Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe- Langenburg, full name Adelheid Victoria Amalie Louise Mary Constance zu Hohenlohe -Langenburg ( born July 20, 1835 in Langenburg, † 25 January, 1900 in Dresden ) was a member of the House Hohenlohe and by marriage Duchess of Schleswig -Holstein -Sonderburg- Augustenburg and mother of the last German Empress.
Life
Adelheid was the second daughter of six children of Prince Ernst I of Hohenlohe- Langenburg (1794-1860) and his wife Princess Feodora of Leiningen (1807-1872), only daughter of Prince Emich Carl and his second wife Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg -Saalfeld. His second wife her grandmother married in May 1818 Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III. of Great Britain and Ireland; they were the parents of the future Queen Victoria (1819-1901 ).
The French Emperor Napoleon III. (1808-1873) held in 1852 at the hand of Adelheid, after his marriage have been rejected, Carola of Vasa -Holstein -Gottorp. This was due, among other things, that France so closely connected to England could build, but Adelaide was the niece of Queen Victoria. This prevented the marriage of Adelaide with a 27 -year-older emperor. A few weeks later learned Napoléon III. on the occasion of a ball in the Elysee Palace, the Spanish Countess Eugenie de Montijo (1826-1920) know. The British press reacted with amusement and considered this love match as too bourgeois for a royal house. The British newspaper The Times wrote:
" We learn with some amusement that this romantic event has caused the largest opposition in the annals of France and led to intemperate irritation. The Imperial family, the Council of Ministers and even the lower courtiers regarded this marriage as an amazing humiliation [ ... ]. "
On September 11, 1856 married Princess Adelheid in Langenburg Duke Frederick VIII of Schleswig -Holstein -Sonderburg- August Castle ( 1829-1880 ), the eldest son of Duke Christian August and his cousin ( second degree ) of the Danish Countess Sophie Luise of Danneskjold - Samsøe. From the marriage, which by all accounts was harmonious, had seven children were born:
- Friedrich Wilhelm Victor Ernst Karl Christian August (1857-1858)
- Auguste Viktoria Friederike Luise Feodora Jenny (1858-1921)
- Victoria Augusta Friederike Maria Caroline Mathilde (1860-1932)
- Friedrich Leopold Victor Christian Gerhard (* / † 1862)
- Ernst Günther (1863-1921), ( Titular ) Duke of Schleswig -Holstein -Sonderburg- Augustenburg
- Louise Sophie Henriette Adelheid Amalie (1866-1952)
- Feodora Adelheid Helene Louise Caroline Pauline Alice Jenny (1874-1910), writer and painter
In 1867 the Chancellor Otto von Bismarck completed the annexation of the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein as a province in the Kingdom of Prussia. Adelheid moved back with her family to Primkenau where Frederick VIII after the death of his father in 1869 august burg goods Primkenau as well as an estate in Sweden and Gravenstein Castle, which he had received, managed. Adelaide's husband died in 1880; Adelheid died 1900 in Dresden and was buried at Castle Primkenau.
Honors
The Adelaide Island (Russian Остров Аделаиды ) in Franz Josef Land in 1872 /73, the Austria - Hungarian North Pole Expedition ( popularly also payer Weyprecht expedition called ) in the Arctic Ocean discovered and named in honor of the Duchess Adelheid.