Princess Amalia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Amalia Maria da Gloria Augusta; 20 March 1830 – 1 May 1872) was a Dutch princess as the first wife of
Prince Henry of the Netherlands, son of king
William II of the Netherlands.
Life
Family
She was the daughter of
Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and
Princess Ida of Saxe-Meiningen.
Princess of the Netherlands
She first met Henry, alongside his brother
Alexander on the island of
Madeira
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in 1847. She married Henry in
Weimar on 19 May 1853. They divided their time between
Walferdange Castle in
Luxembourg, where Henry was
stadhouder, and the Soestdijk Palace during the summer.
The marriage remained childless but was described as a happy one, with Amalia acting as the confidante, support and adviser of Henry, and as an intermediary during family conflicts. She may have influenced Henry's defense of the independent position of Luxemburg during the conflict of 1866–1870.
As she had been before her marriage, she had a great interest in charity, which made her popular in Luxemburg. It was thanks to her that
kindergartens (initiated by
Friedrich Fröbel) were introduced into the area.
On her death in 1872 she was buried in the
Nieuwe Kerk at
Delft
Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...
. In 1876 the city of Luxembourg unveiled a statue of her in Henry's presence.
References
Ancestry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amalia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
1830 births
1872 deaths
House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Princesses of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Nobility from Ghent
Burials in the Royal Crypt at Nieuwe Kerk, Delft
Dutch princesses