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Princess Marie Luise Alexandrina of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (3 February 1808 in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
– 18 January 1877 in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
) was a princess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, by birth, and, by marriage, a princess of
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
. She was the daughter of
Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Charles Frederick (; 2 February 1783 – 8 July 1853) was the reigning Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Biography Born in Weimar, he was the eldest son of Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Luise Auguste of Hesse-Darmstad ...
and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia.


Youth

Princess Marie was the eldest daughter of Prince, and later
Grand Duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly: * in ...
, Charles Frederick of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, who was the sister of Emperor
Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...
. Her father was a shy man, whose favourite reading material were
fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...
until the end of his life. Her mother, by contrast, was "one of the most significant women of her time", according to
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
. Marie and her younger sister Augusta, who became German Empress, received a comprehensive education, which focused on the courtly ceremonial duties they were to have as adults. This education included painting lessons by the court painter Louise Seidler and music lessons by the court conductor
Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. He was a pupil of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Salieri, and ...
. Marie grew up at the court in Weimar, which was considered one of the most liberal in Germany. Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach adopted a
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
in 1816. The court was very receptive towards literature and other art forms, due to the influence of the late Duchess Anna Amalia, who had died in 1807. Goethe had been managing the court theater in Weimar until 1817 and remained a welcome guest at the ducal court afterwards. Marie's grandfather, Duke Charles August was raised to ''Grand Duke'' in 1815, due to the influence of the Tsar and his own attitude at the
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
. This allowed Marie to use the style ''Royal Highness''. Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach also achieved a considerable territorial expansion during the Congress of Vienna.


Marriage


Negotiating a marriage

Marie was 16 years old when she first met her future husband,
Prince Charles of Prussia Prince Frederick Charles Alexander of Prussia (; 29 June 1801 – 21 January 1883) was a younger son of Frederick William III of Prussia. He served as a Prussian general for much of his adult life and became the first ''Herrenmeister'' (Grand M ...
, in
Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...
in 1824. He was the third son of King
Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved ...
and
Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie; 10 March 1776 – 19 July 1810) was Queen of Prussia as the wife of King Frederick William III. The couple's happy, though short-lived, marriage produced nine children, inclu ...
. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and her two daughters were travelling to Russia and had arranged to meet her brother, Grand Duke, and later Tsar,
Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...
, and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna in Frankfurt. When they arrived in Frankfurt, they were welcomed by Prince Charles and his brother
William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...
. King Frederick William III was in favour of Charles marrying Marie and immediately contacted the courts in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
and Weimar to negotiate a marriage arrangement. At the time, Maria Feodorovna, the mother of the Tsar, was still the authority in family matters. Neither she, nor Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, gave the response that Frederick William III had hoped for. Both courts were hoping that Marie could marry an heir to the throne, albeit a throne of a smaller country. The third son of a king was not quite what they had in mind. The Russians proposed that Marie could marry William and his younger brother Charles would marry her younger sister Augusta. This would be a better fit in terms of age and would certainly satisfy the court in Weimar, and William liked Marie more than he did Augusta. Frederick William III, however, saw nothing in this proposal, which completely ignored the feelings of his sons. Things were further complicated by William's being in love with Princess Elisa Radziwill. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna tried to defame ''Ms. Radziwiłł'' with every means available. Outwardly, she did not want to base her daughter's marriage on the ruins of William's happiness. She hoped that William would marry Elisa morganatically, not have a legitimate heir, and the Prussian throne would be inherited by the heirs of Charles and Marie. So she would not actually have been very happy if William were to break off his relationship with Elisa and marry a lady of his own rank and have legitimate heirs. An ally in her quest to paint Elisa as lower nobility was Grand Duke George of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, brother of Charles and William's late mother Queen Louise. Negotiations had already lasted more than two years when Maria Feodorovna managed to persuade her daughter to agree to a marriage between Charles and Marie, without putting any conditions on William.


Two marriages

On 26 May 1827, Princess Marie married Prince Charles of Prussia in
Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
(now part of Berlin). Their son, Frederich Charles, was born 10 months later. Marie's sister Augusta and Charles' brother Wilhelm (William) gave in to dynastic pressure and married two years later. Their marriage, however, was complex and privately happy one. William regarded his wife as an "outstanding personality", but also as less charming than her older sister; he wrote "the Princess is nice and clever, but she leaves me cold.". Augusta, on the other hand, did at first like her husband and was full of hope for a happy marriage. She was aware of his unrequited love of Elisa Radziwiłł, but she was able to replace her in ways.


Issue

Charles and Marie had three children: * Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia (20 March 1828 – 15 June 1885); married Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau. They had five children. * Princess Louise of Prussia (1 March 1829 – 10 May 1901); married
Alexis, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld ''Alexis'' William Ernest Philip of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (; 13 September 1829 in Burgsteinfurt – 16 August 1905 in Herleshausen) was the last ruling Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld. Life Alexis was a son of the Landgr ...
(1828–1905). * Princess Anna of Prussia (17 May 1836 – 12 June 1918); married Frederick William, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. They had six children.


Court life

Marie's younger sister Augusta was married to the then Crown Prince Wilhelm (William) of Prussia. Marie consequently had lower status, being married to a mere Prince.Pakula, p. 105. She and her husband always resented their inferior position at court. While Charles took out his frustrations on womanizing and political schemes, Marie vied with Augusta over clothes, wigs, and jewels. Charles and Marie ran a fashionable household, surrounding themselves with high society, unlike the sober Wilhelm and intellectual Augusta. Marie loathed both her sister and her successor
Victoria, Princess Royal Victoria, Princess Royal (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa; 21 November 1840 – 5 August 1901) was German Empress and Queen of Prussia as the wife of Frederick III, German Emperor. She was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom ...
(married to the then Crown Prince Frederick). As Victoria was British, most of the vehemently anti-British court was in agreement with Marie that it would have been better had the marriage never occurred. In one letter, Victoria wrote her mother
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
stating that she overheard Marie being told by her sister-in-law the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin how "she never ceased regretting that there is an Englishwoman in the family".Pakula, p. 212.


Life in Berlin and Glienicke

From 1829, the young family lived in their winter residence ''Prince Charles Palace'' at
Wilhelmplatz Wilhelmplatz was a square in the Mitte district of Berlin, at the corner of Wilhelmstrasse and Voßstraße. The square also gave its name to a Berlin U-Bahn station which has since been renamed Mohrenstraße (Berlin U-Bahn), Mohrenstraße. A numb ...
No. 8–9 in Berlin, which had been rebuilt according to a design by
Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, urban planning, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed b ...
. In 1824, Prince Charles had purchased a country house in today's '' Volkspark Glienicke''. Between 1824 and 1826, it was rebuilt by
Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, urban planning, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed b ...
and became Glienicke Palace. This was Charles' and Marie's favourite residence. They added a casino, and the , which was decorated with antique
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
s from
Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...
. In 1835, the rotunda was added and, in the following years, the park was extended. In 1859, Charles purchased Jagdschloss Glienicke for his son Frederick Charles.


Second Schleswig War

On 7 December 1865, King William I appointed Princess Marie as Royal Colonel of the First Westphalian Field Regiment No. 7, in recognition of the regiment's achievements during the
Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...
, against Denmark in 1864. Her son Frederick Charles was a General of the cavalry during this war and had commanded the Prussian troops during the decisive Battle of Dybbøl.


Death

Marie died on 18 January 1877 in Berlin, at the age of 68. Her husband had a vault constructed under the church of Ss. Peter and Paul in the Glienicke park. On his own death in 1883, he was buried beside her.


Ancestry


Footnotes


References

* Harald Eschenburg: ''Die polnische Prinzessin: Elisa Radziwill:die Jugendliebe Kaiser Wilhelms I'', Stuttgart, 1986, * Karl Prinz von Isenburg: '' Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der europäischen Staaten'', 2 vols, Marburg, 1953 *


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Princess Prussian princesses 1808 births 1877 deaths House of Hohenzollern Nobility from Weimar Princesses of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Daughters of dukes