Adolphe (Adolf Wilhelm August Karl Friedrich; 24 July 1817 – 17 November 1905) was
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
The Grand Duke of Luxembourg ( lb, Groussherzog vu Lëtzebuerg, french: Grand-duc de Luxembourg, german: Großherzog von Luxemburg) is the monarchical head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it w ...
from 23 November 1890 to his death on 17 November 1905. The first grand duke from the
House of Nassau-Weilburg
The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806.
On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of ...
, he succeeded King
William III of the Netherlands
William III (Dutch: ''Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk''; English: ''William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis''; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until his death in ...
, ending the
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
between the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. Adolphe was
Duke of Nassau
The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...
from 20 August 1839 to 20 September 1866, when the Duchy was annexed to the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
.
Adolphe became
Duke of Nassau
The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...
in August 1839, following the death of his father
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
. The Duchy was annexed to Prussia after Austria's defeat in the
Austro-Prussian War. From 1815 to 1839,
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
was ruled by the
kings of the Netherlands as a province of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. Following the
Treaty of London (1839)
The Treaty of London of 1839, was signed on 19 April 1839 between the Concert of Europe, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Belgium. It was a direct follow-up to the 1831 Treaty of the XVIII Articles, which the Nether ...
, the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
became independent but remained in personal union with the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. Following the death of his sons, the Dutch king William III had no male heirs to succeed him. In the Netherlands, females were allowed to succeed to the throne. Luxembourg, however, followed
Salic law which barred females from succession. Thus, upon King William III's death, the crown of the Netherlands passed to his only daughter,
Wilhelmina, while that of Luxembourg passed to Adolphe in accordance with the
Nassau Family Pact
The Nassau Family Pact was a mutual pact of inheritance and succession made in 1783 by princes of the House of Nassau. It confirmed that Salic Law was to operate in favor of all the agnatic lines of the family, specifically the two senior survivin ...
. Adolphe died in 1905 and was succeeded by his son,
William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
.
Biography
He was a son of
William, Duke of Nassau
Wilhelm (Given names: ''Georg Wilhelm August Heinrich Belgicus''; 14 June 1792, Kirchheimbolanden – 20/30 August 1839, Bad Kissingen) was joint sovereign Duke of Nassau, along with his father's cousin Frederick Augustus, reigning from 1816 unt ...
(1792–1839), and his first wife,
Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen
, image = Luise von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.jpg
, succession = Princess consort of Nassau-Weilburg
, reign = 1816
, succession1 = Duchess consort of Nassau
, reign1 = 1816—1825
, spouse =
, issue = ...
. Adolphe's half-sister,
Sophia of Nassau
Sophia of Nassau (Sophia Wilhelmine Marianne Henriette; 9 July 1836 – 30 December 1913) was Queen of Sweden and Norway as the wife of King Oscar II. She was Queen of Sweden for 35 years, longer than anyone before her, and the longest-servin ...
, was the wife of
Oscar II of Sweden
Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905.
Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norwe ...
.
Duke of Nassau
Adolphe became
Duke of Nassau
The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...
in August 1839 at the age of 22, after the death of his father.
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
had by this time become the capital of the Duchy and Adolphe took up residence in the newly constructed
Stadtschloss in 1841. On 4 March 1848 he consented to the population of Nassau's nine "Demands of the Nassauers". A few years later, however, he revoked his liberal views and took a strongly conservative and reactionary course. In general, though, he was seen as a popular ruler. He supported the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...
in the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866. After Austria's defeat, Nassau was annexed to the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
and he lost his throne on 20 September 1866.
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
In 1879, Adolphe's niece
Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont (Adelheid Emma Wilhelmina Theresia; 2 August 1858 – 20 March 1934) was Queen of the Netherlands and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg as the wife of King-Grand Duke William III. An immensely popular member of the Dutch ...
, the daughter of another of his half-sisters, married
William III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. In 1890, their only daughter
Wilhelmina succeeded on his death without surviving male issue to the Dutch throne, but was excluded from the succession to Luxembourg by
Salic Law. The Grand Duchy, which had been linked to the Netherlands in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
since 1815, passed to Adolphe in accordance with the
Nassau Family Pact
The Nassau Family Pact was a mutual pact of inheritance and succession made in 1783 by princes of the House of Nassau. It confirmed that Salic Law was to operate in favor of all the agnatic lines of the family, specifically the two senior survivin ...
. Adolphe was King-Grand Duke William III's 17th cousin once removed through a male-only line, but was also his 3rd cousin as they both descended from
William IV, Prince of Orange
William IV (Willem Karel Hendrik Friso; 1 September 1711 – 22 October 1751) was Prince of Orange from birth and the first hereditary stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 1747 until his death in 1751. During his whole ...
(he being the paternal great-grandson of William IV's eldest daughter
Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau
Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau (''Wilhelmine Carolina''; 28 February 1743 – 6 May 1787) was a Dutch regent. She was the daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and Anne, Princess Royal. She was regent of the ...
.)
He had, in fact, taken over the regency of Luxembourg for a short time during William III's illness.
In any case, as he was already 73 years old and knew little of Luxembourgish politics, he left his hands off the day-to-day governing. The prime minister
Paul Eyschen
Paul Eyschen (9 September 1841 – 11 October 1915) was a Luxembourgish politician, statesman, lawyer, and diplomat. He was the eighth Prime Minister of Luxembourg, serving for twenty-seven years, from 22 September 1888 until his death, on ...
, in office since 1888, took care of the affairs of state, and this created a tradition that the ruler would remain absent from the politics of the day. In 1902 Adolphe appointed his son William as Lieutenant-Representative. He died in 1905 at his summer home,
Schloss Hohenburg in
Lenggries
Lenggries is a municipality and a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is the center of the Isarwinkel, the region along the Isar between Bad Tölz and Wallgau. The town has about 9,500 inhabitants. By area, it is the largest rural municipality (" Gemei ...
, and in 1953 was buried in the crypt of the church of
Schloss Weilburg.
Marriage and family
On 31 January 1844, Adolphe married firstly in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, niece of
Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. She died less than a year afterwards giving birth to a stillborn daughter. Adolphe built the Russian Orthodox
Church of Saint Elizabeth 1847 to 1855 as her funeral church.
On 23 April 1851, he remarried in
Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau
Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau (german: Adelheid-Marie; french: Adélaïde-Marie) (25 December 1833 – 24 November 1916) was a Princess of Anhalt-Dessau and member of the House of Ascania. As the wife of Adolphe of Nassau, she was Duch ...
. They had five children, of whom only two lived to the age of eighteen and became prince and princess of Luxembourg:
*
William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
William IV (Guillaume Alexander; ''French: Guillaume Alexandre''; 22 April 1852 – 25 February 1912) reigned as the Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 17 November 1905 until his death. He succeeded his father, Adolphe.
William was a Protestant, the ...
(1852–1912)
* Prince Friedrich Paul Wilhelm of Nassau (
Biebrich, 23 September 1854 –
Biebrich, 23 October 1855)
* Princess Marie Bathildis Wilhelmine Charlotte of Nassau (
Biebrich, 14 November 1857 –
Biebrich, 28 December 1857)
* Prince Franz Joseph Wilhelm of Nassau (
Biebrich, 30 January 1859 –
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, 2 April 1875)
*
Princess Hilda Charlotte Wilhelmine (1864–1952), married
Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden
Frederick II (9 July 1857 – 9 August 1928; german: Großherzog von Baden Friedrich II.) was the last sovereign Grand Duke of Baden, reigning from 1907 until the abolition of the German monarchies in 1918. The state of Baden originated from the ...
.
In 1892, Grand Duke Adolphe conferred the personal title of
Prince Bernadotte Prince Bernadotte is a title that has been used by several members of the House of Bernadotte. It is most commonly known as a title granted to men who were formerly titled as princes of Sweden before losing their royal titles when they married unequ ...
in the nobility of Luxembourg as well as the hereditary title of
Count of Wisborg
Count of Wisborg (french: Comte de Wisborg; ; german: Graf von Wisborg) is a title granted by the monarchs of Luxembourg to some men formerly titled as princes of Sweden and their descendants.
Since 1892, the title has been borne by the male-lin ...
on his Swedish nephew,
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
, who had lost his Swedish titles after marrying without his father's approval. Wisborg (also spelled
Visborg
Visborg ( Wisborg) refers to a fortress in the town of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland. Successive fortresses were built in Visby (''borg'' means fortress or castle), though Visborg is usually in reference to the castle built here by King ...
) is the ruins of an old castle in the city of
Visby
Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably th ...
within Oscar's former Dukedom of Gotland, but the title itself was created in the nobility of Luxembourg.
Adelsverein
On April 20, 1842, the
Adelsverein
The ''Mainzer Adelsverein at Biebrich am Rhein'' (''Verein zum Schutze Deutscher Einwanderer in Texas'', "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas"), better known as the ''Mainzer Adelsverein'' (, "Nobility Society of Mainz"), orga ...
, ''Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas'', was organised in the Grand Duke's castle at
Biebrich on the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
. He was named the Protector of the organisation. The Verein was responsible for the large emigration of Germans to
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
in the 19th Century, and on January 9, 1843, established the 4,428 acre
Nassau Plantation in
Fayette County, Texas
Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,435. Its county seat is La Grange. The county was created in 1837 and organized the next year.
History
Fayette County was established ...
and named it after the Grand Duke.
Honours
Arms
File:CoA_Grand_Duke_of_Luxembourg_1890-1898.svg, Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
of Adolphe, 1890 - 1898
File:Arms of the Grand Dukes of Luxembourg prior to 2000.svg, Coat of arms of Adolphe and Grand Duke of Luxembourg in general, 1898 - 2000
References
External links
Adolphe's page on the official website of the Grand-Ducal House of Luxembourg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adolphe, Grand Duke Of Luxembourg
1817 births
1905 deaths
People from Wiesbaden
People from the Duchy of Nassau
Dukes of Nassau
Grand Dukes of Luxembourg
House of Nassau-Weilburg
Protestant monarchs
Luxembourgian Protestants
Burials in the Royal Crypt of Weilburg Schlosskirche
Generals of Cavalry (Prussia)
19th-century Luxembourgian people
Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary
Royal reburials