Charles Frederick (; 2 February 1783 – 8 July 1853) was the reigning Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Biography

Born 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 ...

, he was the eldest son of Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Luise Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt. Charles Frederick succeeded his father as Grand Duke when the latter died in 1828. His capital,

, continued to be a cultural center of

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

, even after the death of

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 ...

in 1832. Johann Nepomuk Hummel made his career in Weimar as ''Kapellmeister'' until he died in 1837.

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

settled in Weimar in 1848 as ''Kapellmeister'' and gathered about him a circle that kept the Weimar court a major musical centre. Due to the intervention of Liszt, the composer

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

found refuge in Weimar after he was forced to flee

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

for his role in the revolutionary disturbances there in 1848-49. Wagner's opera ''Lohengrin'' was first performed in Weimar in August 1850. Charles Frederick died at Schloss Belvedere, Weimar, in 1853 and was buried in the Weimarer Fürstengruft.

Family and children

In St. Petersburg on 3 August 1804, Charles Frederick married the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, daughter of Emperor Paul I. They had four children: * Paul Alexander ''Karl'' Constantin Frederick August (b. Weimar, 25 September 1805 – d. Weimar, 10 April 1806). * ''Marie'' Luise Alexandrine (b. Weimar, 3 February 1808 – d. Berlin, 18 January 1877), married on 26 May 1827 to Karl of Prussia. * Marie Luise ''Augusta'' Katharine (b. Weimar, 30 September 1811 – d. Berlin, 7 January 1890), married on 11 June 1829 to Wilhelm of Prussia, who became Wilhelm I, German Emperor. * ''Karl Alexander'' August Johann, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. Weimar, 24 June 1818 – d. Weimar, 5 January 1901), married on 8 October 1842 to Sophie of the Netherlands.

Ancestry

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles Frederick Of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Grand Duke 1783 births 1853 deaths Princes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Nobility from Weimar Grand dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary 18th-century nobility from the Holy Roman Empire