

After Karl VI died in 1740, his daughter Maria Theresa succeeded to the Habsburg hereditary lands as the Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, Queen of Bohemia, and Archduchess of Austria in her own right, the only female to hold those sovereign positions. However, as the son-in-law of the late Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I and brother-in-law of Archduchess Maria Josepha, Karl, Elector of Bavaria, Maria Amalie’s husband rejected the Pragmatic Sanction. He claimed the Habsburg hereditary territories against Maria Theresa, even though his wife Maria Amalia had renounced her claims to the Habsburg lands upon her marriage. With the 1741 Treaty of Nymphenburg, Karl, Elector of Bavaria aligned himself with Spain, France, Prussia, Saxony, and Sardinia against Austria. This led to led to the War of Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748) which resulted in the eventual confirmation of Maria Theresa’s Habsburg titles.

Maria Amalie’s husband as Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

While the War of the Austrian Succession was occurring, Karl, Elector of Bavaria was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII in 1742, and his wife Maria Amalie was now Holy Roman Empress. Karl VII’s three-year reign as Holy Roman Emperor was greatly overshadowed by the War of Austrian Succession.

On January 20, 1745, 47-year-old Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor died at the Munich Residenz in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. His autopsy report listed gout, kidney stones, and heart problems as contributory factors to his death. He was interred in the Theatinerkirche in Munich. On the day of his death, Karl VII, Holy Roman had declared his son Maximilian III Joseph, two months short of his eighteenth birthday, to be of legal age, which enabled him to succeed as Elector of Bavaria without a regent. At the urging of his mother Maria Amalie, Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria made peace with Austria via the 1745 Treaty of Füssen. Bavaria recognized the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria promised to support the candidacy of Francis Stephen of Lorraine, the husband of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (the daughter of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor) and future Habsburgs, as Holy Roman Emperor. In return, Austria recognized the legitimacy of Karl VII’s election as Holy Roman Emperor.

Maria Amalie as a widow; Credit – Wikipedia

After the death of her husband, Maria Amalie lived at the home her husband had given her, Fürstenried Palace, for the rest of her life. In 1754, she founded the first modern hospital in Munich (link in German), managed by nuns of the Order of Saint Elisabeth whom she had invited to found a convent. The nuns at the hospital not only served the sick people of Munich, but they also trained lay nursing assistants.

Theatinekirke where Maria Amalie and her husband are interred; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Maria Amalie of Austria, daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and wife of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, survived her husband by nearly thirteen years, dying at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich on December 11, 1756, aged 55. Like her husband, she was buried in the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/joseph-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-king-of-croatia-king-of-hungary/ (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-vii-holy-roman-emperor/ (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Amalia,_Holy_Roman_Empress (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • Maria Amalia von Österreich (1701–1756) (2022) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Amalia_von_%C3%96sterreich_(1701%E2%80%931756) (Accessed: 01 September 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Marie Anna of Saxe-Altenburg, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe: In 1647, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was formed through the division of the County of Schaumburg by treaties between the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and the Count of Lippe. In 1808, the County of Schaumberg-Lippe was raised to a Principality and Georg Wilhelm, Count of Schaumburg became the first Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Adolf II, the last Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918, and lived out his life in exile. In 1936, Adolf II and his wife were killed in an airplane crash in Mexico. Today, the land encompassing the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe is in the German state of Lower Saxony.

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Marie Anna of Saxe-Altenburg, Princess of Schaumberg-Lippe, circa 1885; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Marie Anna of Saxe-Altenburg was the wife of Georg, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. Born on March 14, 1864, in Altenburg, then in the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, now in the German state of Thuringia, Marie Anna was the eldest of the five children and the eldest of the four daughters of Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen. Her paternal grandparents were Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Duchess Marie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Marie Anna’s maternal grandparents were Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Princess Marie Friederike of Hesse-Kassel.

Maria Anna had four younger siblings:

Engagement photo of Georg and Marie Anna, 1882; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 16, 1882, in Altenburg, Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, now in the German state of Thuringia, 18-year-old Maria Anna married 36-year-old Georg, then Hereditary Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. Georg was the son of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont and had a career in the Prussian Army. After their marriage, the couple resided in the newly furnished Stadthagen Castle (link in German), the residence of the Hereditary Prince in Stadthagen, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in Lower Saxony, Germany. Upon the death of his father on May 8, 1893, Maria Anna’s husband Georg became the reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. As Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe, Maria Anna supported churches and schools.

Stadthagen Castle, Georg and Marie Anna’s home before Georg became Prince of Schaumberg-Lippe; Credit – Von Beckstet – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9726977

Maria Anna and Georg had nine children:

  • Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1883–1936), married Ellen von Bischoff-Korthaus, no children, Adolf and his wife were killed in an airplane crash
  • Prince Moritz Georg of Schaumburg-Lippe (1884 – 1920), unmarried
  • Prince Peter of Schaumburg-Lippe (born and died 1886), died in infancy
  • Prince Wolrad of Schaumburg-Lippe  (1887 – 1962), married his second cousin Princess Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe, had three sons and one daughter
  • Prince Stephan of Schaumburg-Lippe  (1891 – 1965), married Duchess Ingeborg of Oldenburg, had one son and one daughter
  • Prince Heinrich of Schaumburg-Lippe  (1894 – 1952), married Countess Marie-Erika von Hardenberg, had one daughter
  • Princess Margareth of Schaumburg-Lippea (1896 – 1897), died in infancy
  • Prince Friedrich Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe (1906 – 1983), married (1) Countess Alexandra zu Castell-Rüdenhausen, had two daughters and one son (2) Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, no children (3) Helene Mayr, no children
  • Princess Elisabeth of Schaumburg-Lippe  (1908 – 1933), married (1) Benvenuto Hauptmann, no children, divorced (2) Baron Johann Herring von Frankensdorff, had one son and one daughter

In 1907, upon the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary, Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia presented Schaumburg Castle, the Schaumburg-Lippe ancestral home, in Rinteln, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, to Georg and Maria Anna. The castle had become the property of the Prussian royal family when the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe sided with the Austrians, the losers in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War. The gift was also meant to be in recognition of Georg’s support of Prussia in the dispute over the succession to the Principality of Lippe throne. (See Unofficial Royalty: Alexander, Prince of Lippe for an explanation of the dispute over the succession to the Principality of Lippe throne.)

The Bückeburg Mausoleum. photo: By Corradox – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7328133

Georg, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe died on April 29, 1911, aged 64, at Bückeburg Castle (link in German) in Bückeburg, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the German state of Lower Saxony. He was buried at the Bückeburg Mausoleum (link in German) in the park surrounding Bückeburg Castle. Georg’s son and successor Adolf II, the last reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, had the mausoleum built following his father’s death to replace the Princely Mausoleum at the St. Martini Church (link in German) in Stadthagen as the family burial site. Marie Anna survived her husband by seven years, dying in Bückeburg, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, on May 3, 1918, at age 54. She was buried with her husband at the Bückeburg Mausoleum.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Georg, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/georg-prince-of-schaumburg-lippe/ (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
  • Marie Anna von Sachsen-Altenburg (2022) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Anna_von_Sachsen-Altenburg (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
  • Moritz von Sachsen-Altenburg (2022) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moritz_von_Sachsen-Altenburg (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
  • Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Moritz_of_Saxe-Altenburg (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
  • Princess Marie Anne of Saxe-Altenburg (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Marie_Anne_of_Saxe-Altenburg (Accessed: 31 August 2023).

Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

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Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Reigning as Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor from 1742 – 1745 and as Karl I, Prince-Elector of Bavaria from 1726 – 1745, Karl Albrecht was born on August 6, 1697, in Brussels, then in the Duchy of Brabant, now in Belgium. His reign as Holy Roman Emperor marked the end of three centuries of the House of Habsburg’s rule as Holy Roman Emperors. Karl was the second of the nine children and the eldest of the eight sons of Maximilian II Emanuel, Prince-Elector of Bavaria and his second wife Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska. His paternal grandparents were Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy. Karl’s maternal grandparents were Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d’Arquien, a French noblewoman

Karl had eight siblings:

Karl had three half-brothers from his father’s first marriage to Maria Antonia of Austria, daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor but none survived childhood. Maria Antonia died in childbirth delivering her last son. Because Maria Antonia’s mother Margarita Teresa of Spain (died 1673) was the eldest sister of the childless Carlos II, King of Spain who had had physical and mental conditions probably caused by the continued inbreeding of the House of Habsburg, her son Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria was a claimant to the throne of Spain after Carlos’ death in 1700. Joseph Ferdinand died suddenly at the age of six after suffering seizures, vomiting, and loss of consciousness. He was rumored to have been poisoned which is very possible due to his close connection to the Spanish throne. The fight for the throne of Spain caused the War of the Spanish Succession, a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1715.

A young Karl, circa 1717 – 1719; Credit – Wikipedia

Karl had been born in Brussels because his father was Governor-General of the Habsburg Netherlands. In 1701, the family returned to Bavaria. Bavaria fought against the Holy Roman Empire during the War of the Spanish Succession, Karl’s father Maximilian II Emanuel, Prince-Elector of Bavaria, who had served the Holy Roman Emperor as Governor-General of the Habsburg Netherlands was exiled from any territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Karl and his siblings remained in Bavaria and his mother acted as Regent for her husband. In May 1705, after a stay in Venice, the Austrian authorities refused to allow Karl’s mother to return to Bavaria and forced her into exile in Venice, which lasted ten years.

In 1706, Karl and the three eldest of his brothers were taken to Klagenfurt, Austria on the orders of Holy Emperor Joseph I where they were taught and brought up by Jesuit priests. Karl’s sister and his two youngest brothers remained with their mother. The family was not reunited until the Spanish War of Succession ended in 1715. From December 1715 to August 1716, Karl took an educational tour of Italy. In 1717, he served with the Bavarian army on the Austrian side in the Austro-Turkish War.

Karl’s wife Archduchess Maria Amalie of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 5, 1722, Karl married Archduchess Maria Amalie of Austria, whom he had met at the imperial court in Vienna. Maria Amalie was the younger of the two daughters of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor who had died in 1711 and Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Karl thought that a marriage with the House of Habsburg would widen his dynastic and economic prospects.

Two of Karl’s children, his successor Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria and Joseph Ludwig; Credit – Wikipedia

Karl and Maria Amalie had seven children but only four survived to adulthood:

Nymphenburg Palace; Credit – By Richard Bartz, Munich aka Makro Freak – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4083697

In 1726, after the death of his father, Karl became Elector of Bavaria. He maintained good relations with both the Habsburgs and France, continuing his father’s policies. Karl and his family lived at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich.

In 1711, Karl’s father-in-law Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I died suddenly from smallpox. Joseph I had three children but his only son died from hydrocephalus before his first birthday. His two daughters were Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria and Karl’s wife Archduchess Maria Amalie of Austria. Upon the sudden death of his elder brother Joseph I, Archduke Karl of Austria automatically succeeded to the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor. However, Karl VI also had a succession problem. He had one son who died in infancy and three daughters, with one daughter dying in childhood.

Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I had devised the Mutual Pact of Succession, a succession device. The Mutual Pact of Succession stated that the Habsburg hereditary lands would be inherited by the respective male heirs of his sons, the future Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, and the future Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. If either Joseph I or Karl VI should fail to have a son, the other one would succeed him in all the Habsburg hereditary lands. If both brothers died without sons, the daughters of Joseph I, the elder brother, would have absolute precedence over the daughters of Karl VI, the younger brother, and the eldest daughter of Joseph would ascend to the thrones of all the Habsburg hereditary lands. This meant that Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria (1699 – 1757), the elder of the two daughters of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, would inherit the Habsburg hereditary lands upon the death of her uncle Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI.

However, when Karl VI became Holy Roman Emperor, he amended the Mutual Pact of Succession. Karl VI’s Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 annulled the terms of the Mutual Pact of Succession, making his daughter Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria the heir to the Habsburg hereditary lands instead of his niece Archduchess Maria Josepha. After Karl VI’s death in 1740, his daughter Maria Theresa succeeded to the Habsburg hereditary lands as the Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, Queen of Bohemia, and Archduchess of Austria in her own right, the only female to hold those sovereign positions.

However, as the son-in-law of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I and brother-in-law of Archduchess Maria Josepha, Karl, Elector of Bavaria rejected the Pragmatic Sanction and claimed the Habsburg hereditary territories against Maria Theresa. With the 1741 Treaty of Nymphenburg, Karl, Elector of Bavaria aligned himself with Spain, France, Prussia, Saxony, and Sardinia against Austria. This led to led to the War of Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748), resulting in the eventual confirmation of Maria Theresa’s Habsburg titles.

While all this was occurring, Karl, Elector of Bavaria was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII in 1742. Karl VII was a member of the House of Wittelsbach, and his reign as Holy Roman Emperor marked the end of three centuries of uninterrupted Habsburg imperial rule. The War of Austrian Succession Karl greatly overshadowed three-year reign as Holy Roman Emperor.

Tomb of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria;  Credit – By krischnig – Self-photographed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12359771

On January 20, 1745, 47-year-old Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor died at the Munich Residenz in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. His autopsy report listed gout, kidney stones, and heart problems as contributory factors to his death. He was interred in the Theatinerkirche in Munich. Maria Amalie of Austria, daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, survived her husband by nearly thirteen years, dying at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich on December 11, 1756, aged 55. Like her husband, she was buried in the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

On the day of his death, Karl VII, Holy Roman had declared his son Maximilian III Joseph, two months short of his eighteenth birthday, to be of legal age, which enabled him to succeed as Elector of Bavaria without a regent. Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria made peace with Austria via the 1745 Treaty of Füssen. Bavaria recognized the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria promised to support the candidacy of Francis Stephen of Lorraine, the husband of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria and future Habsburgs, as Holy Roman Emperor. Austria did not demand any reparations and recognized the legitimacy of Karl VII’s election as Holy Roman Emperor.

Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right; Credit – Wikipedia

As for Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, since only a male could be Holy Roman Emperor, she arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. Despite the snub for being a female, Maria Theresa wielded the real power. The last four Holy Roman Emperors were her husband who reigned as Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor, her two sons Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor and Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, and her grandson Franz II, Holy Roman Emperor.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_VII,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2013) Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/may-13-daily-featured-royal-date/ (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
  • Karl VII. (HRR) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_VII._(HRR) (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
  • Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_II_Emanuel,_Elector_of_Bavaria (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Princess of Schaumberg-Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe: In 1647, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was formed through the division of the County of Schaumburg by treaties between the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and the Count of Lippe. In 1808, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was raised to a Principality and Georg Wilhelm, Count of Schaumburg became the first Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Adolf II, the last Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918, and lived out his life in exile. In 1936, Adolf II and his wife were killed in an airplane crash in Mexico. Today, the land encompassing the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe is in the German state of Lower Saxony.

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Princess Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont was the wife of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. Born in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont, now in the German state of Hesse, on September 29, 1827, Hermine was the third of the five children and the second of the two daughters of Georg II, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Emma of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym. Her paternal grandparents were Georg I, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Augusta of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Hermine’s maternal grandparents were Viktor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym and Amalie of Nassau-Weilburg.

Princess Hermine, on the left, with her elder sister Princess Augusta; Credit – Wikipedia

Hermine had four siblings:

Hermine’s father died in 1845 when she was 18 years old. Her mother Emma served as Regent of the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont until her 14-year-old son Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont reached his majority in 1852. Through her brother Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Hermine was the aunt of Princess Marie who married the future King Wilhelm II of Württemberg, Princess Emma who married King Willem III of the Netherlands, and Princess Helena who married Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Queen Victoria’s hemophiliac, youngest son.

Hermine with her husband Adolf; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 20, 1844, at Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in the German state of Hesse, Hermine married her first cousin, the future Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, son of Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Ida of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Hermine and Adolf had eight children including two daughters named Emma who both died young:

Schaumburg Costume; Credit – Von © Michael Gäbler / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42356047

On November 21, 1860, upon the death of his father Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Hermine’s husband Adolf became the reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. While Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe, Hermine was a supporter of the Schaumburg Costume (link in German), the traditional form of clothing for Schaumburg women noted by a red skirt, usually worn at festivals.

After a reign of 33 years, Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe died at the age of 75, on May 8, 1893, at Bückeburg Castle (link in German) in Bückeburg, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the German state of Lower Saxony. He was buried in the Princely Mausoleum (link in German) at the St. Martini Church (link in German) in Stadthagen, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the German state of Lower Saxony.

Hermine as a widow; Credit – Wikipedia

Before he died in 1893, Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe arranged for the building of the Palais Bückeburg, (link in German) also known as the Hermine Palais, which would serve as Hermine’s home while Princess Dowager. An enthusiastic hunter, Hermine acquired a hunting ground in Steyrling, Austria and several years later acquired farms in the nearby towns of Höbach and Laberg. Along with spending time at her palace in Bückeburg, Hermine spent much time at her properties in and near Steyrling, Austria.

The Princely Mausoleum at the St. Martini Church in Stadthagen. photo: By losch – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17674154

Hermine survived her husband by seventeen years, dying on February 16, 1910, at the age of 82, at Bückeburg Castle, and was buried with her husband in the last place in the crypt in Princely Mausoleum at the St. Martini Church. After the death of Hermine’s son Georg, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe in 1911, his son Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe had the Bückeburg Mausoleum (link in German) constructed between 1911-1915 in the park surrounding Bückeburg Castle.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/adolf-i-prince-of-schaumburg-lippe/ (Accessed: 29 August 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2021) Georg II, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Unofficial Royalty. Available at https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/georg-ii-prince-of-waldeck-and-pyrmont/ (Accessed: 29 August 2023).
  • Hermine zu Waldeck und Pyrmont (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermine_zu_Waldeck_und_Pyrmont (Accessed: 29 August 2023).
  • Princess Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Hermine_of_Waldeck_and_Pyrmont (Accessed: 29 August 2023).

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him. His power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the wife of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, King of Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, who also held several other titles. Born on August 28, 1691, in Brunswick, then located in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, Elisabeth Christine was the eldest of the four children, all daughters, of Ludwig Rudolf, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Christine Luise of Oettingen-Oettingen. Her paternal grandparents were Anton Ulrich, Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Elisabeth Juliane of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Norburg. Elisabeth Christine’s maternal grandparents were Albrecht Ernst I, Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen (link in German) and Duchess Christine Friederike of Württemberg (link in German).

Elisabeth Christine had three younger sisters but only two survived childhood:

Elisabeth Christine’s sister Charlotte Christine; Credit – Wikipedia

The two surviving sisters of Elisabeth Christine have interesting backgrounds. Because Elisabeth Christine was married to Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI, Peter I (the Great) Emperor of All Russia thought her sister Charlotte Christine would be a good match for his son and heir Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia. In 1711, 17-year-old Charlotte Christine married 21-year-old Alexei with the expectation that one day, Alexei Petrovich would be Emperor of All Russia and she would be Empress of All Russia. Charlotte Christine and Alexei Petrovich had one daughter Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna and one son Peter II, Emperor of All Russia. After giving birth to her son, Charlotte Christine felt well until the third day after the birth when abdominal pain, fever, and delirium developed. Eleven days after her son’s birth 21-year-old Charlotte Christine died from puerperal fever (childbed fever). Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia never became Emperor of All Russia because he predeceased his father. Peter II, the son of Charlotte Christine and Alexei did succeed to the Russian throne but reigned for less than three years, dying of smallpox at age 14. His sister Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna had died a few years earlier from tuberculosis, also at age 14.

Elisabeth Christine’s sister Antoinette Amalie; Credit – Wikipedia

Because Elisabeth Christine’s father Ludwig Rudolf, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel had no sons, his first cousin Prince Ferdinand Albrecht of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern was his heir. In 1712, Elizabeth Christine’s 16-year-old sister Antoinette Amalie married her 32-year-old first cousin once removed Prince Ferdinand Albrecht of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern. In 1735, when his first cousin and father-in-law died, Ferdinand Albrecht succeeded him as Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Antoinette Amalie and Ferdinand Albrecht had fifteen children. Their eldest son Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg married Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Elisabeth, also known as Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna of Russia, the daughter of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Ivanovna of Russia, the eldest of the three surviving daughters of the five daughters of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia. Because of a succession issue, Elisabeth had a claim to the Russian throne. In 1740, the two-month-old son of Anton Ulrich and Elisabeth succeeded to the Russian throne as Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia. The story of Ivan VI and his family is one of the most tragic stories in royal history. A little more than a year after succeeding to the Russian throne, Ivan VI was deposed and spent the next 23 years imprisoned before being murdered during the reign of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia. Ivan VI’s parents Anton Ulrich and Elisabeth spent the rest of their lives imprisoned and except for his sister Catherine, all Ivan’s other siblings were born while their parents were imprisoned. Ivan’s siblings remained imprisoned until 1780. Read more at Unofficial Royalty: Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia.

Among the other children of Antoinette Amalie and Ferdinand Albrecht were Elisabeth Christine who married Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia; Sophie Antoinette who married Ernst Friedrich, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the great-grandparents of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; and Juliana Maria who married Frederik V, King of Denmark.

Arrival of Elisabeth Christine in Spain to marry Karl, then Archduke of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Before Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I died in 1705, and his elder son succeeded him as Joseph II, he arranged a marriage for his younger son Karl with Elisabeth Christine. However, the Lutheran Elisabeth Christine initially opposed the marriage because she would have to convert to Roman Catholicism. She finally gave in and was tutored in Roman Catholicism by her future mother-in-law Empress Eleonore Magdalene. Elisabeth Christine officially converted to Roman Catholicism in 1707. At the time of the wedding, Karl was fighting for his ultimately unsuccessful claim to the Spanish throne against the French candidate Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, later Felipe V, the first Bourbon King of Spain, so he was living in Barcelona, Spain. Elisabeth Christine traveled to Barcelona in July 1708 and the couple was married on August 1, 1708, at the Church of Santa María del Mar in Barcelona, Spain.

Elisabeth Christine with her husband Karl and their three daughters in 1730; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Christine and Karl had one son who died in infancy and three daughters, with one dying in childhood:

The reign of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor lasted just six years. During the smallpox epidemic of 1711, which killed Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France, the only surviving child and heir of King Louis XIV of France, Joseph also became ill with smallpox. He died, aged thirty-two, on April 17, 1711. Because Joseph had no sons, his brother Karl automatically succeeded to the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor. Elisabeth Christine was Holy Roman Empress and held the female counterpart of all Karl’s other titles.

Elisabeth Christine and her husband Karl V (in the middle) at the wedding breakfast of their daughter Maria Theresa and her husband Francis Stephen (on the right); Credit – Wikipedia

The fact that Karl VI did not have a male heir caused problems. Joseph I and Karl VI’s father Leopold I had devised the Mutual Pact of Succession, a succession device that stated the daughters of Joseph I, the elder brother, would have absolute precedence over the daughters of Karl VI, the younger brother, and the eldest daughter of Joseph I, Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria, would ascend to the thrones of all the Habsburg hereditary lands. However, Karl decided to amend the Mutual Pact of Succession. Karl VI’s Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 annulled the terms of the Mutual Pact of Succession and made his future daughters (his elder daughter Maria Theresa was not born until 1717) the heirs to the Habsburg hereditary lands instead of his niece Archduchess Maria Josepha.

Even though the Pragmatic Sanction allowed a daughter of Karl VI to succeed in the Habsburg hereditary lands, Elisabeth Christine’s life was dominated by the pressure upon her to give birth to a male heir. After the death of her seven-month-old son in 1716, she found her situation very stressful. Her physical and mental health was ruined by the now ridiculous methods to make her conceive another son – if only it was known at the time that it was the male who determined the gender. Elisabeth Christine was given large doses of liquor to make her more fertile. During her last pregnancy, her bed-chamber was decorated with erotic images of male beauty to make her expected baby a male by stimulating her fantasy. Then the the court doctors prescribed a a calorie-laden diet to increase her fertility. Elisabeth Christine gained so much weight that she was unable to walk, had breathing problems and insomnia, and had to be lowered into her chairs by a specially constructed machine.

Elisabeth Christine got along very well with her mother-in-law Eleonore and her sister-in-law and widow of Joseph I, Wilhelmine Amalie. The three empresses were supportive of each other. Wilhelmine Amalie nursed Elisabeth Christine when she had smallpox, and Elisabeth Christine nursed Eleonore during her last illness. Elisabeth Christine was not outwardly involved in politics but stayed in the background, and had some influence. However, she was instrumental in arranging the marriages of her niece and nephew, the children of her sister Antoinette Amalie: Elisabeth Christine to the future Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia and Anton Ulrich and Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (also known as Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna).

On October 20, 1740, at the age of 55, Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor died at the Palais Augarten in Vienna, Austria, after a ten-day illness. Ten days earlier, Karl had eaten large amounts of a mushroom dish. The following day, he developed severe nausea, vomiting, and episodes of unconsciousness. After a few days of feeling fine, the symptoms returned, accompanied by a high fever, and eventually led to his death. The symptoms are typical of death cap mushroom poisoning but the definitive cause of Karl’s death remains unknown. Karl was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna.

Elisabeth Christine in her later years; Credit – Wikipedia

After Karl’s death, his daughter Maria Theresa succeeded to the Habsburg hereditary lands as the Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, Queen of Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria in her own right, the only female to hold those sovereign positions. This led to led to the War of Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748) resulting in the eventual confirmation of Maria Theresa’s Habsburg titles. However, Maria Theresa was unable to become the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire because she was female, and so Karl Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Prince-Elector of Bavaria, the husband of Maria Theresa’s first cousin Maria Amalia of Austria, the younger daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, was elected Holy Roman Emperor. He was a member of the House of Wittelsbach, and his reign as Holy Roman Emperor marked the end of three centuries of uninterrupted Habsburg imperial rule. After Karl Albrecht died in 1745, Maria Theresa, via a treaty, arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor, as Franz I. Despite the snub, Maria Theresa wielded the real power.

Tomb of Elisabeth Christine; Credit – By DALIBRI – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21030087

Like her father, Maria Theresa did not allow her mother Elisabeth Christine to be involved in politics. Maria Theresa had Hetzendorf Palace, very close to the summer residence Schönbrunn Palace, expanded as a widow’s residence for her mother. Elisabeth Christine survived her husband by ten years, dying, aged 59, in Vienna, Austria, on December 21, 1750. She was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Christine_von_Braunschweig-Wolfenb%C3%BCttel (Accessed: 27 August 2023).
  • Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Christine_of_Brunswick-Wolfenb%C3%BCttel (Accessed: 27 August 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, King of Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-vi-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-hungary-king-of-croatia-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria/ (Accessed: 27 August 2023).
  • Louis Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Rudolph,_Duke_of_Brunswick (Accessed: 27 August 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Ida of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Ida of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe: In 1647, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was formed through the division of the County of Schaumburg by treaties between the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and the Count of Lippe.  In 1808, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was raised to a Principality and Georg Wilhelm, Count of Schaumburg became the first Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Adolf II, the last Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918, and lived out his life in exile. In 1936, Adolf and his wife were killed in an airplane crash in Mexico. Today, the land encompassing the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe is in the German state of Lower Saxony.

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Princess Ida of Waldeck and Pyrmont was the wife of Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. Ida Karoline Luise was born on September 26, 1796, in Rhoden, then in the County of Waldeck and Pyrmont, later in the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. She was the eighth of the thirteen children and the third of the five daughters of Georg I, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Princess Augusta of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Ida’s paternal grandparents were Karl August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Countess Palatine Christiane Henriette of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. Her maternal grandparents were Prince August of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Princess Christine of Anhalt-Bernburg.

Ida had twelve siblings. Seven of her siblings died either in childhood or in their early twenties.

  • Christiane of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1787 – 1806), Abbess of Schaaken, died at age 19
  • Karl of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1788 – 1795), died in childhood
  • Georg II, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1789 – 1845), married Emma of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, had five children
  • Friedrich of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1790 – 1828), morganatically married Ursula Polle who was created Countess of Waldeck, had four children
  • Christian of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1792 – 1795), died in early childhood
  • Augusta of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1793 – 1794), died in infancy
  • Johann of Waldeck- Pyrmont (1794 – 1814), died at age 20
  • Wolrad of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1798 – 1821), died at age 23
  • Mathilde of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1801 – 1825), married Duke Eugen of Württemberg, had three children, died during her fourth pregnancy
  • Karl Christian of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1803 – 1846), married Amalie of Lippe-Biesterfeld, had one child
  • Karoline Christiane of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1804 – 1806), died in early childhood
    Hermann of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1809 – 1876), married Agnes Teleki de Szék, had no children

Ida’s husband Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 23, 1816, in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in the German state of Hesse, 20-year-old Ida married 32-year-old Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.

Ida and Georg Wilhelm had nine children whose births spanned twenty-four years:

As the Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe, Ida was concerned with social issues, arranging food for the poor, providing debt relief, and other humanitarian initiatives. Ida regularly accepted petitions from the citizens of Schaumburg-Lippe and recommended worthy causes to her husband. At Ida’s request, Georg Wilhelm had two towers, the Wilhelmsturm (link in German) and the Idaturm (link in German), built in 1847, a year of high prices and famine, for land surveying and to create jobs for the starving population. The building material was sandstone that was mined from a local quarry.

Arensburg Castle; Credit – Von Castelargus – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41405367

The medieval Arensburg Castle (link in German) had become dilapidated and was used temporarily as a warehouse for grain and other goods. Under Ida’s influence, the castle was renovated and turned into a country estate. Bückeburg Castle (link in German), the ancestral seat of the House of Schaumburg-Lippe, had not been used very much for social events during recent past reigns. Ida changed that and among other social events, revived court balls at the castle. Ida was very interested in geology and regularly sent geological objects to the Imperial and Royal Geological Institute in Vienna, Austria.

Bückeburg Castle; Credit – Von Beckstet – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9684542

Ida’s husband Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, aged 75, died on November 21, 1860, at Bückeburg Castle (link in German) in Bückeburg, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the German state of Lower Saxony. He was buried in the Princely Mausoleum (link in German) at the Evangelical Lutheran St. Martini Church (link in German) in Stadthagen, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the German state of Lower Saxony

Ida in the last years of her life; Credit – Wikipedia

After Georg Wilhelm’s death, Ida moved to the Old Princely Palace in Bückeburg. Beginning in the winter of 1868, she permanently stayed in Menton, Alpes-Maritimes, France, on the French Riviera. Ida survived her husband by nine years, dying on April 12, 1869, in Menton, Alpes-Maritimes, France at the age of 72. She was buried with her husband in the Princely Mausoleum at St. Martini Church.

St. Martini Church where Ida and her husband are buried; Credit – Von Beckstet – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9678243

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, S. (2020) Georg I, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/georg-i-prince-of-waldeck-and-pyrmont/ (Accessed: 25 August 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/georg-wilhelm-prince-of-schaumburg-lippe/ (Accessed: 25 August 2023).
  • Ida zu Waldeck und Pyrmont (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_zu_Waldeck_und_Pyrmont (Accessed: 25 August 2023).
  • Princess Ida of Waldeck and Pyrmont (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Ida_of_Waldeck_and_Pyrmont (Accessed: 25 August 2023).

Wilhelmine Luise of Nassau-Weilburg, Princess Reuss of Greiz

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Wilhelmine Luise of Nassau-Weilburg, Princess Reuss of Greiz; Credit – Wikipedia

Note about the Reuss numbering system: All males of the House of Reuss were named Heinrich plus a number. In the Reuss-Greiz, Elder Line, the numbering covered all male children and the numbers increased until 100 was reached and then started again at 1. In the Reuss-Gera, Younger Line, the system was similar but the numbers increased until the end of the century before starting again at 1. This tradition was seen as a way of honoring Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich VI (reigned 1191 – 1197) who had benefitted the family. Therefore, the Roman numerals seen after names are NOT regnal numbers.

Principality of Reuss-Greiz: The House of Reuss began their rule circa 1010. Heinrich XI, Count Reuss of Greiz, Lower-Greiz (Untergreiz) and Upper-Greiz (Obergreiz) was elevated to princely status in 1778 and then used the title of Prince Reuss, Older Line, or Prince Reuss of Greiz.

Heinrich XXIV, the last Prince Reuss of Greiz, succeeded his father in 1902 but was unable to rule because of his physical and mental disabilities as a result of an accident in his childhood. Instead, a Regent ruled the Principality of Reuss-Greiz: Heinrich XIV, 4th Prince Reuss of Gera from 1901 – 1913, and then his son Heinrich XXVII, 5th and last Prince Reuss of Gera from 1913 – 1918.

On November 11, 1918, the Regent, Heinrich XXVII, Prince Reuss of Gera (Younger Line) abdicated in the name of the disabled Heinrich XXIV, 6th Prince Reuss of Greiz. After the abdication, Heinrich XXIV retained the right of residence of the Lower Castle in Greiz and lived there until his death. The territory that encompassed the Principality of Reuss-Greiz is now in the German state of Thuringia.

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The wife of Heinrich XIII, 2nd Prince Reuss of Greiz, Princess Wilhelmine Luise of Nassau-Weilburg was born on September 28, 1765, in The Hague, then in the Dutch Republic, now in The Netherlands. She was the fourth of the nine children and the second of the five daughters of Karl Christian, Duke of Nassau-Weilburg and Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau. Wilhelmine Luise’s paternal grandparents were Karl August, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg and Princess Auguste Friederike of Nassau-Idstein (link in German). Her maternal grandparents were Willem IV, Prince of Orange and Anne, Princess Royal (daughter of King George II of Great Britain).

Caroline of Orange-Nassau and her children, circa 1778; Left to Right: Karoline, Caroline of Orange-Nassau, Amalia, Karl, Wilhelmine Luise, Marie, and Friedrich Wilhelm; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelmine Luise had a total of eight siblings but only five survived childhood. Her sister Amalia is an ancestor of the Dutch Royal Family and her sister Henriette is an ancestor of the British House of Windsor through Queen Mary, the wife of King George V of the United Kingdom:

The family lived in The Hague, then in the Dutch Republic, now in the Netherlands, mostly because Wilhelmine Luise’s father Karl Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg served in the Dutch army. However, because Carolina of Orange-Nassau, Wilhelmine Luise’s mother, was one of the four successive regents for her only surviving sibling Willem V, Prince of Orange, it was also necessary that the family stay in The Hague. Carolina and Willem V’s father Willem IV, Prince of Orange had died at age 40 and was succeeded by his son Willem (V) who was only three years old. Willem V would not reach his majority for fifteen years, and until then he had four successive regents. In 1769, Wihelmine Luise’s family moved to Weilburg in her father’s Principality of Nassau-Weilburg, now in the German state of Hesse, but in 1773, Wilhelmine Luise’s father Karl Christian was appointed Governor of Maastricht in the Dutch Republic, and so the family once again returned to the Dutch Republic. In 1784, Wilhelmine Luise’s father resigned as Governor of Maastricht and the family moved back to Weilburg.

Heinrich XIII, 2nd Prince Reuss of Greiz, Wilhelmine Luise’s husband; Credit – Wikipedia

Twenty-year-old Wilhelmine Luise married thirty-eight-year-old Heinrich XIII, the heir to the throne of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, on January 9, 1786, in Kirchheim, Principality of Nassau-Weilburg, now in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Wilhelmine Luise and Heinrich XIII had four sons:

Wilhelmine Luise’s husband Heinrich XIII served in the Austrian Army. He attained the rank of General Feldzeugmeister, commander-in-chief of the artillery, one of the highest officers in the army. Heinrich XIII was a close personal friend of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. In 1789, Heinrich XIII represented the Holy Roman Empire at the court of the Kingdom of Prussia.

The Lower Castle in Greiz, with the Upper Castle in the background; Credit – Von Wolfgang Pehlemann Wiesbaden Germany – Selbst fotografiert, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32945991

Upon his father’s death in 1800, Heinrich XIII succeeded as Prince Reuss of Greiz. On April 6, 1802, a large fire destroyed much of Greiz, the capital of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, now in the German state of Thuringia. Approximately 430 buildings were destroyed. Many other buildings were demolished to prevent the fire from spreading. Heinrich XIII oversaw the rebuilding of Greiz in the neoclassical style and moved his residence from the Obere Schloss (link in German) (Upper Castle) to the Untere Schloss (link in German) so he could be closer to the people and social life of Greiz.

Stadtkirche St. Marien in Greiz; Credit – Von Tilman2007 – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41473525

Heinrich XIII, 2nd Prince Reuss of Greiz died on January 29, 1817, aged 69, in Greiz, Principality of Reuss-Greiz. He was buried at the Stadtkirche St. Marien (link in German) now in Greiz, Thuringia, Germany. Wilhelmine Luise survived her husband by twenty years, dying on October 10, 1837, aged 72, in Greiz, Principality of Reuss-Greiz. She was buried with her husband.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Christian,_Prince_of_Nassau-Weilburg (Accessed: 21 August 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Heinrich XIII, 2nd Prince Reuss of Greiz, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/heinrich-xiii-prince-reuss-of-greiz/ (Accessed: 21 August 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2016) Willem V, Prince of Orange, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/william-v-prince-of-orange/ (Accessed: 21 August 2023).
  • Louise, Princess Reuss of Greiz (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise,_Princess_Reuss_of_Greiz (Accessed: 21 August 2023).
  • Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Carolina_of_Orange-Nassau (Accessed: 21 August 2023).
  • Вільгельміна Луїза Нассау-Вайльбурзька (Luise of Nassau-Weilburg) (2023) Wikipedia (Ukrainian). Available at: https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D1%96%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BC%D1%96%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%9B%D1%83%D1%97%D0%B7%D0%B0_%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B0%D1%83-%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B7%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0 (Accessed: 21 August 2023).

Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empress, wife of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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Wilhemine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the wife of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor who was also Archduke of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, and King of Hungary. Born on April 21, 1673, in Hanover, then in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, Wilhelmine Amalie was the youngest of the four daughters of Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate. Her paternal grandparents were Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Anna Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt. Wilhelmine Amalie’s maternal grandparents were Edward, Prince Palatine of the Rhine and Anna Gonzaga, from a noble Italian family. Her maternal grandfather Edward, Prince Palatine of the Rhine was a grandson of King James I of England (also James VI, King of Scots), the son of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Wilhelmine Amalie had three elder sisters but only one survived to adulthood:

Although Wilhelmine Amalie’s maternal grandfather Edward, Prince Palatine of the Rhine was born Protestant, he converted to Roman Catholicism, and so her mother Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate was raised Catholic. Wilhelmine Amalie’s father Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg converted to Roman Catholicism after a visit to Italy in 1651, where he met Joseph of Cupertino, an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar and mystic who was canonized a saint in 1767.

In 1679, when Wilhelmine Amalie was six-years-old, her father died without a son to succeed him. His Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was inherited by his Protestant younger brother Ernst August who was married to Sophia of the Palatinate, Wilhelmine Amalie’s great aunt, better known as Sophia of Hanover. Ernst August and Sophia of Hanover were the parents of George I, the first King of Great Britain from the House of Hanover. Sophia of Hanover’s family was the most junior of the Stuart lines but was the most Protestant. In 1701, Parliament passed the Act of Settlement, giving the succession to the British throne to Sophia and her non-Catholic heirs. This act ensured the Protestant succession and bypassed many Catholics who had a better hereditary claim to the throne.

After her husband’s death, Benedicta Henrietta returned to Paris, France, where she had been raised, with her two surviving daughters Charlotte Felizitas and Wilhelmine Amalie, to live near her sister Anne Henriette who had married Henri Jules, Prince of Condé. Benedicta Henrietta entrusted the education of her two daughters to the nuns of the Cistercian Maubuisson Abbey, where Wilhelmine Amalie’s great aunt Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate was the Abbess. Wilhelmine Amalie did not return to her birthplace Hanover until 1693 when she was twenty years old.

Wilhelmine Amalie, who was considered beautiful, serious, and a pious Catholic, caught the eye of Eleonore Magdalena of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress, the third wife of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and the mother of Archduke Joseph, the future Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I. Joseph began having affairs at the age of 15 with maids and noble women. It was thought that the pious Wilhelmine Amalie, who was five years older than Joseph, would be a positive influence on Joseph and he would then stop having affairs. A marriage was proposed and accepted.

Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

On January 15, 1699, in the Duchy of Modena, where Wilhelmina Amalie and her mother were staying with her eldest sister Charlotte Felizitas, Duchess of Modena and Reggio, Wilhelmine Amalie and Archduke Joseph of Austria were married by proxy. On February 18, 1699, Wilhelmine Amalie arrived in Tulln an der Donau in the Archduchy of Austria, where she was met by Joseph. The couple were married in person on February 24, 1699, at the Augustinerkirche (Augustinian Church), in Vienna, Austria, adjacent to the Hofburg Palace, the winter palace of the Habsburgs. Wilhelmina Amalie wore a wedding dress encrusted with diamonds and the wedding celebrations continued for eight days.

Joseph and Wilhelmine Amalie had three children but their only son died from hydrocephalus before his first birthday:

Joseph did not stop his affairs, and the affairs combined with the death of his only son took a toll on his marriage. Joseph contracted a venereal disease, probably syphilis, and probably passed the disease to Wilhelmine Amalie. The venereal disease was most likely the reason for the failure of the couple to produce more children.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor died, aged sixty-four, on May 5, 1705, and his 27-year-old son Joseph succeeded him in the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Holy Roman Emperor. Joseph’s reign lasted just six years. During the smallpox epidemic of 1711, which killed Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France, the only surviving child and heir of King Louis XIV of France, and three siblings of the future Holy Roman Emperor Franz I, Joseph also became ill with smallpox. He died, aged thirty-two, on April 17, 1711, at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Joseph had promised his wife that if he survived, he would stop having affairs. Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. Because Joseph did not have any sons, his brother Karl succeeded him as the ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI.

Wilhelmine Amalie as Holy Roman Dowager Empress, 1730; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1722, after both her daughters had married, Wilhelmine Amalie retired to the convent she had founded in 1717 for the Salesian nuns, the Monastery of the Visitation of Mary (link in German) in Vienna. Living in the convent did not mean that Wilhelmine Amalie gave up her social life. As Dowager Empress she participated in the social life of the imperial family and worked with many charities.

Tomb of Wilhelmina Amalie, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – By krischnig – Own work: selbst fotografiert, Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48472044

Wilhelmine Amalie survived her husband by thirty-one years, dying on April 10, 1742, eleven days before her sixty-ninth birthday, at the Monastery of the Visitation of Mary in Vienna that she had founded. She was buried in the crypt under the high altar of the monastery’s church where the Salesian nuns are buried. As per her orders, her heart was interred at the foot of her husband’s tomb in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedicta_Henrietta_of_the_Palatinate (Accessed: 21 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, King of Hungary, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/joseph-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-king-of-croatia-king-of-hungary/ (Accessed: 21 July 2023).
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  • Wilhelmine Amalie von Braunschweig-Lüneburg (2022) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelmine_Amalie_von_Braunschweig-L%C3%BCneburg (Accessed: 21 July 2023).
  • Вильгельмина Брауншвейг-Люнебургская (2022) Wikipedia (Russian). Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%91%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%83%D0%BD%D1%88%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%B3-%D0%9B%D1%8E%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: 21 July 2023).
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.