Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the last Grand Duchess of Oldenburg through her marriage to Grand Duke Friedrich August II. She was born in Schwerin in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, on August 10, 1869, the daughter of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and his third wife, Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

Elisabeth Alexandrine had three younger brothers:

Elisabeth Alexandrine had six half-siblings through her father’s first marriage with his first wife Princess Auguste of Reuss-Köstritz:

Elisabeth Alexandrine had one half-sibling through her father’s second marriage with Princess Anna of Hesse and by Rhine:

  • Duchess Anne (1865-1882) – unmarried, died in her teens

Elisabeth Alexandrine’s husband the future Grand Duke Friedrich August II of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 24, 1896, Elisabeth Alexandrine married Friedrich August, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg, as his second wife. He was the son of Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg. Elisabeth Alexandrine and Friedrich August had five children:

After her husband was forced to abdicate on November 11, 1918, when the German Empire fell, the couple took up residence at Rastede Castle in Rastede near Oldenburg, Germany. Elisabeth Alexandrine remained close to her large family, often spending time with her brother, Heinrich, in the Netherlands. Friedrich August died in 1931, and Elisabeth Alexandrine survived him by 24 years.

Schloss Schaumburg. photo: By Johannes Robalotoff – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7536575

Elisabeth Alexandrine died on September 3, 1955, at Schloss Schaumburg in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the home of her son-in-law Josias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and her daughter Altburg Marie. The last Grand Duchess of Oldenburg is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.

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Oldenburg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Elisabeth Anna of Prussia, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Oldenburg

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Elisabeth Anna of Prussia, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia was the first wife of the future Friedrich August II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg. She was born in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany, on February 8, 1857, the daughter of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau, and had four siblings:

Friedrich August II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg

On February 18, 1878, in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Brandenburg, Elisabeth Anne married Friedrich August, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg. He was the son of Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg. The couple was married in a double wedding, along with Princess Charlotte of Prussia and Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Meiningen. Elisabeth Anne and Friedrich had two daughters:

Hereditary Grand Duchess Elisabeth Anna died in Fulda, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Hesse, on August 28, 1895, nearly five years before her husband became the last reigning Grand Duke of Oldenburg. She is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in the German state of Lower Saxony.

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Oldenburg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Friedrich August II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg: The Counts of Oldenburg died out in 1667, after which Oldenburg became a duchy until 1810, when it was annexed by the First French Empire under Napoleon, Emperor of the French. After the final defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna elevated the Duchy of Oldenburg to a Grand Duchy in 1815. The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg consisted of three widely separated territories – Oldenburg, Eutin, and Birkenfeld – now in the German states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and Rhineland-Palatinate. With the fall of the German Empire at the end of World War I, Friedrich August II, the last Grand Duke of Oldenburg was forced to abdicate his throne on November 11, 1918.

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Friedrich August II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Friedrich August II was the last reigning Grand Duke of Oldenburg. He was born in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany, on November 16, 1852, the elder son of Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg. He had one younger brother:

  • Duke Georg Ludwig (1855-1939) – unmarried

Along with his brother, Friedrich August was educated under the direction of the famed Bavarian General Otto von Parseval and then studied at the Universities of Bonn, Strasbourg, and Leipzig before embarking on a world tour.

Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Friedrich August married Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia, in Berlin, on February 18, 1878. She was the daughter of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau. The couple had two daughters:

Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; Credit – Wikipedia

After his first wife died in August 1895, Friedrich August, needing a male heir and a mother for his surviving daughter, remarried. His second wife was Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the daughter of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. They married on October 24, 1896, and had five children:

Friedrich August became Grand Duke of Oldenburg upon his father’s death on June 13, 1900. His reign saw the development of waterways and the expansion of ports along the Weser River to allow for increased trade and economic power for the Grand Duchy. An avid sailor, he received his captain’s license at a young age and was recognized for his skill and efforts after making several water rescues. He was also recognized by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who appointed him Admiral of the Imperial Navy – the only German prince to be given this status. Also possessing a brilliant technical mind, Friedrich August made several inventions, including a ship propeller which received numerous foreign patents. He served as honorary chairman of the Shipbuilding Technical Society and was one of the founders of the German Training Ship Association, which promoted expanded training for the German merchant navy.

Friedrich August II (left) with the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick, 1915. photo: Wikipedia

With the fall of the German Empire at the end of World War I, Friedrich August was forced to abdicate his throne on November 11, 1918. He retired to Schloss Rastede where he took up farming. Claiming an “extremely precarious” financial situation, Friedrich August petitioned the Oldenburg government for an annual allowance the year after his abdication.

Rastede Palace. photo: By N9713 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63250514

Friedrich August II, the last Grand Duke of Oldenburg, died at Schloss Rastede in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, on February 24, 1931. He is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

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Oldenburg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg; source: Wikipedia

Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg (born a Princess of Saxe-Hildburghausen) was Grand Duchess of Oldenburg by her marriage to Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg. She was born Princess Elisabeth Pauline Alexandrine of Saxe-Hildburghausen, in Hildburghausen, on March 26, 1826, the fourth of six daughters of Joseph, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Hildburghausen (later the Duke of Saxe-Altenburg) and Duchess Amelia of Württemberg. Elisabeth’s sisters were:

Peter II of Oldenburg. source: Wikipedia

Elisabeth married the then Hereditary Grand Duke Peter of Oldenburg on February 10, 1852. They were second cousins through their mutual descent from Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg. Elisabeth and Peter had two sons:

Elisabeth became Grand Duchess of Oldenburg upon her husband’s accession in 1853. As Grand Duchess, she oversaw the establishment of the Elisabeth Children’s Hospital and served as the patron of charities and organizations focused on the well-being of children and the less fortunate. Much of this was done through her Elisabeth Foundation, established at the time of her marriage using funds given to her by her father.

Grand Duchess Elisabeth (left) photographed with Queen Amalie of Greece in the 1860s. source: Wikipedia

Grand Duchess Elisabeth died on February 2, 1896, in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany. She was buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in Saint Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Oldenburg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Wedding of Emperor Akihito of Japan and Michiko Shōda

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Akihito and Michiko on their wedding day with Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun; Credit – Wikipedia

Emperor Akihito of Japan, at the time Crown Prince of Japan, and Michiko Shōda were married on April 10, 1959, at the Kashiko-dokoro, the Shinto shrine of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, on the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan.

Emperor Akihito’s Background

Akihito and his mother; Credit – Wikipedia

Emperor Akihito of Japan was born on December 23, 1933, at the Tokyo Imperial Palace. He was the fifth of the seven children and the eldest son of Emperor Hirohito and Princess Nagako of Kuni. Akihito was the heir-apparent to the Chrysanthemum Throne from birth. He had one younger brother and five younger sisters.

Akihito, titled Prince Tsugu, was initially educated by tutors at the Imperial Palace before completing his elementary and secondary education at The Gakushūin (Peers School) in Tokyo. During the American Occupation of Japan, following World War II, he was tutored in English and Western culture, along with some of his siblings. Akihito later briefly attended Gakushūin University, studying Political Science, but did not obtain a degree. On November 10, 1952, he was formally invested as Crown Prince in a ceremony held at the Imperial Palace.

Unofficial Royalty: Emperor Akihito of Japan

Michiko Shōda’s Background

Michiko in 1940;  Credit – Wikipedia

Michiko Shōda was born on October 30, 1934, in Tokyo. She was the eldest daughter and the second of the four children of Hidesaburō Shōda, president, and later honorary chairman of Nisshin Flour Milling Company, and Fumiko Soejima. She had one older brother, one younger brother, and a younger sister. Michiko was raised in Tokyo, where she began her education, studying both a traditional and Western curriculum, learning to speak English and play the piano. During World War II, Michiko’s family left Tokyo because of the American bombings. The family returned in 1946, and Michiko completed her primary and secondary education. She graduated from high school in 1953. She then attended the University of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature. She also attended Harvard University in the United States and Oxford University in England.

Unofficial Royalty: Empress Michiko of Japan

The Engagement

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Crown Prince Akihito and Michiko Shōda first met on a tennis court on August 19, 1956, at Karuizawa, a summer resort. Akihito and Michiko were in opposing mixed pairs in a tournament. Michiko and her partner won the match. Under the strict Imperial Household protocol, the couple could not meet alone during their courtship. They arranged their meetings at tennis courts among other acquaintances. As the relationship blossomed, Akihito called Michiko on the phone, sometimes as many as ten times a day.

The engagement was announced on November 27, 1958. The Imperial Council, which consists of ten palace and civil officials headed by Prime Minister Nobuskue Kishi, unanimously approved the marriage.  Michiko was the first commoner to marry into the Imperial Family, and that did cause some controversy.

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On January 14, 1959, the engagement ceremony (Nosai-no-Gi) was held. The Crown Prince’s chamberlain arrived at the Shōda home with the traditional, plainly wrapped gifts: two enormous fish (tai or red sea bream), six bottles of sake, and five bolts of silk. The fish were laid out head to head, at a slight angle to each other, forming the lucky symbol of the number eight, which is supposed to bring prosperity to the couple. Two simple but elegant unpainted wood boxes carried the other presents, the six bottles of sake, and the five bolts of silk which would be made into kimonos for the future princess. At the three shrines at the Imperial Palace, Akihito, wearing classic Japanese court dress, reported his engagement to his ancestors.

The Wedding Attire

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On the morning of the wedding, Michiko’s body was purified in an ancient ritual. Next, court ladies dressed her in the formal bridal attire, the juni-hitoe, which means a twelve-layered garment. Michiko’s hair was arranged in the puffed classic style with long, artificial strands added down her back. The dressing of her hair and arranging the 30-pound silk kimono with a white silk brocade train took over two hours.

Akihito wore a flowing robe of bright orange, representing the rising sun, which by tradition only a crown prince can wear. Both the bride and groom’s costumes dated back to the Heian Era (794-1185).

The Wedding Ceremony

The Three Palace Sanctuaries at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo; Credit – Imperial Household Agency

Crown Prince Akihito of Japan and Michiko Shōda were married on April 10, 1959, at the Kashiko-dokoro, the Shinto shrine of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess and mythological ancestress of the Imperial Family, part of the Three Palace Sanctuaries on the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan. Television coverage provided millions of Japanese their first-ever glimpse of the Three Palace Sanctuaries. 1,070 guests were invited, including Imperial Family members, the bride’s relatives, government officials, lawmakers, judges, and industrial leaders.  Mrs. Elizabeth Gray Vining from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States, who had been Crown Prince Akihito’s tutor, was the only non-Japanese guest. The groom’s parents, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako, were not among the guests. They stayed in their imperial sitting room a few hundred yards from the shrine, and waited until mid-afternoon when the newlyweds visited them to inform them of the morning marriage. Neither the guests nor the television viewers saw any part of the wedding ceremony. The guests stood in the Imperial Garden and only saw the bride and groom, accompanied by Shinto ritualists, chamberlains, and ladies-in-waiting, as they slowly walked down a long wooden porch.

At 10 AM, Akihito and Michiko were married in the Kekkon-no-gi ceremony before an altar enshrining the Sun Goddess, the guardian of the Imperial Family. The wedding ceremony took only eleven minutes and was held in the presence of only the palace’s chief Shinto ritualist, a chamberlain bearing the centuries-old sword representing the crown prince, a court lady, and an unwed priestess symbolizing purity.

In the inner sanctuary of the shrine, the couple knelt on rice straw mats. The bride was on the left, with the chief ritualist standing on the left. A white silk curtain separated the inner sanctuary from the outer-most part of the shrine, which opens into the Imperial Garden. The chief ritualist gave the bride and groom a sakaki twig, a sacred symbol. Holding the twigs, Akihito and Michiko bowed to the inner sanctuary four times. Although the palace’s chief ritualist, an important figure in the Shinto religion, was present inside the shrine, the Crown Prince was the only person who did any speaking. Akihito read from a 1,200-year-old text, addressing the Sun Goddess: “This is the occasion of my wedding, and we have come before you at the House of Wisdom…We pray for your protection in the future.”

Then the chief ritualist waved a sacred dogwood sprig, and the couple sipped sake from thimble-sized cups and bowed to each other. After the ceremony, Akihito and Michiko went to the Kōrei-den, the Ancestral Spirits Sanctuary, another of the Three Palace Sanctuaries, where the departed spirits of the Imperial Family are enshrined one year after their death, to report the wedding to Akihito’s imperial ancestors. The couple emerged from the shrine for another solemn procession down the wooden porch as husband and wife.

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The bride and the groom were separated until their meeting with the Emperor and Empress at 2:00 PM to report their marriage. For that meeting, they changed into Western evening dress – Akihito wearing white tie and tails and Michiko wearing a low-cut white dress with gold thread, a white stole, and a diamond tiara. They then met with Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako at the Imperial Palace in a ceremony known as Choken-no-Gi (First Audience Ceremony). In the ancient ceremony, Akihito, Michiko, the Emperor, and the Empress were given chopsticks but no food and pantomimed the act of eating together. The newlyweds then drove through the streets of Tokyo, filled with cheering people, to their home. During the ride through the streets of Tokyo, a 19-year-old man threw a rock at the carriage and tried to climb into the carriage. He was immediately restrained by police.

Embed from Getty Images

The couple participated in another ritual, the Kyutyu-Shukuen-no-Gi (Celebratory Banquet) in which rice cakes are offered along with prayers for the birth of a healthy boy. The Kyutyu-Shukuen-no-Gi (Celebratory Banquet) occurred for three nights. Each night, the couple received pounded rice cakes known as mochi. They ate some rice cakes and buried the rest in the Imperial Garden, while the priests chanted prayers for the Crown Princess to have children.

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Works Cited

  • Nytimes.com. (1958). Akihito to Mark Betrothal. [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1958/12/30/archives/akihito-to-mark-betrothal.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].
  • Timesmachine.nytimes.com.(1958). Akihito’s Troth Held Nearer. [online] Available at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/11/22/83426888.html?pageNumber=23 [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].
  • Trumbull, R.(1958). AKIHITO WILL WED TOKYO COMMONER; High Council Backs Prince in His Choice of Bride AKIHITO WILL WED TOKYO COMMONER. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1958/11/27/archives/akihito-will-wed-tokyo-commoner-high-council-backs-prince-in-his.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].
  • Trumbull, R.(1959). Akihito Betrothal Made Official With Simplified Rites in Tokyo; Prince Sends Presents to Miss Shoda, Then Visits Shrines in Palace — Rigid Protocols to Be Eased for Wedding. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1959/01/15/archives/akihito-betrothal-made-official-with-simplified-rites-in-tokyo.html?_r=0 [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].
  •  Trumbull, R. (1958). BRIDE OF AKIHITO TO BE NAMED SOON; Betrothal of Crown Prince to Commoner Is Expected in Tokyo Tomorrow. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1958/11/26/archives/bride-of-akihito-to-be-named-soon-betrothal-of-crown-prince-to.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].
  • Trumbull, R. (1959). Akihito Weds a Commoner in Colorful Japanese Rites; Prince Akihito Weds Commoner in Tokyo Ceremony. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1959/04/10/archives/akihito-weds-a-commoner-in-colorful-japanese-rites-prince-akihito.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].
  • Trumbull, R. (1959). Modern Lovers And Ancient Rituals; Akihito’s choice of a commoner as his bride flouts tradition; but other traditions remain.. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1959/02/22/archives/modern-lovers-and-ancient-rituals-akihitos-choice-of-a-commoner-as.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].
  • Trumbull, R. (1959). Youth Hurls a Rock at Akihito’s Bridal Carriage; The Royal Wedding Is the Climax to a Day of Pageantry in Tokyo TOSSED ROCK MARS AKIHITO WEDDING. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1959/04/11/archives/youth-hurls-a-rock-at-akihitos-bridal-carriage-the-royal-wedding-is.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2017). Wedding of Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan and Masako Owada. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/wedding-of-crown-prince-naruhito-of-japan-and-masako-owada/ [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017].

Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg: The Counts of Oldenburg died out in 1667, after which Oldenburg became a duchy until 1810, when it was annexed by the First French Empire under Napoleon, Emperor of the French. After the final defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna elevated the Duchy of Oldenburg to a Grand Duchy in 1815. The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg consisted of three widely separated territories – Oldenburg, Eutin, and Birkenfeld – now in the German states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and Rhineland-Palatinate. With the fall of the German Empire at the end of World War I, Friedrich August II, the last Grand Duke of Oldenburg was forced to abdicate his throne on November 11, 1918.

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Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Peter II was Grand Duke of Oldenburg from 1853 until he died in 1900. He was born Prince Nikolaus Friedrich Peter on July 8, 1827, in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, the only child of Grand Duke August I of Oldenburg and his second wife, Princess Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym.

Peter had five half-siblings from his father’s other marriages:

  • Duchess Amalie (1818-1875) – married Prince Otto of Bavaria, later King of Greece, no issue
  • Duchess Friederike (1820-1891) – married Baron Maximilian Emanuel von Washington, had issue
  • Duke Alexander (1834-1835) – died in infancy
  • Duke August (1836-1837) – died in infancy
  • Duke Elimar (1844-1895) – married Baroness Natalie Vogel von Friesenhof, had issue

Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

After receiving his education, Peter served in both the Prussian and Hanoverian armies. In February 1852, he married Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg, the daughter of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Duchess Amelia of Württemberg.

The couple had two sons:

Peter became Grand Duke upon his father’s death in February 1853. He sided with Russia during the Crimean War and later, during the Second Schleswig-Holstein War, he laid claim to part of the territory seized by Prussia. In a treaty with Prussia, signed in February 1867, Peter gave up his claims. In exchange, he received the district of Ahrensbök and the Prussian part of the former Principality of Lübeck. This expanded territory gave Oldenburg direct access to the Baltic Sea. He also fought with Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War.

Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Grand Duke Peter II died at his summer residence, Rastede Castle, in Rastede, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, on June 13, 1900. He is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in Saint Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in the German state of Lower Saxony. Peter was succeeded by his elder son, Friedrich August, the last reigning Grand Duke of Oldenburg.

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Oldenburg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Cecilia of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Cecilia of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Cecilia of Sweden was the third wife of Grand Duke August I of Oldenburg, and the only one of his three wives to hold the title of Grand Duchess. She was born at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on June 22, 1807, the youngest child of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and Princess Friederike of Baden. Cecilia had four siblings:

Cecilia was not yet two years old when her father was deposed as King of Sweden in 1809. The family moved to Baden, and her parents divorced three years later. After that, Cecilia was raised primarily by her maternal grandmother Princess Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, Hereditary Princess of Baden at Schloss Bruchsal in Bruchsal, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Grand Duke August of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

In October 1830, Cecilia met her future husband. Grand Duke August stopped in Bruchsal during his travels, and within just an hour of conversation, he asked for her hand in marriage. Cecilia then moved to Vienna, where her brother was serving in the court of the Austrian Emperor Franz I. There, on May 5, 1831, Cecilia and August were married.

Cecilia and August had three sons:

  • Duke Alexander (1834-1835) – died in infancy
  • Duke Nikolaus (1836-1837) – died in infancy
  • Duke Elimar (1844-1895) – married Baroness Natalie Vogel von Friesenhof, had issue

As Grand Duchess, Cecilia worked to promote the arts in Oldenburg, helping to found the city’s first theater, and writing the melody of a hymn that would later become the unofficial anthem of the Grand Duchy. Despite her efforts, she never found a connection to the people of Oldenburg outside of her court, and those within the artistic communities.

Grand Duchess Cecilia died in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany, on January 27, 1844, just days after giving birth to her youngest son. She is buried in the Grand Ducal Mausoleum in Saint Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

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Oldenburg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, Hereditary Princess of Oldenburg

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, Hereditary Princess of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym was the second wife of the future Grand Duke August I of Oldenburg. She was born at Schaumburg Castle in the Principality of  Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, now in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on March 10, 1804, to Victor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym and Princess Amalie of Nassau-Weilburg.

Ida had three sisters:

August of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 24, 1825, Ida married the then Hereditary Prince August of Oldenburg. He previously had been married to her elder sister Adelheid, who died in 1820. In addition to becoming stepmother to her two nieces, Ida and her husband had one son:

Sadly, Hereditary Princess Ida died on March 31, 1828, just three years after her marriage, in Oldenburg, Duchy of Oldenburg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany. She is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum at Saint Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Oldenburg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Adelheid of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, 1st wife of Grand Duke August I of Oldenburg

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Adelheid of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Adelheid of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym was the first wife of the future Grand Duke August I of Oldenburg. She was born at Schaumburg Castle in the Principality of  Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, now in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on February 23, 1800, to Victor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym and Princess Amalie of Nassau-Weilburg. Adelheid had three sisters:

August of Oldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

On July 24, 1817, Adelheid married the then-Duke August of Oldenburg at Schaumburg Castle. The couple had two daughters:

Duchess Adelheid died suddenly on September 13, 1820, in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in the German state of Lower Saxony. She was just twenty years old. She is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum at Saint Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg. Five years after her death, her husband married her youngest sister Ida.

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Oldenburg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

April – May 1918: Royalty and World War I

by Susan Flantzer

  • Captain The Honorable Harold Fox Pitt Lubbock
  • Timeline: April 1, 1918 – May 31, 1918
  • A Note About German Titles
  • April- May 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

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Captain The Honorable Harold Fox Pitt Lubbock

Photo Credit – http://www.rutlandremembers.org/

Captain The Honorable Harold Fox Pitt Lubbock was the second son in his family to be killed in action during World War I. His younger brother Captain The Honorable Eric Fox Pitt Lubbock was killed in aerial combat in Ypres, Belgium on March 11, 1917, at the age 23.

Born in London on June 10, 1888, Harold was the elder of the three sons and the third of the five children of John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury and his second wife Alice Augusta Laurentia Lane Fox-Pitt.  His mother was daughter of Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt Rivers, whose collection of about 22,000 objects was the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford which this author can verify is quite interesting. Harold’s father John Lubbock was a banker and a Liberal Member of Parliament who is most known for bank holidays which he introduced in the Bank Holidays Act 1871.  Lubbock was also an archaeologist and coined the terms “Palaeolithic” and “Neolithic” to denote the Old and New Stone Ages.

Harold had six half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Ellen Frances Hordern who died in 1879. His eldest half-brother John Birkbeck Lubbock succeeded their father as the 2nd Baron Avebury. The 2nd Baron never married and when he died, he was succeeded by Harold’s son John Lubbock, 3rd Baron Avebury.

Harold was educated at St. Aubyns School, a preparatory school in Rottingdean, and Eton College. He then attended Trinity College, Cambridge University. After university, Harold entered the family profession, banking, and eventually became a partner in Coutts & Co, the seventh oldest bank in the world. Several years before the outbreak of World War I, Harold joined The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Yeomanry, a volunteer force.

On June 10, 1914, Harold married The Honorable Dorothy Charlotte Forster, daughter of Henry William Forster, 1st and last Baron Forster and The Honorable Rachel Cecily Douglas-Scott-Montagu. The couple had two children:

  • John Lubbock, 3rd Baron Avebury (1915 – 1971), married (1) Cecily Sparrow, no children, divorced (2) Diana Westcott King, one daughter, divorced (3) Betty Gay Ingham, no children
  • The Honorable Ursula Moyra Lubbock (1917 – 1992), married Dorian Williams, no children, divorced

At the beginning of World War I, Harold served with The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Yeomanry in the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign fighting a losing campaign against the troops of the Ottoman Empire. In December 1915, his regiment was sent to Palestine where he served as an Adjutant and was promoted to Captain. Harold yearned to serve on the Western Front and so he obtained a transfer to the Grenadier Guards with a reduced rank of Lieutenant. On December 28, 1917, he was sent to France. He finally made it to the trenches of the Western Front on March 29, 1918.

On March 21, 1918, the Germans began their spring offensive in France, Operation Michael also called the Second Battle of the Somme and Harold took part in the defensive action. Unfortunately, he did survive long, being killed in action on April 4, 1918, near Arras, France at the age 29. The regimental history says:

“The 2nd Battalion went up into the line [on 3 April 1918] and found the trenches very wet. On the 4th, during a heavy shelling, which was entirely directed against no.1 Company on the right, Lieutenant the Hon H F P Lubbock was killed by a shell which pitched in the trench. This was a great loss to the battalion, for he was an officer of sound judgment, who did not know what fear was. Corporal Teague MM was killed at the same time, and 6 men were wounded.”

Harold was buried in Boisleux-au-Mont Communal Cemetery in Boisleux-au-Mont, France. Sadly, his widow also lost both her brothers in the war.

Grave of Captain The Honorable Harold Fox Pitt Lubbock; Photo Credit – http://www.rutlandremembers.org/

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lubbock,_1st_Baron_Avebury [Accessed 29 Oct. 2017].
  • Lubbock, T. (2017). Captain The Honourable Harold Fox-Pitt Lubbock. [online] Rutland Remembers. Available at: http://www.rutlandremembers.org/fallen/277/lubbock-captain-the-honourable-harold-foxpitt [Accessed 29 Oct. 2017].
  • Luscombe, S. (2017). The Grenadier Guards. [online] Britishempire.co.uk. Available at: http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/britishinfantry/grenadierlubbock.htm [Accessed 29 Oct. 2017].

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Timeline: April 1, 1918 – May 31, 1918

April 10, 1918 – British 55th (West Lancashire) Division troops blinded by tear gas await treatment at an Advanced Dressing Station near Bethune, France after the Battle of Estaires; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire. The constituent states retained their own governments but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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April – May 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website. If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

Photos below of Harold Lubbock and William FitzRoy are from www.findagrave.com and photo below of Erbprinz Philipp Hermann is from https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.geni.com

Captain The Honorable Harold Fox Pitt Lubbock (see article above)

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Philipp Hermann, Erbprinz zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich

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Lieutenant Ebenezer Maclay

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Ferdinand Carl Heinrich Fischler, Graf von Treuburg

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Lieutenant William Henry Alfred FitzRoy, Viscount Ipswich

Grave of Lieutenant William Henry Alfred FitzRoy, Viscount Ipswich; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

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Lieutenant The Honorable Philip Granville James Fitzalan-Howard

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