Augusta of Saxe-Weimar
Princess Augusta Marie Luise Katharina of Saxe-Weimar, Duchess in Saxony (
September 30 1811–
January 7 1890), later the
Queen of Prussia and
German Empress was the consort of
Wilhelm I of Germany.
Augusta was the second daughter of
Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and
Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a daughter of
Paul I of Russia and
Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
While her father was a spiritually-limited person, whose preferential reading up to the end of his life was fairy tales,
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe spoke of her mother as "one of the best and most significant women of her time." Augusta received a comprehensive education, including drawing lessons from the court painter,
Luise Seidler, as well as music lessons from the court bandmaster,
Johann Nepomuk Hummel.
Augusta was only fifteen years old, when in
1826, she and her future husband met. Wilhelm thought of the young Augusta as having an "excellent personality," yet was less attractive than her older sister Marie (whom Wilhelm's younger brother, Karl, had already married). Above all, it was Wilhelm's father who pressed him to consider Augusta as a potential wife.
At the time, Wilhelm was in love with the Polish princess,
Elisa Radziwill. The crown prince at the time was Wilhelm's elder brother, Friedrich Wilhelm (later
Friedrich Wilhelm IV), however, he and his wife had as yet had no children. Wilhelm was thus
heir presumptive to the throne and expected to marry and produce further heirs. Friederich Wilhelm III was fond of the relationship between Wilhelm and Elisa, but the Prussian court had discovered that her ancestors had bought their princely title from
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and she was not deemed noble enough to marry the heir to the Prussian throne. So, in
1824, the King turned to childless
Alexander I of Russia to adopt Elisa, but the Russian ruler declined. The second adoption plan by Elisa's uncle,
Prince Augustus of Prussia, likewise failed, because the responsible committee considered that adoption does not change "the blood." Another factor was
Queen Louise's influence in the German and Russian courts (she was not fond of Elisa's father).
Thus, in June
1826, Wilhelm's father felt forced to demand the renunciation of a potential marriage to Elisa. Thus, Wilhelm spent the next few months looking for a more suitable bride, but did not relinquish his emotional ties to Elisa. Eventually, Wilhelm asked for Augusta's hand in marriage on
August 29 (in writing and through the intervention of his father). Augusta happily agreed and on
25th October,
1828, they were engaged. Wilhelm saw Elisa for the last time in
1829. Elisa was later engaged to
Friedrich of Schwarzenberg, but the engagement failed and she died, unmarried, in
1834, of
tuberculosis.
Historian Karin Feuerstein-Prasser has pointed out on the basis of evaluations of the correspondence between both fiancées, what different expectations Wilhelm had of both marriages: Wilhelm wrote to his sister
Charlotte, the wife of
Nicholas I of Russia, with reference to Elisa Radziwill: "One can love only once in life, really" and confessed with regard to Augusta, that "the princess is nice and clever, but she leaves me cold." Augusta was in love with her future husband and hoped for a happy marriage, but the unhappy relationship between Wilhelm and Augusta was known to Elisa Radziwill, and she believed herself to be a suitable substitute for him.
On
June 11,
1829, after a strenuous 3-day trip from Weimar to
Berlin, Wilhelm married his fiancée, fourteen years younger than him, in the chapel of
Schloss Charlottenburg.
The first weeks of marriage were harmonious; Augusta was taken favorably in the Prussian king's court, however, Augusta soon started to be bored with its military soberity, and most courtly duties (which may have counteracted this boredom) were reserved to her sister-in-law,
Crown Princess Elisabeth.
In a letter which Wilhelm wrote on
22 January,
1831 to his sister Charlotte, he complained of the lacking femininity of his wife. That aside, their first child, Prince Friedrich (later
Friedrich III of Germany), was born later that year on
18 October,
1831, three years after their marriage and their second child,
Louise, was born on
3 December,
1838, seven years later. Augusta later had two miscarriages in
1842 and
1843. She had also gone through manic-depressive phases since
1840; she felt unwanted due to Wilhelm having mistresses and suffered from the huge pressure under which she stood.
Augusta was very interested in politics and like so many other liberally-minded people of the time, she was hopeful about the accession of Friedrich Wilhelm IV, her brother-in-law, who was regarded as a modern and open king. However, the king refused to grant a constitution to Germany and led a far more conservative government, unlike his liberal ideals during his years as crown prince. A "United
Landtag" was created by the king in reaction to the crop failures and hunger revolts of
1847, but was soon dissolved a few months later. Prince Wilhelm was held responsible for the bloodshed of the
March revolution in
1848, in
Berlin and on the advice of the king, Wilhelm fled to
London and Augusta withdrew to
Potsdam with their two children.
In liberal circles, an idea was seriously discussed on whether or not to force the king to abdicate, the crown prince renounce his rights to the throne and instead have Augusta take up a regency for their son. Because the letters and diaries of that time were later destroyed by Augusta, it is not clear whether she seriously considered this option. After, in May
1848, 800 members of the German
National Assembly met in the
Frankfurter Paulskirche to discuss German unification and Prince Wilhelm returned from London the following month. A year later, in
1849, he was appointed Governor-General of the Rhine Province and in the spring of
1850, he and Augusta took up residence in
Koblenz.
|
The Empress Augusta Monument in Koblenz. |
Augusta enjoyed life in Koblenz and it was here that she could finally live out court life as she was accustomed to during her childhood in
Weimar. Meanwhile, their son Friedrich studied nearby in
Bonn and became the first Prussian prince to receive an academic education.
Koblenz was subsequently visited by many liberal-minded contemporaries, including the historian
Max Dunker and legal professors
August von Bethmann,
Clemens Theodor Pertes and
Alexander von Schleinitz. Critically, Augusta's tolerance towards
Catholicism at Koblenz (and throughout her lifetime) was scorned at in Berlin and was felt inappropriate of a Prussian Protestant princess.
In
1856, Augusta's and Wilhelm's only daughter,
Princess Louise (then 17), married
Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden and in
1858, their son
Friedrich married the
Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom,
Queen Victoria's eldest child. Augusta saw this as a personal triumph and hoped her new daughter-in-law's upbringing in a contemporary country like the
United Kingdom would guide Friederich in the direction of a liberal monarchy at home.
In
1858, Wilhelm became regent after his brother was no longer able to lead his government due to suffering several strokes and he and his wife travelled to the court at Berlin.
Wilhelm soon dismissed the old ministry when he succeeded his childless brother as king in
1861 and appointed liberal ministers of his own, notably from his own court at Koblenz, inlcluding: Alexander von Schleinitz, who became Foreign Secretary; August von Bethmann, who became Minister of Culture; and
Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen who became
Prime Minister of Prussia. The conservative opponents saw this as the work of Augusta, but her political influence on Wilhelm was rather low. This became evident a few months later, when he dissolved parliament, which was not bending to his will and the king appointed
Otto von Bismarck as the new Prussian Prime Minister. Augusta, now Queen, regarded Bismarck as her mortal enemy and Bismarck likewise despised Augusta for her (albeit low) influence on her husband.
Augusta was particularly horrified at Bismarck's foreign policy and his cause in the commencement of the
Austro-Prussian War. At the same time she become more and more estranged from the king and Bismarck began to comment negitavely on the queen in parliament; the Queen reacted by being rude to Bismarck's wife, Johanna.
The Queen soon began to suffer from her manic-depressive phases again and started making frequent trips to
Baden-Baden, in search of a cure. At this time, the Prussian population was rejoicing in the victory at
Königgrätz, but Augusta began mourning for the dead and injured. Augusta also became estranged from her daughter-in-law, Vicky, who began to sympathise with the Prussian cause and Bismarck's policies. The religious and distinctively dutiful Augusta felt Victoria to be "without religion," scorned at her occasional absenteeism from official occasions, but began to take an interest in the upbringing of her grandson,
Wilhelm, and held him in high esteem.
Augusta, who clearly abhorred war, founded the National Women's Association in
1864, which looked after wounded and ill soldiers and convened with
Florence Nightingale for ideas. Several hospital foundations exist today from Augusta's initiative, including the
German Society For Surgery.
The Austro-Prussian War soon ended in
1866 but four years later, the
Franco-Prussian War started in
1870 and Augusta continued to hold Bismarck personally responsible. However, the aftermath of the war left Wilhelm as
German Emperor and thus, Augusta, as German Empress.
Augusta felt the Imperial Crown a personal defeat; she wanted the Prussian supremacy in Germany to succeed by "moral conquest" and not by bloodshed. Her opinion of the war was established by erecting an educational establishment in
Potsdam in
1872, as "a home for the education of destitute daughters of German officers, military officials, priests and doctors from the field of honour as a result of the war of 1870/71."
Augusta buried her indifferences with Bismarck only in her last years as it seemed he was the only suitable man to support her beloved grandson,
Wilhelm. However, Wilhelm disliked Bismarck and soon forced him to resign during the first few years of Wilhelm's reign.
Augusta had suffered from
rheumatism for many years and in June
1881, she received heavy injuries from a fall which left her dependant on
crutches and a
wheelchair, but this did not hinder her from fulfilling her duties.
She finally made amends with her husband on his ninetieth birthday in
1887, but he soon died a year later. Only ninety-nine days later, her son, who had succeeded to the throne as Friedrich III, succumbed to
cancer of the larynx. She did, however, see her beloved grandson Wilhelm crowned king and emperor that year, but died a year later on
7 January,
1890, aged 78. Augusta was buried in the mausoleum of
Charlottenburg beside her husband.
* Karin Feuerstein-Praßer;
Die deutschen Kaiserinnen 1871 â€" 1918, Regensburg 1997, ISBN 3-492-23641-3
* Wilhelm Treue (Hsg);
Drei Deutsche Kaiser â€" Ihr Leben und Ihre Zeit 1858 â€" 1918, Verlag Ploetz, Würzburg 1987, ISBN 3-87640-192-5
*
Monument of the empress Augusta in Baden-Baden *
Biography of Empress Augusta *
Short biography of Empress Augusta
