Category Archives: Prussian Royals

Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia

by Emily McMahon and Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie) was born in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover now in Lower Saxony, Germany on March 10, 1776.  She was third of the five daughters and the sixth of the ten children of Carl II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his first wife Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Luise had nine siblings:

The family was connected to the British royal family as Carl’s sister Charlotte was the wife of King George III. During her childhood, Luise spent part of her early childhood at Leineschloss, the home of the Hanoverian kings. At the time, her father was the Governor-General of Hanover.  King George III was king and never visited Hanover so the residence was made available to the family.

Following her mother’s death in childbirth in 1782, Luise and her siblings were raised mostly by their maternal grandmother, Marie Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg who married  Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt, the brother of the reigning Landgrave Louis IX of Hesse-Darmstadt. Maria Louise Albertine made a comfortable home for the family in Darmstadt, Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt now in Hesse, Germany, and her grandchildren grew quite fond of her. In her grandmother’s care, Luise was given her lessons and religious instruction primarily in French, but she later grew very fond of German literature. She was also encouraged to devote herself to acts of charity.

Luise and her sister Frederica attracted the attention of two Prussian princes. Luise was betrothed to the future King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, while Frederica was engaged to his brother Ludwig Karl.  Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm married on December 24, 1793, and her sister married Ludwig Karl two days later. It was hoped that the double marriage would improve the bond between the two German states.

Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm in 1794; Credit – Wikipedia

Luise was very popular in Prussia from the start, and descriptions of her from this time speak of her grace, goodness, and beauty. The marriage was happy and the couple raised their family quietly at Paretz Palace west of Berlin.

Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm had nine children:

Luise with her husband and children, circa 1806; Credit – Wikipedia

Friedrich Wilhelm became King of Prussia in 1797. As queen, Luise traveled around Prussia with her husband, becoming more well-known and well-liked. Luise took it upon herself to stay well-versed in the country’s affairs, earning her the respect of her husband’s advisers. Friedrich Wilhelm similarly trusted his wife’s intelligence and good judgment, treating her as an unofficial adviser.

Prussia declared war on France in 1806. Following a resounding defeat by Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Friedrich Wilhelm and Luise fled with their family to Königsberg in eastern Prussia. When Napoleon requested a meeting with Friedrich Wilhelm to discuss peace terms, Friedrich Wilhelm brought the pregnant Luise along to garner sympathy from the French emperor. Napoleon was charmed when the pregnant queen begged him for mercy for Prussia. Napoleon did not budge in his terms for peace, but Luise was even more beloved in Prussia.  Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm were absent from Berlin for three years following the war with the French.

Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm meeting with Napoleon; Credit – Wikipedia

On July 19, 1810, while visiting her father at Schloss Hohenzieritz in Hohenzieritz, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 34-year-old Luise died in her husband’s arms from an unidentified illness. The harshness of the French occupation may have hastened her death, as she often suffered from long bouts of ill health. Her grieving husband later instituted the Order of Louise in her name and her family mourned her death each year on July 19.  Luise was buried in the garden of Charlottenburg Palace, in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany where a mausoleum was built over her grave.  Friedrich Wilhelm  III survived his wife by thirty years and was buried by her side.

Sarcophagus of Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

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Prussia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

The Berlin City Palace (Berliner Stadtschloss)

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Berliner Stadtschloss c1920. Photo credit: Wikipedia

On Wednesday, June 12, 2013, the foundation stone was laid for the reconstruction of the Berlin City Palace, once a principal residence of the Kings of Prussia.

The Palace was first built between 1443-1451 by Friedrich II, Margrave and Elector of Brandenburg (known as Irontooth). It included a Catholic chapel, later elevated to a parish church, and consecrated by Pope Nicholas V. The original palace was torn down in 1538 by Margrave Joachim II, who had a new, larger palace built in the Italian Renaissance style, with further alterations continuing over the next 175 years.

In 1699, Friedrich I, King in Prussia, had the palace overhauled again in the Baroque style, with the building enclosing a courtyard. In 1845, the dome was finally added, during Friedrich Wilhelm IV’s reign. This would be the last major change to the exterior of the palace.

Berliner Stadschloss c1900. Photo credit: Wikipedia

The Stadtschloss became the primary palace of the newly created German Empire in 1871 and remained so until 1918 when the German Socialist Republic was announced from a balcony at the palace (following the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II).

For some years, the palace was used for museum space, as well as official functions, before sitting empty for many years leading up to World War II. It was heavily bombed by Allied forces in 1945. Being within the Soviet Union Zone after the war, the building was used as a backdrop for a Soviet movie – ‘The Battle of Berlin’. Live artillery was used during the filming of the movie, which further damaged the building. Finally, in 1950, the building was razed by the Soviets, with the open space now used as parade grounds. The only part that was saved was the balcony from which the German Socialist Republic was proclaimed. This was moved to the Council of State building, forming the main entrance.

In the 1970s, a new building was erected on the site – the Palace of the Republic (‘Palast der Republik’), however, it was later closed and torn down. After the reunification of Germany, several groups promoted the rebuilding of the original Stadtschloss, most suggesting the exteriors being recreated with more modern space inside. Finally, in 2007, the German Parliament voted to reconstruct the palace. Three of the exterior façades will be rebuilt, while the interior is a modern structure. The construction cost of approximately 590 million Euros ($786 million). The new name will be The Humboldt Forum, and the space will be used primarily to exhibit non-European artifacts from collections of other Berlin museums.

Who Knew?!

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Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Kingdom of Prussia: The Protestant Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern ruled as Margraves of Brandenburg, Dukes of Prussia, Electors of Brandenburg, Kings of Prussia from 1415 until 1918. In November 1700, in exchange for supporting the Holy Roman Empire in the Spanish War of Succession, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor agreed to allow Friedrich III, Duke of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg to make Prussia a kingdom and become its first king. In the aftermath of World War I, Prussia had a revolution that resulted in the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia abdicated on November 9, 1918.

The Kingdom of Prussia had territory that today is part of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Switzerland. All or parts of the following states of today’s Germany were part of the Kingdom of Prussia: Brandenburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, and Schleswig-Holstein.

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Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht was born on January 27, 1859, at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany.  He was the first child of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (the future Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia) and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, and the first grandchild of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, whose names he was given.  Wilhelm’s 18-year-old mother had a difficult breech delivery which left Wilhelm with a withered left arm, about six inches shorter than his right arm, which he always tried to conceal.

Wilhelm had seven siblings:

Wilhelm (on the right in the back) with his parents and his siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelm was related to many European royals.  His sister Sophie was the Queen Consort of Greece.  Among his first cousins were King George V of the United Kingdom, Queen Maud of Norway, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, Queen Marie of Romania, Duke Albert of Schleswig-Holstein, Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, Duke Charles Edward of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain.

In 1868 when he was nine years old, Wilhelm first met Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, known as Dona, who was a few months older.  Dona was the eldest daughter of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Her maternal grandparents were Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Feodora of Leiningen, half-sister of Queen Victoria. In the years that followed, Dona fell in love with her cousin Prince Ernst of Saxe-Meiningen and was sent to England to visit relatives to quash the romance.  Wilhelm had proposed to his first cousin Princess Elisabeth (Ella) of Hesse and by Rhine, daughter of his maternal aunt Alice.  Ella, however, turned him down, and later would marry into the Russian Imperial Family and be murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

Wilhelm in 1877; Credit – Wikipedia

Dona and Wilhelm were reacquainted in the summer of 1878 in Potsdam, Prussia.  The Prussians did not look favorably upon Dona as a possible wife for Wilhelm.  There were questions about whether the marriage would be equal because Dona’s father was not a sovereign. Furthermore, there were political complications from the Prussian annexation of Schleswig-Holstein when Dona’s father claimed them.  However, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was a strong proponent of the marriage because he believed it would end the dispute between the Prussian government and Dona’s father.  The engagement was announced officially on June 2, 1880, and the couple married on February 27, 1881, in Berlin.  Dona and Wilhelm had a very happy marriage.  Wilhelm was a man who needed to be pampered and since Dona adored him, she had no trouble pampering him.  She had more artistic interests than he did, but they shared very conservative political views and a deep religious faith. Dona had to endure a rough start to her married life because of her in-laws who did not think her rank was sufficient for the wife of a future emperor.

Dona and Wilhelm, Credit – Wikipedia

The couple had seven children, six sons and one daughter:

  • Crown Prince Wilhelm (1882–1951), married Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. They had six children. Their eldest son Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1906–1940) was killed in World War II.
  • Prince Eitel Friedrich (1883–1942), married Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg. They were divorced and had no children.
  • Prince Adalbert (1884–1948), married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. They had three children.
  • Prince August Wilhelm (1887–1949), married Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. They had one child.
  • Prince Oskar (1888–1958), married Countess Ina Marie von Bassewitz. They had four children. Their eldest son Prince Oskar Wilhelm Karl Hans Kuno of Prussia was killed in 1939 in World War II.
  • Prince Joachim (1890–1920), married Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt. They had one son. His great-grandson Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, Prince of Prussia (born 1981) is a pretender to the Russian throne. Prince Joachim died by suicide.
  • Princess Viktoria Luise (1892–1980),  married Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick. They had five children. Among their descendants are Prince Ernst August of Hanover, husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco; former King Constantine II of Greece; and Queen Sofia of Spain.

Wilhelm and Dona’s family in 1896, Credit – Wikipedia from the German Federal Archives

1888 was called the Year of the Three Emperors.  On March 9, 1888, Wilhelm’s grandfather Wilhelm I, German Emperor died. Already ill with throat cancer, Wilhelm’s father became Friedrich III, German Emperor.  His reign lasted only 99 days as he died on June 15, 1888, and Wilhelm became German Emperor at the age of 29.

Wilhelm has been a controversial figure for historians, past and present.  From Wilhelm’s Wikipedia article: “Three trends have characterized the writing about Wilhelm. First, the court-inspired writers who considered him a martyr and a hero. Often they uncritically accepted the justifications provided in the Kaiser’s memoirs. Second, those who judged Wilhelm as completely unable to handle the great responsibilities of his office, a ruler who was too reckless to deal with power. Third, after 1950, scholars sought to transcend the passions of the 1910s and attempted an objective portrayal of Wilhelm II and his rule.”

Wilhelm was very militaristic and wanted to increase the strength of Germany’s armed forces, particularly the German Imperial Navy, which he wanted to be the equal of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy. Although Wilhelm appeared to have some doubts after the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Serbia, Wilhelm incited Austria-Hungary to take revenge against Serbia for the assassination. Events worsened throughout July 1914 resulting in the beginning of World War I in August 1914. Years before the start of World War I, Germany had developed the Schlieffen Plan, a one-front war-winning offensive against France which was the thinking behind the German invasion of France and Belgium on August 4, 1914.

Wilhelm in 1915; Credit – Wikipedia

In the aftermath of World War I, Germany had a revolution resulting in the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. Wilhelm abdicated on November 9, 1918.  On November 10, 1918, Wilhelm Hohenzollern crossed the border by train, and went into exile in the Netherlands, never to return to Germany.  He first settled in Amerongen, living in the castle there.

In 1919, Wilhelm purchased Huis Doorn, a small manor house outside of Doorn, a small town near Utrecht in the Netherlands, and moved there in 1920.  As a condition of his exile, Wilhelm was allowed to travel freely within a radius of 15 miles from his house.  Traveling further required that advance notice had to be given to local government officials.  As Wilhelm did not like to be under the thumb of minor officials, he rarely traveled further than the 15 miles.

Huis Doorn in 1925; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelm’s son Joachim was unable to accept his new status as a commoner and became severely depressed. He died by suicide using a gun on July 18, 1920, in Potsdam, Germany.  The shock of abdication and exile, combined with Joachim’s suicide, proved too much for Dona. She died in 1921, at Huis Doorn.  The Weimar Republic in Germany allowed her remains to be transported back to Germany to be buried at the Temple of Antiquities near the New Palace in Potsdam.  Wilhelm was not allowed to go to Germany and could accompany his wife’s body only as far as the border.

Dona in 1913; Credit – Wikipedia

In January 1922, Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz‘s son sent birthday wishes to Wilhelm, who then invited the boy and his mother to Doorn. Wilhelm found Hermine very attractive and greatly enjoyed her company. Having both been recently widowed, the two had much in common.  Wilhelm was determined to marry Hermine despite objections from his children. 63-year-old Wilhelm and 34-year-old Hermine married on November 5, 1922, in Doorn.  Hermine returned to Germany after Wilhelm’s death.  After World War II, Hermine was held under house arrest at Frankfurt-an-der Oder in the Soviet Zone of Germany. She died at Paulinenhof, a Soviet internment camp near Brandenburg, Germany on August 7, 1947.  She was buried at the Temple of Antiquities in Potsdam with Wilhelm’s first wife.

Hermine and Wilhelm at Huis Doorn in 1933; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 4, 1941, Wilhelm II, formerly German Emperor and King of Prussia, died of a pulmonary embolism at Huis Doorn, his home in exile in Doorn, the Netherlands.  He was 82 years old and had lived at Huis Doorn since 1920.

After Wilhelm’s death, Adolf Hitler wanted to bring his remains back to Germany for a state funeral and burial.  Even though Hitler felt animosity toward the former Kaiser, he thought that as a symbol of Germany during World War I, honoring Wilhelm would show the German people the legitimate succession from the Kaiserreich to the Third Reich.  Wilhelm had stated in his will that he did not want to return to Germany unless the monarchy was restored, and his wishes were granted.  However, Wilhelm’s request that the swastika and other symbols of Nazism not be displayed at his funeral was not followed.

Wilhelm’s eldest son, Crown Prince Wilhelm, asked architect Martin Kieszling to design a mausoleum in the gardens of Huis Doorn near his father’s favorite rhododendrons.  On the mausoleum’s roof is a brass ball with a cross on top, made by a Doorn blacksmith out of pots from the Huis Doorn kitchen after all copper was ordered to be turned into the German occupation of the Netherlands to make weapons.  On the anniversary of Wilhelm’s death, German monarchists still gather at his mausoleum.

Mausoleum of Wilhelm II, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Marie of Prussia, Queen of Bavaria

by Emily McMahon and Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Marie of Prussia, Queen of Bavaria, Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Marie of Prussia (Marie Friederike Franziska Hedwig) was the wife of King Maximilian II of Bavaria who reigned from 1848 until he died in 1864. Born at the Berlin City Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany, on October 15, 1825, she was the youngest child of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, a son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and Friederike Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt, Queen of Prussia.

Marie had seven siblings but only three survived to adulthood:

Marie was raised primarily at Schloss Fischbach in Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Poland, one of the many properties of the Prussian Royal Family. At one point, she was named as a potential bride for the future Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, but his reputation caused her parents to look elsewhere for an appropriate spouse.

Marie with her husband and sons. source: Wikipedia

On January 23, 1842, Marie became engaged to the future King Maximilian II of Bavaria. He was the son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The couple married in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, on October 12, 1842, just three days before Marie turned seventeen. They had two sons:

Like her two predecessors, Caroline of Baden and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Marie did not convert to Catholicism upon marriage, choosing to retain her Lutheran faith. The marriage was a peaceful one, although the two shared few interests. Maximilian’s interests were primarily academic, whereas Marie had a great love of charity work and being among the Bavarian people. Marie’s kind and open personality endeared her to the Bavarians, with whom she was quite popular. Marie led the resurgence of the Bavarian Women’s Association, which later evolved into the Red Cross.

Marie as Crown Princess, c1843. source: Wikipedia

In March 1864, King Maximilian II died and the couple’s elder son took the throne as King Ludwig II. Both of Marie’s sons were thought to have suffered from mental illness that severely hampered their abilities to rule Bavaria. Marie was said to have taken the reality of this situation remarkably well, believing it to be God’s will. A deeply religious woman, Marie later converted to Catholicism on October 12, 1874, on what would have been her 32nd wedding anniversary.

Marie lived in relative seclusion, splitting her time between her country home in Elbigenalp and Hohenschwangau Castle in Füssen, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. In 1883, her elder son, King Ludwig II, was deemed incompetent, and Marie’s brother-in-law, Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, was appointed Prince Regent. Days later, King Ludwig II was found dead, and Marie’s younger son became King Otto I, also under the Regency of Prince Luitpold.

Queen Marie died at Hohenschwangau Castle on May 17, 1889. She was buried with her husband in a side chapel at the Theatinerkirche in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany. Her heart is entombed at the Shrine of Our Lady of Altötting.

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Princess Viktoria of Prussia, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe, Mrs Zoubkoff

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Princess Viktoria of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Viktoria of Prussia (Frederica Amalia Wilhelmine Viktoria) was born on April 12, 1866, at the Neues Palais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany. Known in the family as Moretta, she was the second daughter and fifth of eight children of Friedrich III, German Emperor, King of Prussia and his wife Victoria, Princess Royal, a daughter of Queen Victoria.  Moretta was born two months before the tragic death of her brother Sigismund at the age of 21 months due to meningitis.  Sigismund was a favorite of their mother, who suffered intense grief upon her son’s death.  Unlike some of her older siblings, Moretta was devoted to her mother and very English in her ways.

Moretta had seven siblings:

Moretta’s family; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Moretta’s first possible love match was recommended by her mother and grandmother, Queen Victoria.  Prince Alexander of Battenberg (called Sandro), a brother of Prince Henry of Battenberg (husband of Moretta’s aunt Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom), and a brother of Prince Louis of Battenberg (husband of Moretta’s cousin Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine), had been selected the reigning Prince of Bulgaria in 1879.  Sandro visited the Prussian court at the suggestion of Moretta’s mother in 1881 and at age 15, Moretta fell in love with Sandro.  Her parents were eager for a marriage, but Moretta’s grandfather Wilhelm I, German Emperor and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck were not in favor of the marriage.  They felt that Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia would be offended by the marriage because Russia and Bulgaria did not have a positive relationship.  When Moretta’s father became the German Emperor in 1888, it appeared that it was possible that the marriage would occur.  However, Friedrich III, already ill with throat cancer, died three months after becoming Emperor.  The new Emperor, Moretta’s brother Wilhelm II, took Bismarck’s advice and did not give permission for the marriage.  The dejected princess was forced to give up the possibility of marrying Sandro.

Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Over the next several years, Moretta, who was not considered attractive, became convinced that she would remain unmarried. There was talk about Moretta marrying Prince Carl of Sweden and a couple of Russian Grand Dukes.  In June 1890, Moretta, her sister Mossy (Margaret), and their mother visited Princess Marie of Wied.  Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe was one of the other guests.  The weather during the visit was rainy and Adolf and Moretta spent time together indoors.  On June 11, 1890, the couple became engaged.  They married on November 19, 1890.  Moretta suffered a miscarriage early in the marriage and the couple never had children.  Prince Adolf died in 1916.

Moretta with her second husband; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Moretta’s second marriage was made despite the disapproval of her siblings.  On November 19, 1927, Moretta married Alexander Zoubkoff, a Russian refugee described as a “dancer”, who was 35 years younger.  Moretta’s finances were not good but her new husband carelessly spent her money and was at home very infrequently.  Moretta was forced to sell the contents of Palais Schaumburg, her home in Bonn, Germany, but the sale did not net much money and she moved into a single furnished room in the Bonn suburb of Mehlem.  In 1929, Moretta announced that she was divorcing her second husband, but she died of pneumonia a few days later on November 13, 1929, at the Hospital of St. Francis in Bonn, Germany.  She was buried at the home her mother had built after her father’s death, the Schloss Friedrichshof in Kronberg im Taunus, Germany.

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Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Queen of Prussia

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Queen of Prussia; Credit: Wikipedia

Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover was born on March 26, 1687, in Hanover, Principality of Calenberg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany.  At the time of her birth in 1687, her father was styled His Highness Duke Georg Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg and became Elector of Hanover when his father died in 1698. Upon the death of Queen Anne of Great Britain in 1714, he became King George I of Great Britain due to the provisions of the 1701 Act of Settlement.  Sophia Dorothea’s mother was Sophia Dorothea of Celle.

Sophia Dorothea had one sibling, an elder brother:

Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, on the right, with her mother Sophia Dorothea of Celle on the left, and her brother, the future King George II of Great Britain, in the middle

The marriage of Sophia Dorothea’s parents was happy at first, but George and Sophia Dorothea found affection elsewhere. George fell in love with one of his mother’s ladies-in-waiting, Melusine von der Schulenburg.  Sophia Dorothea fell in love with Swedish Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, an officer in the Hanoverian army. Despite warnings from her mother and friends, Sophia Dorothea and her lover wrote letters to each other, met secretly, and planned to escape Hanover together. On the morning of July 2, 1694, after a meeting with Sophia Dorothea, von Königsmarck disappeared from Leineschloss Castle and was never seen again. It was widely believed that George ordered von Königsmarck’s death. There is speculation that the letters were forgeries, and Sophia Dorothea’s guilt is still debated.

On December 28, 1694, a tribunal of judges and Lutheran Church officials declared the marriage of George and Sophia Dorothea dissolved on the grounds of Sophia Dorothea’s desertion. George was not satisfied with punishing his former wife with just a marriage dissolution.  He had his 27-year-old former wife imprisoned in the Castle of Ahlden until she died 32 years later. Sophia Dorothea was never allowed to see her children again.

Sophia Dorothea was eight years old when her disgraced mother was divorced and banished for the rest of her life.  She was raised by her paternal grandmother Sophia, Electress of Hanover at Herrenhausen, the Hanover home.  She married her first cousin Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, son of Friedrich, King  I of Prussia and Sophia Charlotte of Hanover on November 28, 1706, in Berlin.  The couple had fourteen children:

Sophia Dorothea, Queen of Prussia in the center with some of her children during the visit of King Augustus II of Poland to Berlin; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophia Dorothea and Friedrich Wilhelm had met as children as they shared a grandmother, Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and they had disliked each other ever since.  Their interests were very different and Friedrich Wilhelm contemplated divorcing Sophia Dorothea the same year they were married, but nothing ever came of it.  Sophia Dorothea became Queen of Prussia in 1713 when her husband acceded to the Prussian throne.

Friedrich Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, 1713; Credit – Wikipedia

Friedrich Wilhelm was faithful, but they did not have a happy relationship. Sophia Dorothea feared his unpredictable temper and resented him for allowing her no influence at court and for refusing to marry her children to their English cousins. She detested his cruelty towards their son and the heir Friedrich, with whom she was close.  In his own way, Friedrich Wilhelm was devoted to Sophia Dorothea.  Their daughter Wilhelmine wrote that when her father was dying, “he had himself rolled in his chair to the queen’s room. Not having thought the danger was imminent, she was still asleep. ‘Get up,’ the king said to her, ‘I have only a few more hours to live and I wish to have the happiness of dying in your arms.'”  Friedrich Wilhelm died on May 31, 1740, in Berlin.  During World War II, his remains were removed and hidden and were later found by American Forces and reburied at St. Elisabeth’s Church in Marburg. In 1953, his remains were moved to Hohenzollern Castle where they remained until 1991. In 1991, his coffin was finally laid to rest on the steps of the altar at the Kaiser Friedrich Mausoleum at the Friedenskirche, the Church of Peace, in Sanssouci Park, surrounding Sanssouci Palace, in Potsdam, Germany.

Sophia Dorothea survived her husband by 17 years, dying at the age of 70 on June 28, 1757, at the Palace of Monbijou near Berlin, and was buried at the Berlin Cathedral.

Tomb of Sophia Dorothea of Hanover; Credit – findagrave.com

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Wilhelm I, German Emperor and King of Prussia

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Kingdom of Prussia: The Protestant Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern ruled as Margraves of Brandenburg, Dukes of Prussia, Electors of Brandenburg, Kings of Prussia from 1415 until 1918. In November 1700, in exchange for supporting the Holy Roman Empire in the Spanish War of Succession, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor agreed to allow Friedrich III, Duke of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg to make Prussia a kingdom and become its first king. In the aftermath of World War I, Prussia had a revolution that resulted in the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia abdicated on November 9, 1918.

The Kingdom of Prussia had territory that today is part of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Switzerland. All or parts of the following states of today’s Germany were part of the Kingdom of Prussia: Brandenburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, and Schleswig-Holstein.

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Wilhelm I, German Emperor and King of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelm I, German Emperor, King of Prussia (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig) was born at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin, then the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia, on March 22, 1797.  He was the second of the five sons and the second of the nine children of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Princess Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Wilhelm had eight siblings:

Wilhelm with his parents and siblings, circa 1806; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelm and his elder brother Friedrich Wilhelm were first educated together by Johann Friedrich Gottlieb Delbriick, who had previously been the rector of the Magdeburg Educational College.  When Wilhelm was nine years old, he was appointed a lieutenant in the Prussian Army.  Four years later, when Wilhelm was 13 years old, his 34-year-old mother suddenly died from an unidentified illness.

An ivory miniature of 13-year-old Wilhelm made for his first teacher; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1813,  Johann Georg Emil von Brause, a colonel in the Prussian Army, took over Wilhelm’s education.  The next year, Wilhelm saw his first action in battle and continued advancing his rank until he became a lieutenant general in 1820 and commanding general of the III. Army Corps in 1825.

Wilhelm wanted to marry Princess Elisa Radziwill whose family came from Polish nobility.  She was the daughter of  Prince Anton Radziwill and Princess Louise of Prussia, niece of King Friedrich II (the Great) of Prussia and therefore, a relative of the Prussian Royal Family.  However, Elisa and Wilhelm were not allowed to marry as their match was considered inappropriate.  Instead, at the instigation of his father, Wilhelm was betrothed to Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, daughter of Grand Duke Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Maria Pavlovna of Russia. 32-year-old Wilhelm and 18-year-old Augusta were married on June 11, 1829, in the chapel of Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin.  To the outside viewer, their marriage was stable, but in reality, it was not very happy.

Lithograph of Augusta and Wilhelm, circa 1830; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelm and Augusta had two children:

Wilhelm’s father King Friedrich Wilhelm III died in 1840 and was succeeded by Wilhelm’s brother King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who was childless.  In 1857, Friedrich Wilhelm IV suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and largely mentally incapacitated.  Wilhelm served as regent from 1858 until his brother’s death in 1861 when he acceded to the throne as King Wilhelm I of Prussia.  Wilhelm and Augusta’s coronation was a magnificent ceremony at the church in  Königsberg Castle.  Wilhelm crowned himself and then crowned his queen.

Coronation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelm’s reign was marked by the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864 and the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and the work of Otto von Bismarck as Prussian Prime Minister which ultimately resulted in the unification of Germany when he then served as Chancellor of the German Empire.  In 1867, the North German Confederation was created.  It was a constitutional monarchy with the Prussian king as the head of state.  In 1870–1871, during the Franco-Prussian War, the south German states of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Württemberg, and Bavaria joined the confederation. On  January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France, Wilhelm was proclaimed German Emperor (Kaiser).

Wilhelm is proclaimed German Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelm allowed the policy of the new German Empire (Reich) to be determined by Bismarck.  In accordance with Bismarck, Wilhelm sought peace through alliances with neighboring powers except for France. In September 1872 in Berlin, the League of the Three Emperors between Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary.  The three powers agreed that together they would control Eastern Europe and politically isolate France.

In his old age, Wilhelm, who personified the old Prussia with his simple and austere lifestyle,  was very popular.  After a short illness, Wilhelm I, German Emperor died on March 9, 1888, at the Berlin Palace at the age of 90.  He was buried in the mausoleum at Charlottenburg Palace.  1888 was called the Year of the Three Emperors.  Wilhelm I was succeeded by his son Friedrich III. Already ill with throat cancer, Friedrich’s reign lasted only 99 days.  He died on June 15, 1888, and was succeeded by his son, the last German Emperor,  Wilhelm II.

Grave of Wilhelm I, German Emperor; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

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