Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg

Alexandra Friederike Henriette Pauline Marianne Elisabeth of Saxe- Altenburg ( born July 8, 1830 in Altenburg, .. † 23 Junijul / July 6 1911greg in Saint Petersburg ) was a princess of Saxe- Altenburg and by marriage under the name Alexandra Iosifowna ( Russian Александра Иосифовна ) Russian Grand Duchess.

Life

Alexandra was the youngest of the four surviving daughters of Duke Joseph of Saxe- Altenburg (1789-1868) from his marriage to Amalie (1799-1848), daughter of Duke Louis of Württemberg. Together with her sisters Marie, Therese Elisabeth and she was trained by Carl Ludwig Nietzsche. With his son Friedrich Nietzsche Alexandra was in touch and met him in 1869 on a trip to Switzerland in Basel.

After a visit with his sister Olga in Stuttgart learned Grand Duke Constantine (1827-1892) in Altenburg, the 14 -year-old Alexandra know. This was drawn at a spa stay of the family in Bad Kissingen 1844 by their pleasant appearance and her lively spirit, the attention of the Russian royal family to be.

Constantine was to marry eager Alexandra and wrote to his parents: "This or none." Alexandra in 1847 in Russia and married the Grand Duke on September 11, 1848 in St. Petersburg. They performed under the name Alexandra Iosifowna over to the Russian Orthodox Church.

At the court she was later known as "Aunt Sanny ". She supported and pressed her husband in his reform activity, which was reflected in the abolition of serfdom and the constitution of her brother Alexander II. Alexandra was one of the most impressive and beautiful women at the court of St. Petersburg. She was a close friend of Empress Maria Alexandrovna and announced after Tsar Alexander II turned to the Princess Dolgoruky: " This will be our all lot: Exit, lonely and we will die, while our men look at other women distraction. Arms Empress ".

Alexandra was a gifted musician and composed marches. Johann Strauss dedicated her the Strelna terraces Quadrille Op. 185

When her husband of ballerina Anna Wassiljewna Kuznetsova (1847-1922) turned, she stopped him anyway connected condoled him on the early death of two children of Constantine with the beloved. In 1870, her eldest son tried together with his American lover, to steal their diamonds, the Tsar Nicholas I had given her. He was banished and declared non compos mentis. 1879 her youngest son died of tuberculosis.

After the death of her husband she was, among other heir of Constantine Palace in Strelna. Seriously ill in old age and nearly blind, she lived a secluded part in the St. Petersburg marble palace, partly in Wiesbaden. Alexandra is buried at her husband's side in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.