Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor also King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Joseph II, 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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Joseph II reigned from 1765 to 1790 as Holy Roman Emperor after being elected Holy Roman Emperor following the death of his father Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1765. He was co-regent with his mother from 1765 – 1780 of Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, and several other Habsburg hereditary lands and was the sole ruler from 1780 to 1790, following the death in 1780 of his mother Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, the only woman to be ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands in her own right. Joseph’s mother was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. Maria Theresa, who had arranged for her husband to be elected Holy Roman Emperor, wielded the real power and Joseph’s father was content to leave the act of reigning to his wife.

Born Joseph Benedikt Anton Michael Adam on March 13, 1741, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria, he was the fourth of the sixteen children and the eldest of the five sons of Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1745 – 1765) also Duke of Lorraine (reigned 1729 – 1737), Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1737 – 1765), born of Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1745 – 1765) also Duke of Lorraine (reigned 1729 – 1737), Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1737 – 1765), born François Étienne of Lorraine and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, in her own right Queen of Bohemia (reigned 1740 – 1741 and 1743 – 1780), Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, Archduchess of Austria (reigned 1740 – 1780) along with a number of other titles of Habsburg hereditary lands.

Joseph’s paternal grandparents were Leopold, Duke of Lorraine and Princess Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans, the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (brother of King Louis XIV of France) and his second wife Princess Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate. His maternal grandparents were Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor (and ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands) and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

Joseph’s parents and their family; Joseph is in the red, standing next to his mother; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph had fifteen siblings but eight of them died in childhood and four of the eight died from smallpox:

Joseph in 1765: Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph’s mother Maria Theresa had a comprehensive, detailed educational program arranged for him to prepare him as optimally as possible for his future duties as a ruler. Starting at a young age, he received riding and fencing lessons. A Jesuit priest gave him religious instruction, supplemented by instruction in ethics, morality, and philosophy. Joseph had a talent for languages, learning Latin, French, Italian, Hungarian, and Czech. Science, mathematics, dance, and theater classes were included in the curriculum. As Joseph grew older, the focus shifted to history lessons, and the study of natural, constitutional, church, and international law. He received specific instruction related to the inner workings of the monarchy and military training.
Starting in 1760, Joseph was allowed to participate in the meetings of the high administrative authorities and the Council of State.

Joseph’s first wife Isabella of Parma; Credit – Wikipedia

To strengthen the relations between the Habsburgs and the Bourbons, Joseph’s mother Maria Theresa and King Louis XV of France arranged a marriage between Joseph and Louis XV’s granddaughter Princess Isabella of Parma, daughter of Felipe of Spain, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla and Louise Élisabeth of France. A proxy marriage was held on September 5, 1760 at Padua Cathedral in Padua, then in the Republic of Venice, now in Italy. Josef Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein, who had a successful military career in the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire and as a diplomat for the Holy Roman Empire, was given the honor of escorting Isabella to Vienna, Austria. On October 6, 1760, at the Augustinerkirche (Augustinian Church) in Vienna, Austria, the two 18-year-olds Joseph and Isabella were married by the Papal Nuncio Cardinal Vitaliano Borromeo.

Isabella with her elder daughter Maria Theresa; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph and Isabella had two daughters but neither survived childhood:

Joseph adored his wife but Isabella hated the strict court ceremonies and was very reserved toward Joseph. Joseph’s sister Archduchess Maria Christina was Isabella’s best friend and closest confidante. Some modern historians believe that Isabella and Maria Christina likely had a romantic, and possibly a sexual relationship. They exchanged letters and small notes in French but only the nearly two hundred letters and notes written by Isabella have survived. Isabella’s letters and notes show a deep affection toward Maria Christina and are characteristic of a romantic-sexual relationship.

Isabella had a very difficult first pregnancy with her first child Maria Theresa, suffering from many physical symptoms, depression, and a lingering fear of death. This was only worsened by her inexperienced husband not understanding her problems. Isabella had miscarriages in August 1762 and January 1763. Her mother-in-law Maria Theresa, who had given birth to sixteen children, was so worried that she advised her son Joseph to wait for six months before trying for another child. However, Isabella was soon again pregnant. In the fall of 1763, there was an outbreak of smallpox in and around Vienna, and the pregnant Isabella became ill with smallpox. Isabella’s high fever induced labor three months early, and on November 22, 1763, she gave birth to a second daughter. The baby was baptized Maria Christina, as Isabella requested, but died the same day. Five days later, a month short of her 22nd birthday, Isabella died from smallpox at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Isabella was interred in the Maria Theresa Crypt at the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria. The coffin of her daughter Maria Christina was placed under Isabella’s coffin. In 1770, when Isabella’s elder daughter Maria Theresa died at the age of seven, her tomb was placed next to her mother’s and younger sister’s coffins.

Isabella’s tomb in the middle with the coffin of her younger daughter sticking out underneath. To the right is the tomb of Isabella’s elder daughter Maria Theresa who died in 1770; Credit – By C.Stadler/Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28671919

Joseph was devastated by Isabella’s death and never fully recovered. In a letter to Isabella’s father, Joseph wrote: “I have lost everything. My adorable wife and only friend is no more. (…) What a frightful separation! Can I survive it? Yes, and only to be unhappy all my life. (…) There is nothing I will enjoy ever again.”

Joseph’s second wife Maria Josepha of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

At his mother’s insistence, Joseph married again to his second cousin Maria Josepha of Bavaria, daughter of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Amalie of Austria. After a proxy marriage on proxy on January 13, 1765, Joseph and Maria Josepha were married in person on January 25, 1765, at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. Joseph, who never wanted to remarry after the death of Isabella, found Maria Josepha unattractive. On May 28, 1767, after only two years of a childless marriage, Maria Josepha died of smallpox, as had her predecessor Isabella. Joseph never remarried.

Joseph and Isabella’s daughter Maria Theresa; Credit – Wikipedia

Sadly, Joseph had one more death to endure. On January 23, 1770, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, the seven-year-old daughter of Joseph and his first wife Isabella, died from pleurisy. She was buried next to her mother and sister in a tomb with an effigy representing Maria Theresa sleeping on a bed, covered by a blanket, with her hands in prayer. (See photo above.) Joseph was heartbroken over his daughter’s death and cried out to heaven, “I’ve stopped being a father. Oh my God give me back my daughter…”

Coronation of Joseph as as King of the Romans in Frankfurt Cathedral, April 3 1764; Credit – Wikipedia

During his unsuccessful marriage to Maria Josepha of Bavaria, Joseph’s father Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor died suddenly of a stroke or heart attack on August 18, 1765, at the age of 56, in his carriage while returning from the opera in Innsbruck, Austria. Holy Roman Emperors could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed them after their death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans. In 1764, Joseph had been elected and crowned King of the Romans, and so when his father died, Joseph became Holy Roman Emperor although his mother Maria Theresa continued to wield the real power. On September 17, 1765, Joseph was elevated by his mother Maria Theresa to be her co-regent in the Habsburg hereditary lands. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany that Joseph had inherited from his father was given to his younger brother Leopold, who would be the childless Joseph’s successor.

Joseph in 1775; Credit – Wikipedia

It was not until his mother’s death in 1780, that Joseph could finally pursue his own policies. Josephinism was the name given collectively to his policies. Joseph was educated during the Age of Enlightenment which emphasized rationality, order, and careful organization in statecraft. Joseph issued over 6,000 edicts, plus 11,000 new laws designed to regulate and reorder every aspect of the lands he ruled. Among many other issues, Joseph tried to reduce the influence of the nobility and clergy, and the serfdom of the peasants was abolished in 1781. Despite Joseph’s policies provoking resistance both inside and outside the Habsburg hereditary lands, he is still remembered by historians as an enlightened ruler.

Joseph came from a family in which all members played at least one musical instrument and music was important to him. He declared the Burgtheater in Vienna as the German national theater. Joseph was passionate about opera, and often attended opera rehearsals at the Burgtheater, accompanying the singers on the harpsichord like a professional. Antonio Salieri was his choirmaster and opera director but he focused on the fashionable Italian opera. Joseph commissioned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to write the first opera in the German language: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) in 1782.

Coffin of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor in front of the tomb of his parents; Credit – By Wotau – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21894136

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor died from tuberculosis, aged 48, on February 20, 1790, in Vienna, Austria. Before his death, Joseph had renounced the Habsburg practice of separate burial, a form of partial burial in which internal organs are buried separately from the rest of the body. He was buried in a field marshal’s uniform in an oak coffin at the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria. At a later date, the oak coffin was put in a simple copper coffin and placed in front in front of his parents’ magnificent double sarcophagus.

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

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2021) Francis Stephen of Lorraine, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/francis-stephen-of-lorraine-duke-of-lorraine-grand-duke-of-tuscany-holy-roman-emperor/ (Accessed: 03 September 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: 03 September 2023).
  • Joseph II. (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_II. (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
  • Joseph II (Empereur du Saint-Empire) (2023) Wikipedia (French). Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_II_(empereur_du_Saint-Empire) (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
  • Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 03 September 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Ellen Bischoff-Korthaus, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Ellen Bischoff-Korthaus, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Works Cited

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all our American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving! We will be taking Thanksgiving Day off to spend with family and friends so there will not be a Royal News Recap posted on Thursday, November 23, 2023. We hope all of you, whether celebrating Thanksgiving or not, have a wonderful day.  We’re very thankful that you are all part of our Unofficial Royalty family!

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

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

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

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

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

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

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

Maria Amalie as a child, 1709; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maria Amalie as a widow; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

Works Cited

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

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

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

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

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

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

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

Maria Anna had four younger siblings:

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

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

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

Maria Anna and Georg had nine children:

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

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

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

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

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

Works Cited

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

Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

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

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

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Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

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

Karl had eight siblings:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Works Cited

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

Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

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

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

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

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

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

Hermine had four siblings:

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

Hermine with her husband Adolf; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

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

Hermine as a widow; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

Works Cited

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

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

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

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

Dutch Royal Regalia

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Crown of the Netherlands. source: Wikipedia

The Dutch Royal Regalia consists of five items:

  • The Crown of the Netherlands
  • The Sceptre
  • The Orb
  • The Sword of State
  • The Gonfalon (Banner) of State

Unlike several of the other European monarchies, the Dutch monarchs are not – and never have been – crowned. Upon ascending the throne, the Monarch is inaugurated in a special session of the States General of the Netherlands, held at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. The new King or Queen takes an oath of office in which he/she swears to uphold the Charter and the Constitution of the Netherlands. Although there is no actual crowning, the Regalia is all used in the ceremony. The Crown, Sceptre and Orb are displayed on a credence table situated in front of the new Monarch, along with the Charter and the Constitution. The Sword of State and Gonfalon of State are used in the procession into the Nieuwe Kerk, and are held on the dais on either side of the Monarch during the ceremony..

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The current regalia was commissioned by King Willem II in 1840, replacing an earlier set, made of silver, that had been commissioned by King Willem I in 1815.

The Crown of the Netherlands
The Crown of the Netherlands symbolizes the sovereignty of the Netherlands, as well as the dignity of the Monarch as Head of State. It is made of gilded silver, with eight arches, supporting a monde and cross at the top. The crown is adorned with colored stones and pearls.

The Sceptre and The Orb
The Sceptre symbolizes the Sovereign’s authority, while the Orb symbolizes the Sovereign’s territories.

The Sword of State
The Sword of State symbolizes the Sovereign’s power.

The Gonfalon of State
The Gonfalon of State is a banner made of white moiré silk, hung from a gilded wooden spear. The banner is painted with the Coat of Arms of the Netherlands, as decreed in 1815. (The arms have changed since then, but the Gonfalon retains the original arms from 1815).

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The Crown, Sceptre and Orb displayed at the Inauguration of King Willem-Alexander, April 2013. The Gonfalon of State can be seen to the left of the dais.