Princess Elisabeth Pauline Alexandrine of Saxe-Altenburg (26 March 1826 – 2 February 1896) was a daughter of

Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Joseph (Joseph Georg Friedrich Ernst Karl; 27 August 1789 – 25 November 1868) was Duke of Saxe-Altenburg from 1834 to 1848. Biography Joseph was the second but first surviving son of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (of Saxe-Altenburg f ...

and his wife

Duchess Amelia of Württemberg Duchess Amelia of Württemberg (; 28 June 179928 November 1848) was the Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg by marriage to Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg. She was a daughter of Duke Louis of Württemberg and Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg. She wa ...

. By marriage, she became Grand Duchess of Oldenburg.

Family and early life

Elisabeth was born on 26 March 1826 in

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen () is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the Hildburghausen district. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra River. The town centre ...

. She was the fourth daughter born to Joseph, the then Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Hildburghausen and his wife

. Her official title was Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Hildburghausen until later that year, when her family moved to

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

as a result of a transfer of territories among the various branches of the Ernestine Wettins. Elisabeth then took the title Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg. In 1834, her father succeeded as

Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Altenburg () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilometers and a populati ...

, but was forced to abdicate in the civil revolution of 1848 due to the conservative, anti-reform nature of his government. Elisabeth and her siblings were educated by Carl Ludwig Nietzsche, a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor and the father of the famous philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

. Her sisters included Queen Marie of Hanover (wife of

George V of Hanover George V (Georg Friedrich Alexander Karl Ernst August; 27 May 1819 – 12 June 1878) was the last King of Hanover, reigning from 18 November 1851 to 20 September 1866. The only child of King Ernest Augustus and Queen Frederica, he succeeded ...

) and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia (wife of

Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia (; 21 September 1827 – 25 January 1892) was the Emperor's Viceroy of Poland from 1862 to 1863 and a general admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy. Early life Konstantin Nikolayevich was born as ...

). Through Alexandra, Elisabeth was an aunt of

Queen Olga of Greece Olga Constantinovna of Russia (; 18 June 1926) was Queen of Greece as the wife of King George I. She was briefly the regent of Greece in 1920. A member of the Romanov dynasty, Olga was the oldest daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaie ...

Marriage

On 10 February 1852, Elisabeth married her second cousin Peter, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg. He would succeed his father the following year as Grand Duke, making Elisabeth Grand Duchess of Oldenburg. She used funds given to her by her father on the occasion of her marriage to set up the ''Elisabeth Foundation'', which still exists today. This fund established the Elisabeth Children’s Hospital, which she oversaw, and throughout her life she was a patron of numerous charities and organizations focused on the well-being of children, sometimes supplemented by her foundation. They had two children: Elisabeth died on 2 February 1896. Her husband died four years later.

Ancestry

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Saxe-Altenburg, Princess Elisabeth of Elisabeth Elisabeth Duchesses in Germany Grand duchesses of Oldenburg Elisabeth 1826 births 1896 deaths Burials at the Ducal Mausoleum, Gertrudenfriedhof (Oldenburg) Daughters of dukes Mothers of German monarchs