Category Archives: Former Monarchies

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, 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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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 a number of 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, and the three empresses were supportive toward 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) which led to 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).

Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, King of Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor; 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.

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

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Baptized Carolus Franciscus Josephus Wenceslaus Balthasar Johannes Antonius Ignatius, Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor was born on October 1, 1685, at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. He was the seventh of the ten children and the third of the three sons of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife and second cousin Eleonore Magdalena of Neuburg. Karl’s paternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and the first of his three wives who was also his first cousin, Maria Anna of Austria. His maternal grandparents were Philipp Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich-Berg and his second wife Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Karl had nine siblings but only four survived childhood:


Karl’s parents Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleonore Magdalena of Neuburg

Karl’s father Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor had been married twice before to Margarita Teresa of Spain and Claudia Felicitas of Austria. From these two marriages, Leopold had six children, however, all except the oldest daughter from his first wife, had died.

Karl had one surviving half-sister from his father’s first marriage to Margarita Teresa of Spain:

Prince Anton Florian, the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, had served Karl’s father Leopold I as a member of the Imperial Privy Council and as ambassador to the papal court in Rome. Due to his extensive knowledge, in 1693, Anton Florian became Karl’s governor and was responsible for his education.

The death of the last Spanish Habsburg King, Leopold I’s childless nephew Carlos II resulted in the War of the Spanish Succession in which Leopold and then his son Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I unsuccessfully sought to give Leopold’s younger son Karl the entire Spanish inheritance, disregarding the will of the late Carlos II who had named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, and the grandson of Carlos’ half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor. However, Philippe of France did reign in Spain as King Felipe V, the first King of Spain from the House of Bourbon that still reigns in Spain.

Karl’s brother Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Karl’s father Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I died in 1705, in Vienna, and his 27-year-old son Joseph succeeded him in the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Holy Roman Emperor. Before he died in 1705, Leopold I arranged a marriage for Karl with Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the daughter of Ludwig Rudolf, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Christine Luise von Oettingen-Oettingen. 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 claim to the Spanish throne against the French candidate Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, 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.

Karl VI with his wife Elisabeth Christine and their three daughters in 1730; Credit – Wikipedia

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

Anton Florian, Prince of Liechtenstein, Karl’s former childhood governor and then his Chairman of the Council of State and Chief Chamberlain until Anton Florian died in 1721; Credit – Wikipedia

The reign of Karl’s brother Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I 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 and died on April 17, 1711. Upon the sudden death of his elder brother, Karl automatically succeeded to the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor. Karl’s former childhood governor, Prince Anton Florian of Liechtenstein, headed the imperial government as Chairman of the Council of State and served as Karl VI’s Chief Chamberlain until he died in 1721.

Karl had a long string of titles:

  • Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, King of Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria (reigned 1711 – 1740)
  • King of Naples (reigned 1707 – 1735)
  • King of Sardinia (reigned 1708 – 1720)
  • Duke of Teschen (reigned 1711- 1722)
  • Duke of Brabant, Duke of Limburg, Duke of Lothier, Duke of Milan, Count of Namur, Count of Flanders, Count of Hainaut, Duke of Luxembourg (reigned 1714 – 1740)
  • King of Serbia (reigned 1718 – 1739)
  • King of Sicily (reigned 1720 – 1735)
  • Duke of Parma and Piacenza, Duke of Guastalla (reigned 1735 – 1740)

The fact that Karl did not have a male heir caused many problems. His father Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I had devised the Mutual Pact of Succession, a succession device secretly signed in 1703 by his elder son, the future Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, and his younger son, the future Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. The Mutual Pact of Succession stated that the Habsburg hereditary lands would be inherited by both the brothers’ respective male heirs. However, if one 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, the elder brother, would have absolute precedence over the daughters of Karl, 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 Karl’s elder brother Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, would inherit the Habsburg hereditary lands upon the death of her uncle Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI.

When Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I died, his brother Karl succeeded him as the ruler of all the Habsburg hereditary lands with Joseph’s daughter Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria as his heir. 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 (Maria Theresa was not born until 1717) the heirs to the Habsburg hereditary lands instead of his niece Archduchess Maria Josepha.

Tomb of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – By Welleschik – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3946431

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.

Karl’s daughter Maria Theresa, circa 1744; 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) which led to 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.

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 VI, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_VI,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 24 August 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, Duke of Teschen, King of the Romans, Archduke of Further Austria, and Prince of Transylvania, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-hungary-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-king-of-croatia-duke-of-teschen-king-of-the-romans-archduke-of-further-austria-and-prince-of-transylv/ (Accessed: 24 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/maria-theresa-archduchess-of-austria-queen-of-hungary-croatia-and-bohemia/ (Accessed: 24 August 2023).
  • Karl VI. (HRR) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_VI._(HRR) (Accessed: 24 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.

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).
  • Salesianerinnenkirche (Wien) (2022) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salesianerinnenkirche_(Wien) (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.

Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen, Princess of Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Portrait of Princess Anna by Bernhard Zickendraht, 1924, displayed in Detmold Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen was the second of the two wives of Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe. Anna was born on February 10, 1886, in Büdingen, then in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in the German state of Hesse. Originally, the House of Büdingen, a noble family, held control of Büdingen but in 1816, it was given to the Grand Duchy of Hessen-Darmstadt, later the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine. Anna was the youngest of the eight children and the youngest of the seven daughters Bruno, 3rd Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen and his second wife Countess Bertha of Castell-Rüdenhausen. Her paternal grandparents were Ernst Casimir II, 2nd Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen and his wife Countess Thekla of Erbach-Fürstenau. Anna’s maternal grandparents were Adolf, Hereditary Count of Castell-Rüdenhausen and Baroness Marie of Thüngen.

Anna had seven older siblings:

  • Princess Emma of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1870 – 1944), married Count Otto of Solms-Laubach, had four children
  • Princess Marie of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1875 – 1952), unmarried
  • Wolfgang, 4th Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1877 – 1920), married Countess Adelheid of Rechteren-Limpurg, no children
  • Princess Thekla of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1878 – 1950), married Manfred V, Prince of Collalto and San Salvatore, had four children
  • Princess Mathilde of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1880 – 1947), married Cornelius, Baron Heyl of Herrnsheim, had five children
  • Princess Helene of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1881 – 1951), unmarried
  • Princess Hertha of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1883 – 1972), married Prince Albrecht of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, had one daughter Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg who married Ernst August IV, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, Prince of Hanover – they are the parents of Prince Ernst August (V) of Hanover

Anna had two older half-sisters from her father’s first marriage to Princess Mathilde of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich:

  • Princess Hedwig of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1863 – 1925), married (1) Botho, 1st Prince of Stolberg-Rossla, had four children (2) Count Kuno of Stolberg-Rossla, no children
  • Princess Elisabeth of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1864 – 1946), married Rudolf, Baron of Thüngen, had four children

Büdingen Castle where Anna grew up; Credit – Von Sven Teschke – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31460

On November 21, 1911, at Büdingen Castle (link in German) in Büdingen, where Anna grew up, she married Count Ernst of Lippe-Weissenfeld, son of Count Franz of Lippe-Weissenfeld and Baroness Marie von Beschwitz. Less than three years later, Ernst was killed in action at Gołdap, then in the Kingdom of Prussia, now in Poland, on the Eastern Front during World War I, on September 11, 1914.

Anna and Ernst had one daughter:

  • Princess Eleonore of Lippe-Weissenfeld (1913 – 1964), married Adolph Sweder Hubertus, Count of Rechteren-Limpurg, had two one son and one daughter

On April 26, 1922, in Büdingen, Germany, Anna became the second wife of Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, the pretender to the throne of the Principality of Lippe. Following the German Empire’s defeat in World War I and the German Revolution of 1918-1919, Leopold IV was forced to renounce the throne on November 12, 1918, by the Lippe People’s and Soldiers’ Council. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe.

Leopold and Anna had one son Armin Leopold Ernst Bruno Heinrich Willa August:

Leopold’s first wife Princess Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld died in 1919 and upon her marriage to Leopold in 1922, Anna became the stepmother of Leopold’s five children from his first marriage:

  • Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Lippe (link in German) (1902 – 1987), married (1) Charlotte Ricken, divorced (2) Herta-Elise Weiland, had one son and one daughter
  • Prince Leopold Bernhard of Lippe (1904 – 1965), unmarried
  • Princess Karoline of Lippe (1905 – 2001), married Count Hans of Kanitz, had six daughters
  • Prince Chlodwig of Lippe (1909 – 2000), married Veronika Holl, had one daughter
  • Princess Sieglinde of Lippe (1915 – 2008), married Friedrich Carl Heldman, had two daughters and one son

During the rise of Nazism in Germany, all three of Leopold’s sons by his first wife Bertha became members of the Nazi Party. The eldest son the Hereditary Prince Ernst is reported to have been the first German prince to join the Nazi Party when he signed up in May 1928. Ernst’s brother Chlodwig joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and the other brother Leopold Bernhard joined in 1932. Hereditary Prince Ernst later became an SS-Major (Schutzstaffel Sturmbannführer) and held a high-ranking post in the SS Race and Settlement Main Office. The SS (Schutzstaffel) was the agency of security, surveillance, and terror in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The SS Race and Settlement Main Office was responsible for safeguarding the racial purity of the SS within Nazi Germany. At the end of World War II, Hereditary Prince Ernst of Lippe was taken prisoner by the Allies and took part in the Nuremberg Trials as a witness. The denazification tribunal in the Detmold administrative district classified Ernst as a Lesser Offender, Category III. He was not imprisoned but rather placed on probation for two-three years with a list of restrictions.

In addition to being pro-Nazi, both Hereditary Prince Ernst and Prince Khlodwig had made unequal marriages. Due to these circumstances, Leopold rewrote his will in 1947, indicating that Armin, his only child with his second wife, would succeed him as the head of the House of Lippe and become the administrator of the princely family’s properties such as the Residenzschloss Detmold (link in German), thereby disinheriting all three of his sons from his first marriage.

Christ Church in Detmold; Credit – Von Daniel Brockpähler – Eigene Fotografie, bearbeitet mit Photoshop von Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8648403

Anna’s husband Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe died, aged 78, on December 30, 1949, in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was buried with his first wife Bertha at the Christ Church in Detmold (link in German). Leopold’s second wife Anna survived him by thirty-one years, dying on February 8, 1980, in Detmold at the age of 94, and was also buried at Christ Church.

Anna and Leopold’s son Armin was head of the House of Lippe from 1949 until his death in 2015. Armin’s only child Stephan, Prince of Lippe (born 1959) succeeded him as head of the House of Lippe. Stephan married Countess Maria of Solms-Laubach and they had three sons and two daughters.

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

  • Bruno, Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen (2022) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno,_Prince_of_Ysenburg_and_B%C3%BCdingen (Accessed: 19 July 2023).
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leopold IV. (Lippe). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_IV._(Lippe)> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leopold IV, Prince Of Lippe. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_IV,_Prince_of_Lippe> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
  • Flantzer, S. (2023) Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-iv-prince-of-lippe/ (Accessed: 19 July 2023).
  • Mehl, Scott, 2018. Lippe Royal Burial Sites. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/former-monarchies/german-royals/principality-of-lippe/lippe-royal-burial-sites/> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
  • Petropoulos, Jonathan, 2009. Royals And The Reich. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen (2022a) geni_family_tree. Available at: https://www.geni.com/people/Princess-Anna-of-Ysenburg-and-B%C3%BCdingen/6000000009136870908 (Accessed: 19 July 2023).
  • Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen (2022) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Anna_of_Ysenburg_and_B%C3%BCdingen (Accessed: 19 July 2023).

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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Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor was also King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, and King of Croatia from 1705 – 1711, and King of Hungary from 1687 – 1711. Joseph Jacob Ignaz Johann Anton Eustachius was born in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, on July 26, 1678. He was the eldest of the ten children and the eldest of the three sons of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife and second cousin Eleonore Magdalena of Neuburg. Joseph’s paternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and the first of his three wives and his first cousin, Maria Anna of Austria. His maternal grandparents were Philipp Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich-Berg and his second wife Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Joseph had nine siblings but only four survived childhood:

Joseph’s father Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor had been married twice before to Margarita Teresa of Spain and Claudia Felicitas of Austria. From these two marriages, Leopold I had six children, however, all except the oldest daughter from his first wife, had died.

Joseph had one surviving half-sister from his father’s first marriage to Margarita Teresa of Spain:

Joseph at the age of six; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph was educated by Karl Theodor Otto, Prince of Salm, Leopold I’s Oberhofmeister, the head of the imperial court and household, and also the first privy councilor, a position similar to a prime minister. When Joseph succeeded his father, Karl Theodor Otto remained Oberhofmeister and first privy councilor. Joseph was studious, multi-talented, and very intelligent. In 1687, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor gave his nine-year-old son the Kingdom of Hungary, one of the Habsburg hereditary lands, to rule over. In 1690, Joseph was elected King of the Romans, meaning he would be elected the next Holy Roman Emperor.

Joseph’s wife Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg; Credit – Wikipedia

On February 24, 1699, in Vienna, Joseph married Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, daughter of Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate. Joseph began having affairs at the age of 15 with maids and noble women. Wilhelmine Amalie was very pious and had received a Catholic education from her great-aunt Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate who had converted to Roman Catholicism, became a nun, and later the abbess at the Cistercian Maubuisson Abbey in France. 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.

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 his wife. The venereal disease was most likely the reason for the failure of the couple to produce more children. Without male heirs, a succession crisis developed over who would inherit the Habsburg hereditary lands of Bohemia, Austria, Croatia, and Hungary. The Holy Roman Emperor was not inherited but was elected by the prince-electors, or electors for short, from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Joseph’s father Holy Roman Leopold I was still alive and he devised the Mutual Pact of Succession, a succession device secretly signed by Joseph and his younger brother Karl in 1703. The Mutual Pact of Succession stated that the Habsburg hereditary lands would be inherited by the brothers’ respective male heirs. However, if one brother 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, the elder brother, would have absolute precedence over the daughters of Karl, the younger brother, and the eldest daughter of Joseph would ascend to the thrones of all the Habsburg hereditary lands.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor died, aged sixty-four, on May 5, 1705, in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, and his 27-year-old son Joseph succeeded him in the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Holy Roman Emperor. His father had left him with the War of the Spanish Succession (1701 – 1715). The death of the last Spanish Habsburg King, Leopold’s childless nephew King Carlos II of Spain resulted in the War of the Spanish Succession in which Leopold and then his son Holy Roman Joseph I unsuccessfully sought to give Leopold’s younger son Karl the entire Spanish inheritance, disregarding the will of the late Carlos II who had named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France, and the grandson of Carlos’ half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor. However, Philippe of France did reign in Spain as King Felipe V, the first King of Spain from the House of Bourbon that still reigns in Spain.

Tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I; Credit – By PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=132637549

Joseph’s reign lasted just six years. During the smallpox epidemic in 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. His tomb, designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, is decorated with images of various battles from the War of Spanish Succession.

Joseph’s brother and successor Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph’s brother Karl succeeded him as the ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. However, Karl’s only son had died in infancy and upon his death, the Habsburg hereditary lands should have gone to Joseph’s daughter Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria as declared in the Mutual Pact of Succession. However, Karl VI’s Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 annulled the Mutual Pact of Succession and made his daughter Maria Theresa the heir to the Habsburg hereditary lands instead of Joseph’s daughter Maria Josepha. When Karl died in 1740, Maria Theresa’s succession to the Habsburg hereditary lands led to the War of Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748), resulting in the eventual confirmation of Maria Theresa’s Habsburg titles.

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Works Cited

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