Showing posts with label Hohenzollern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hohenzollern. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, First German Empress

Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach,
Queen of Prussia and Empress of Germany
Empress Augusta, consort of Emperor William I and the first empress of Germany, was born a Princess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach on September 30, 1811. She was the youngest daughter of Grand Duke Carl Frederick of Saxe-Weimar and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Catherine the Great.

Princess Augusta spent her formative years in the literary court of Weimar. She received a well-rounded education that was carefully supervised by her mother. Maria Pavlovna was a highly-cultivated woman who presided over the cultural development of Weimar, while Augusta's father was a simple and timid man who nevertheless enjoyed the works of Goethe. Maria Pavlovna instilled in her daughter the strict observance of etiquette and courtly manners, and above all else, the importance of performing one's duties. Thus, while Augusta grew up in the romantic atmosphere of the Weimar court, where Goethe and other well-known writers and musicians throughout Germany frequented the grand ducal palaces, she also turned into an intelligent and well-read woman who possessed a firm and independent character.


Friday, December 2, 2011

Napoleon Bonaparte and Queen Louise of Prussia


The Treaty of Tilsit
Napoleon receives the Queen of Prussia at Tilsit, July 6, 1807.
The painting also shows King Frederick William III of Prussia and Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
(Painting by Jean Charles Tardieu)

Queen Louise accompanied her husband with the hope of helping him secure better terms for Prussia. Unfortunately, Napoleon proved to be adamant. In the course of this infamous and momentous meeting, the French emperor offered the beautiful queen a rose, which she took, and asked furtively, "With Magdeburg, Sire?" Napoleon sternly answered: "Madam, it is mine to give, yours to accept what I offer!" This rebuff proved to be the Queen's breaking point, for she was already by this time suffering from ill health and was so worn out with anxiety for her husband and the whole country. Her grief for her suffering people and her hapless country took its toll, and Queen Louise died before she could ever see Prussia's victory and the overthrow of Napoleon Bonaparte. Before she died, she was said to utter the words: "Were they to open my heart, they would find Magdeburg engraved upon it."


Saturday, August 20, 2011

Napoleon's Beautiful Enemy: Queen Louise of Prussia

Princess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
Queen of Prussia

She was a glamorous figure of her day. A beautiful and fashionable young woman, her popularity is very similar to that of Diana, Princess of Wales and the Austrian Empress Elizabeth. She was probably the most famous and well-loved queen consort in German history. She was Queen Louise of Prussia, wife of King Frederick William III of Prussia. She influenced her contemporaries and modern Germany probably more than any other woman. Often called the “Queen of Hearts”, she impressed those around her with her beauty, charisma and cheerful, friendly nature. Her legacy was further cemented by her infamous meeting with Napoleon Bonaparte of France, and thus became the symbol of German national unity that eventually led to the creation of the German Empire.

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