Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1844–1894)

Karl August, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (31 July 1844 – 20 November 1894) was a German prince and Hereditary Grand Duke (Erbgroßherzog) of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Karl August
Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Duke of Saxony
Born(1844-07-31)31 July 1844
Weimar
Died20 November 1894(1894-11-20) (aged 50)
Cap Martin, France
Burial
Weimar royal crypt, Germany
SpousePrincess Pauline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
IssueGrand Duke William Ernest
Prince Bernhard Karl
Full name
German: Karl August Wilhelm Nicolaus Alexander Michael Bernhard Heinrich Frederick Stefan
English: Charles Augustus William Nicholas Alexander Michael Bernhard Henry Frederick Stephen
HouseHouse of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
FatherCharles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
MotherSophie of the Netherlands
ReligionLutheranism

Biography

Born in Weimar, Karl was the only son of Karl Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Princess Sophie of the Netherlands. He would serve in the army of the Grand Duchy of Saxony (Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) and he was present when Wilhelm I was crowned as German emperor.[1][2]

Because his mother was a daughter of King William II of the Netherlands and his older uncles, except King William III, died childless, Karl August was second in line in the succession to the throne of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1894. He was preceded only by his mother. This was the reason for him learning to write and speak fluent Dutch, due to the possibility of Karl August becoming king if his cousin Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands died without issue.

In leisure, Karl dedicated himself to his copperplate collection and coin cabinet. He was also interested in the Grand Ducal Library and the newly built archive, where he often studied historical documents on the history of the house.[3] His popularity and his uncomplicated outreach to the residents of the Grand Duchy made him a beloved leader of the duchy.

Karl August died at Cap Martin, France, six years before his father; because of this, his eldest son Wilhelm Ernst succeeded his grandfather as Grand Duke. Karl August is buried in the Weimar royal crypt.

Family and children

In Friedrichshafen on 26 August 1873 Karl August married Princess Pauline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. They were second cousins, as she was the paternal granddaughter of Prince Bernhard, who had been in the service of the king of the Netherlands and was a younger brother of the Grand Duke Karl Frederick of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the grandfather of Karl August. Her maternal grandparents were William I of Württemberg and his third wife Pauline Therese.

Karl August and Pauline had two sons:

  1. Wilhelm Ernst Karl Alexander Friedrich Heinrich Bernhard Albert Georg Hermann, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. Weimar, 10 June 1876 – d. Heinrichau, 24 April 1923).
  2. Bernhard Karl Alexander Hermann Heinrich Wilhelm Oscar Friedrich Franz Peter (b. Weimar, 18 April 1878 – d. Weimar, 1 October 1900).

Honours

He received the following awards:[4]

Ancestry

References
  1. Dr. med. Theodor Toeche-Mittler: The proclamation of the Emperor in Versailles on January 18, 1871 with a list of the Festtheilnehmer. ES Mittler & Son , Berlin 1896.
  2. H. Schnaebeli: Photographs of the proclamation of the Emperor in Versailles, Berlin 1871.
  3. Bernhard Post; Dietrich Werner: Ruler in the turn of the century: Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, 1876-1923. Glaux, Jena 2006, p. 37.
  4. Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1891), "Genealogie" pp. 3-4
  5. Staatshandbuch ... Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1846), "Großherzoglicher Hausorden" p. 7
  6. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1869), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 55, 65
  7. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Hessen (1879), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen" p. 11
  8. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg (1866), "Königliche Orden" p. 30
  9. Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtums Sachsen-Altenburg (1869), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" p. 21
  10. Sachsen (1870). Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen: 1870. Heinrich. p. 4.
  11. Bayern (1870). Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Königreichs Bayern: 1870. Landesamt. p. 10.
  12. Staat Oldenburg (1873). Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Großherzogtums Oldenburg: für ... 1872/73. Schulze. p. 31.
  13. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch für das Herzogthum Anhalt (1894), "Herzoglicher Haus-Orden Albrecht des Bären" p. 17
  14. Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1881, p. 378, retrieved 6 January 2018 – via runeberg.org
  15. "Militaire Willems-Orde: Saxen-Weimar-Eisenach, Karl August Wilhelm Nicolaus Alexander Michael Bernhard Heinrich Friedrich Stephan, Erbgrossherzog von" [Military William Order: Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Charles Augustus William Nicholas Alexander Michael Bernhard Henry Frederick Stephen, Hereditary Grand Duke of]. Ministerie van Defensie (in Dutch). 9 July 1878. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  16. Braunschweigisches Adreßbuch für das Jahr 1895. Braunschweig 1895. Meyer. p. 3
  17. "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  18. 刑部芳則 (2017). 明治時代の勲章外交儀礼 (PDF) (in Japanese). 明治聖徳記念学会紀要. p. 149.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.