William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Wilhelm Ernst Karl Friedrich Heinrich Alexander Bernhard Georg Hermann Albert of Saxe -Weimar- Eisenach ( born June 10, 1876 in Weimar, † April 24, 1923 in Heinrichau, Silesia) was from January 7 1901 to 1903 Grand Duke of Saxe -Weimar -Eisenach and up to the November Revolution of 1918 by renaming the last Grand Duke of Saxony.

Life

Wilhelm Ernst was the elder of the two sons of the Hereditary Grand Duke Karl August of Saxe- Weimar -Eisenach (1844-1894) from his marriage to Pauline (1852-1904), daughter of Prince Hermann of Saxe -Weimar- Eisenach. He succeeded his grandfather Charles Alexander in 1901 as Grand Duke of Saxe -Weimar -Eisenach, as his father had already died in 1894. As a legacy of the assets of his grandmother Sophie Wilhelm Ernst was the richest German prince of his time. First was from 1881 to 1889 Karl Muthesius, later seminar director in Weimar, been obliged for informing the prince. Then he came into the care of senior teacher Karl George Brandis, then from 1902 to 1926 led the University Library in Jena. For the military education was in charge from 1886 to 1895 Captain Max von Griesheim. After his military training was Wilhelm Ernst general of infantry.

Since 1898 he was a member of Corps Borussia Bonn.

The new Weimar

His major funds had Wilhelm Ernst flow to a large extent in the promotion of culture. Although the Grand Duke has been described as amusisch and " the Prussian officer out sweeping ," he thus created the New Weimar. Hans Olde, Count Harry Kessler, Henry van de Velde and Adolf Brütt were called to Weimar. The Grand Duke renewed the University of Jena by Theodor Fischer in Munich and the Weimar theater by then known as the innovator of theater technology Max Littmann from Munich. The publisher Eugen Diederichs moved to Jena, the writer Johannes Schlaf to Weimar.

Later Wilhelm Ernst promoted more and more the conservative Prussian forces so that Weimar soon became a center for ethnic - nationalist conceptions of art, as reflected in the fact that Gerhart Hauptmann and August Strindberg dared mention only in the Court Theatre Jena, while the history plays Ernst von Wild break were celebrated in the Weimar residence. The sociologist Max Weber called Wilhelm Ernst therefore as " a mockery of this place ."

As part of the monument setting for Carl Alexander Adolf Brütt the old town was delineated by a total of Protection Ordinance of room for development of the new Weimar and Art Nouveau. The relevant state portrait in marble in 1911 by the sculptor Gottlieb Elster.

Abdication and exile in Silesia

One of the last acts of the Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst at the time of the November Revolution of 1918 was the appointment of Walter Gropius. The Soldiers under the leadership of the Social Democrats August Baudert forced the Grand Duke on 9 November 1918 to abdicate. Baudert had Wilhelm Ernst as " meistverhassten " princes in Germany called. However, Wilhelm Ernst was given the opportunity to give the government responsibility in it may consider appropriate hands. Shortly before were citizens of Weimar approached the Grand Duke with the suggestion to do everything to prevent the parliamentary system. Shortly before his abdication noticed Wilhelm Ernst: "I had done everything I could. I currently had a lot of good. "

Wilhelm Ernst drew on his own private property to Schloss Heinrichau in Silesia, where he lived until his death; in the local park contains his grave. After the prince severance the entire inventory of the castle Altstedt had been brought to Heinrichau.

In the confrontation between contract Wilhelm Ernst and the " Weimar area " of November 1921, amongst others, regulated the spine Castle of Goethe Society to assign them as a gift.

Personality

Wilhelm Ernst was considered complicated personality; violent and short-tempered. Graf Kessler, the Wilhelm Ernst blamed his failure in the radical views of art, described him as " pathological object", baroness of Spitzemberg as "completely uneducated and foolish prince ".

Particularly unpopular was the prince in the Netherlands, where he was regarded as presumptive heir at times ( see below). Thus it describes Count Dumonceau as " externally not very attractive, small and rather fat ." Miss van de Poll, a maid of honor to the Queen Emma says: " The Grand Duke is a small, ugly and noisy man who gave me dinner discomfort by about the panel he spoke to me across loud, he had heard that I was in the able to speak fluent German, which he found odd. "

Claim to the Dutch throne

As the grandson of the Dutch Princess Sophie of Orange- Nassau Wilhelm Ernst was in the Dutch throne after Queen Wilhelmina. The Netherlands feared a possible German influence on their country, if not the annexation.

To prevent this, we considered the Constitution to be amended, Wilhelm Ernst excluded from the succession. Ultimately, it was decided, however, different. In the event that Queen Wilhelmina would die without heir, Wilhelm's descendants between the Weimar and the Dutch throne would have to decide. With the birth of Princess Juliana (1909-2004), the probability decreased significantly, that one member of the House of Saxe -Weimar -Eisenach would climb the Dutch throne. Another constitutional amendment in 1922 decreed that the throne future limited only to descendants of Queen Wilhelmina. Thus, any possibility of the House of Saxe -Weimar- Eisenach, one day to climb the Dutch throne, finally vanished.

Marriages and descendants

After it had been speculated about a marriage with the Emperor Wilhelm Ernst's daughter Margaret, he married his first wife in Biickeburg on April 30, 1903 Caroline ( 1884-1905 ), daughter of Prince Heinrich XXII Reuss Greiz. The marriage remained childless. His second wife was born on 4 January 1910 at Meiningen Feodora ( 1890-1972 ), daughter of Prince Friedrich of Saxe- Meiningen; with her he had four children:

• Sophie (1911-1988)

• Karl August (1912-1988), Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar -Eisenach

• Bernhard (1917-1986)

• Georg Wilhelm (1921-2011), abandoned in 1953 and was called " Jörg Brena "

Drive up

Grand Duke Karl Friedrich ( Sachsen -Weimar -Eisenach ) ( 1783-1853 ) ∞ 1804 Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna Romanova (1786-1859)

King William II ( Netherlands) ( 1792-1849 ) ∞ 1816 Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna (1795-1865)

∞ 1816 Princess Ida of Saxe- Meiningen (1794-1852) (1833-1922)

King William I ( Württemberg) ( 1781-1864 ) ∞ 1839 Princess Pauline of Württemberg (1800-1873)

Grand Duke Carl Alexander (Sachsen -Weimar -Eisenach ) ( 1818-1901 ) ∞ 1842 Princess Sophie of the Netherlands (1824-1897)

Prince Hermann of Saxe- Weimar -Eisenach (1825-1901) ∞ 1851 Princess Auguste of Württemberg (1826-1898)

Hereditary Grand Duke Karl August of Saxe- Weimar -Eisenach (1844-1894) ∞ 1873 Pauline of Saxe- Weimar -Eisenach (1852-1904)

Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe -Weimar -Eisenach (1876-1923)