Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the wife of King George III. She served as Queen of Great Britain and Queen of Ireland from her wedding in 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms in 1801, after which she was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until her death in 1818, she was the Electress of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire until the promotion of her husband to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814, after which she was queen consort of Hanover. Charlotte was a patron of an amateur botanist who helped expand Kew Gardens, she was distressed by her husband's bouts of physical and mental illness, which became permanent in life and resulted in their eldest son's appointment as Prince Regent in 1811. George III and Charlotte had 15 children in total, she was the mother of two future British monarchs, George IV and William IV. Her other children included Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, Charlotte, Queen of Württemberg. Sophia Charlotte was born on 19 May 1744, she was the youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg and of his wife Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a small north-German duchy in the Holy Roman Empire. The children of Duke Charles were all born at the Unteres Schloss in Mirow. According to diplomatic reports at the time of her engagement to George III in 1761, Charlotte had received "a mediocre education", her upbringing was similar to that of a daughter of an English country gentleman. She received some rudimentary instruction in botany, natural history and language from tutors, but her education focused on household management and on religion, the latter taught by a priest. Only after her brother Adolphus Frederick succeeded to the ducal throne in 1752 did she gain any experience of princely duties and of court life; when King George III succeeded to the throne of Great Britain upon the death of his grandfather, George II, he was 22 years old and unmarried. His mother and advisors were anxious to have him settled in marriage; the 17-year-old Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz appealed to him as a prospective consort because she had been brought up in an insignificant north German duchy and therefore would have had no experience or interest in power politics or party intrigues.
That proved to be the case. The King announced to his Council in July 1761, according to the usual form, his intention to wed the Princess, after which a party of escorts, led by the Earl Harcourt, departed for Germany to conduct Princess Charlotte to England, they reached Strelitz on 14 August 1761, were received the next day by the reigning duke, Princess Charlotte's brother, at which time the marriage contract was signed by him on the one hand and Earl Harcourt on the other. Three days of public celebrations followed, on 17 August 1761, the Princess set out for Britain, accompanied by her brother, Duke Adolphus Frederick, by the British escort party. On 22 August, they reached Cuxhaven; the voyage was difficult. They set out at once for London, spent that night in Witham, at the residence of Lord Abercorn, arrived at 3:30 pm the next day at St. James's Palace in London, they were received by the King and his family at the garden gate, which marked the first meeting of the bride and groom. At 9:00 pm that same evening, within six hours of her arrival, Charlotte was united in marriage with King George III.
The ceremony was performed at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Secker. Only the royal family, the party who had travelled from Germany, a handful of guests were present. Upon her wedding day, Charlotte spoke no English. However, she learned English, albeit speaking with a strong German accent. Many observers considered her "ugly", one commented, "She is timid at first but talks a lot, when she is among people she knows." Less than a year after the marriage, on 12 August 1762, the Queen gave birth to her first child, Prince of Wales. In the course of their marriage, the couple became the parents of 15 children, all but two of whom survived into adulthood. St James's Palace functioned as the official residence of the royal couple, but the king had purchased a nearby property, Buckingham House, located at the western end of St James's Park. More private and compact, the new property stood amid rolling parkland not far from St James's Palace. Around 1762 the King and Queen moved to this residence, intended as a private retreat.
The Queen came to favor this residence, spending so much of her time there that it came to be known as The Queen's House. Indeed, in 1775, an Act of Parliament settled the property on Queen Charlotte in exchange for her rights to Somerset House. Most of her 15 children were born in Buckingham House, although St James's Palace remained the official and ceremonial royal residence. During her first years in Great Britain, Charlotte's strained relationship with her mother-in-law, Princess Augusta, caused her difficulty in adapting to the life of the British court; the queen mother interfered with Charlotte's efforts to establish social contacts by insisting on rigid court etiquette. Furthermore, Augusta appointed many of Charlotte's staff, among whom several were expected to report to Augusta about Charlotte's behavior; when she turned to her German companions for fr
Neustrelitz
Neustrelitz is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital of the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. From 1994 until 2011 it was the capital of the district of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; the name Strelitz is derived from the Polabian word Strelci, meaning "shooters". The village of Strelitz was first mentioned in 1278, it grew to a small town in the following centuries. In the 17th century Strelitz was a part of the duchy of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, which ceased to exist after the death of the last duke in 1695. Afterwards the new duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was established; this small duchy contained the present-day district and an exclave around Ratzeburg, today situated in Schleswig-Holstein. In 1712 the castle and the town of Strelitz burnt down. After this disaster the duke and his family lived on their hunting lodge at the lake called Zierker See to the northwest of Strelitz.
Around this place the new town of Neustrelitz was constructed. It became the official capital of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1736. Neustrelitz remained the ducal seat until 1918 and was the capital of the Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1918 to 1933. In 1934 it was merged with Mecklenburg-Schwerin to the Gau of Mecklenburg; the ancient town of Strelitz continued to exist after the fire of 1712. When the Red Army troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front entered the town on 30 April 1945, 681 people committed suicide; the city centre is characterised by Baroque architecture. Its heart is the Marktplatz, with the Stadtkirche, built in 1768–1778 and the opposite Rathaus, built in 1841 by Friedrich W. Buttel, a disciple of Karl Friedrich Schinkel; the Baroque Schloß was destroyed in 1945. Worth seeing are the 18th-century Orangerie used as a summerhouse, the Schloßkirche built in 1855–1859 in English Neo-Gothic style, the Neoclassic Hebe temple, the Louise Temple, built in 1891 in the shape of a Greek temple to house the tomb of Queen Louise of Prussia, born Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
There is a small lake, Glambeck See, where one can swim in summer in a protected area and have lunch at a restaurant overlooking the lake. The town has a station on the Berlin Northern railway and provides direct connections to Berlin and Rostock; the city has hosted the popular Immergut Festival since the year 2000, attended by 5000 visitors each year. Carl Eggers, artist painter Bernhard Horwitz, chess master Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, German prince and military officer in both the Austrian army and in the cavalry of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, founder of the settlement New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas Albert Wolff, sculptor Karl Kraepelin, founder of the Natural History Museum in Hamburg Emil Kraepelin, considered as father of modern psychiatry Hans Kundt, German-Bolivian general in the First World War and the Chacokrieg Marie Kundt, photographer and director of the Photographische Lehranstalt der Lette-Verein Berlin Carl Friedrich Roewer, pedagogue and museum director Otto Piper and politician Franz Rademacher, jurist Jesco von Puttkamer, publicist Herbert Wagner, Lord Mayor of Dresden 1990–2001 Thomas Böttger and pianist Rainer Ernst, footballer Ulf Hoffmann, gymnast Andreas Dittmer, Olympian winner in canoeing Charly Hübner, actor Olaf Winter, Olympian winner in canoeing Mark Frank, javelin thrower Neustrelitz is twinned with: Chaykovsky, Russia Szczecinek, Poland Rovaniemi, Finland Schwäbisch Hall, Germany Official website
Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Duchess Therese Mathilde Amalie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a member of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and a Duchess of Mecklenburg. Through her marriage to Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, Therese was a member of the House of Thurn and Taxis. Therese Mathilde Amalie of Mecklenburg was born in Hanover the daughter of Duke Charles of Mecklenburg and his first wife Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt. Therese married Karl Alexander, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis, son of Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his wife Duchess Auguste of Württemberg, on 25 May 1789 in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Therese's paternal aunt Queen Charlotte and her husband George III of the United Kingdom helped broker the marriage, in particular ensuring that Therese would be able to keep her Protestant faith. Therese and Karl Alexander had seven children: Princess Charlotte Luise of Thurn and Taxis Prince George Karl of Thurn and Taxis Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis Princess Luise Friederike of Thurn and Taxis Princess Maria Sophia Dorothea of Thurn and Taxis Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Thurn and Taxis Therese had illegitimate issue by Maximilian, Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg, who married on 25 May 1789 Maria Anna Philippine Walburga Groschlag von Dieburg, by whom he had one son.
Children include: Georg Adolf, Graf von Stockau, a Lutheran, married on 25 November 1830 to Franziska de Paula Maria Elisabeth, Gräfin von Fünfkirchen, a Roman Catholic, heiress of Napajedl castle and estate in Maehren, widow of Clemens Graf von Kesselstatt, had issue, now extinct in male line Amalie von Sternfeld, married at Köfering, 31 August 1825 to Georg-Alexander, Freiherr von Krüdener, had female issueIn 1790 Anne-César, Chevalier de la Luzerne, the French ambassador to Great Britain, reported that Therese's husband was being considered for the new throne of the Austrian Netherlands and that Therese's aunt Queen Charlotte would support this. After the mediatization of the Principality of Thurn and Taxis to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1806 during the German Mediatisations, the end of the Holy Roman Empire and creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, the subsequent end of the Imperial Reichspost, Therese's initiative and negotiating skills were influential in maintaining the Thurn and Taxis-run postal system as the private company, Thurn-und-Taxis-Post.
Like her sister, Queen consort of Prussia, she failed in their negotiations with Napoleon I of France, but during the Congress of Vienna, she was successful in enforcing the interests of the Thurn and Taxis family. Therese and Karl Alexander had their first residence in the Palais Thurn und Taxis in Frankfurt am Main. Early on in their marriage, Therese took over her young husband's representational tasks. After her father-in-law's resignation as Post Master General and Principal Commissioner of the Perpetual Imperial Diet at Regensburg, Therese's husband Karl Alexander became Principal Commissioner in 1797. Therese took an active role in the administration of the Princely House and lands as well as the postal administration and was devoted to art and literature, she hosted in her salon poets and writers including Jean Paul, Friedrich Rückert, Johann Kaspar Lavater, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. Only with the predictable demise of the Imperial Reichspost, the German Mediatisations of 1803, the mediatization of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis, the loss of position of Post Master General in the time of Napoleon I of France, Therese became outwardly politically active, most after the death of her father-in-law in 1805.
Since Therese reinforced the sovereignty of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis and its traditional postal rights. In 1806, she and her husband negotiated with her brother-in-law Frederick William III of Prussia along with Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg, the former Archbishop-Elector of Mainz and Prince-Primate of Regensburg, for the first time in 1807 with Napoleon, they negotiated with Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria in Munich and proposed to him the nationalization of the Thurn and Taxis Lehnspost there. In 1808, Therese and her husband took the interests of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis to the Congress of Erfurt. There, a secret meeting occurred between Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord and Alexander I of Russia in her salon. After fruitless negotiations in Erfurt were lost, Therese traveled at the end of 1809 to Paris, where she met with Napoleon concerning the future status of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis, the withdrawal of the media, the re-acquisition of rights to the postal system.
From this trip survives a correspondence with her husband Karl Alexander in which he laments the impoverishment of the House of Thurn and Taxis and asks Therese to limit her expenses. Through their negotiations with Napoleon, the Pri
Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt
Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt was a Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was born in Darmstadt, he was the second son of Landgrave Louis VIII and Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau-Lichtenberg. From 1738 till his death he commanded an army-regiment of his land. In the 1740s, he commanded a Prussian regiment, he reached the rank of general of the cavalry. He was the official military adviser to his father, but had a strong rival in his older brother Louis IX, who followed his friend's example, the soldier-king Frederick II of Prussia and expanded Pirmasens as a garrison town. In 1748, he married Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg. Through this marriage, he acquired the estates of Broich, Aspermont and Reipolzkirchen, he and Maria had nine children. In 1764, George William received Old Palace in Darmstadt and the associated pleasure garden as a gift from his father, who had always favoured him above his brother Louis. George William had the palace with the White Tower expanded.
He represented the reigning family in Darmstadt, as his brother stayed in Pirmasens. Johann Friedrich Schannat: Eiflia Illustrata... S. 515 Philipp Alexander Ferdinand Walther: Darmstadt wie es war und wie es geworden S. 187
Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, was a duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen. He was the eldest son of Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen and Countess Sophie Henriette of Waldeck. During his youth he served on the Netherlands in the imperial military army, during which he was wounded in the Spanish Succession War at Höchstädt, he wanted, like many German princes, to repeat the splendor of the court of the King Louis XIV of France in his own duchy. In need of money, he levied taxes and sold towns. Among them was the county of Cuylenburg, the dowry of his wife; the county was sold in 1720 to the General States, not for the repayment of the debts but to build in his palace a garden connected with a channel. In 1723 the office was sold to the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, but the sale, without the assent of his wife was illegal, this led to a war with Saxe-Meiningen. The county was occupied with troops of both duchies and at the end of the war all of the county was devastated and ruined; because of his intolerable fiscal charges, in 1717 an open revolt developed in the duchy.
In Erbach on 4 February 1704, Ernest Frederick married Countess Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach. They had fourteen children: Ernest Louis Hollandinus. Sophie Amalie Elisabeth. Ernest Louis. Ernest Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Frederick August. Louis Frederick, married on 4 May 1749 to Christine Luise von Holstein-Plön; this marriage was childless. Stillborn daughter. Stillborn daughter. Elisabeth Albertine, married on 5 May 1735 to Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg, Herr of Mirow. Emanuel Frederick Charles. Elisabeth Sophie. Stillborn daughter. George Frederick William. Stillborn son. Johann Samuel Ersch: Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste, 1. Sektion, 37. Teil, Leipzig, 1842, S. 300 Rudolf Armin Human: Chronik der Stadt Hildburghausen, Hildburghausen, 1886 Heinrich Ferdinand Schoeppl: Die Herzoge von Sachsen-Altenburg. Bozen, 1917, Neudruck Altenburg, 1992
Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the eldest of the two surviving sons of Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and of Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia. He was a cousin of Emperor Alexander III of Russia. Although he was a German prince of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, he was raised in Imperial Russia, where he lived all his life, he followed a career as an officer in the Russian army and was Major General, Commander of the Life Guard Dragoon Regiment. Georg Alexander was a skillful cellist and composer. In 1896 he formed, he contracted a morganatic marriage and his rights and inheritance passed to his younger brother Charles Michael, Duke of Mecklenburg. His four children received the title of Counts of Carlow, but after Duke Georg Alexander's death, his unmarried brother adopted his son Georg, Count of Carlow, who became the heir to the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1934. Georg Alexander Michael Friedrich Wilhelm Franz Carl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was born on 6 June 1859 at Remplin, a family estate acquired by his parents in Mecklenburg shortly before his birth.
His father, Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg, was the second son of Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His mother, Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia, was a granddaughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia. Although Duke Georg Alexander was, by birth, a German prince of the house of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, his father had settled in Russia within his wife’s family. Georg and his siblings were raised in Russia, but kept the Lutheran religion of his paternal ancestors, he was known in Russia as George Georgievich jr, to distinguish him from his father who had the same name and patronymic. He followed a career in the Russian service. Raised in the Mikhailovsky Palace, the household of his maternal grandmother Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, he took a great interest in music from an early age under her grandmother's guidance. From age 12 his teacher was Karl Davydov, a composer, professor of the St Petersburg Conservatory and Russia’s most prominent cellist of the time. Georg-Alexander passion for music made him consider for a time to follow a career as a professional cellist.
He was fond of writing musical compositions. From 1879 to 1881 he studied fine arts and philosophy at the Universities of Strasbourg. Georg Alexander fell in love with his mother’s lady in waiting Natalia Feodorovna Vanljarskya, the daughter of Fedor Vanliarsky, a Councilor of State, who served in the Ministry of Finance, she was a member of the Russian nobility, but not of royal blood. Vanljarskya was a skillful singer and the couple was brought together by their shared passion for music. Grand Duchess Catherine Mikahilovna opposed their union and fired Natalia, hoping that his son would forget the affair and would marry a bride of royal background; however Georg Alexander persisted and in June 1889 he went to Germany to obtain the permission to marry from the head of the family, his uncle, Grand Duke Frederick William. With his uncle’s consent, George Georgievich married Natalia Vanliarskya on 14 February 1890 in St. Petersburg; as their union was morganatic, she received from the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz the title of Countess von Carlow that would pass to their children.
Their marriage was a happy one and Natalia became loved by her husband’s family. The couple lived in a western wing of the Mikhailovski palace, where fifteen rooms were given to them. After the death of Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna in 1894, the Mikhailovski palace and the bulk of her inheritance passed to Duke Georg Alexander's younger brother Karl Michael and their sister Helene; the palace was bought by Emperor Nicholas II in 1895 to house the collection of the Russian Museum, named in honor of Emperor Alexander III. Georg Alexander moved with his family to his own residence located at No 46 Fontanka embankment; the house was designed with his own personal plans and became a center for musicians and artist. During the first years of their marriage, Vanljarskya did not take part in court life and only years she began to accompany her husband at court balls and receptions in the Winter Palace; the couple's four children received the title of Counts of Carlow after the mother: Countess Catherine von Carlow having married Prince Vladimir Gurevich Golitsyn in 1913.
Countess Maria von Carlow, who married Prince Boris Dmitrievich Golitsyn in 1916, became a widow in 1919, married Count Vladimir Petrovich Kleinmichel. Countess Natalia von Carlow. George, Duke of Mecklenburg. Georg Alexander was head of the committee for the fiftieth anniversary of the career of Anton Rubinstein celebrated in 1889. After Rubinstein’s death in 1894, his family gave his conducting baton to Duke Georg Alexander. In 1896, Georg Alexander organized a string quartet, which bore the name "Mecklenburg Quartet". Performances were a great success not only in the Russian capital, but abroad, it was the first Russian quartet to go on a European tour, receiving favorable reviews at their London performance in 1907. Duke Georg Alexander was an art collector. From his grandfather, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovi
Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Charles II was ruler of the state of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1794 until his death. Ruling as duke, he was raised to the rank of grand duke in 1815. Prior to succeeding to the throne he served as Governor of Hanover from 1776 to 1786. Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg was born in Mirow the second son of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg, his wife Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen. On 11 December 1752 his uncle Adolphus Frederick III died and as a result the older brother of Charles succeeded him becoming Adolphus Frederick IV. With his brother's ascension Charles was taken with the rest of the family from Mirow to the capital Strelitz. From the age of four, Charles looked set for a career in Hanoverian service after being given a Captain's commission, his sister Charlotte married the Elector of Hanover, King George III of the United Kingdom on 8 September 1761. Charles made frequent visits to his sister in Great Britain and he entered the service of his brother-in-law the Elector of Hanover with a chief military appointment at Hanover following service in Spain.
In the autumn of 1776, Charles was appointed governor-general of Hanover by his brother-in-law. As Governor of Hanover, Charles held all the powers of a sovereign ruler, his brother-in-law had no wish to reside in Germany, being English. Shortly after being widowed for a second time in December 1785, Charles requested permission to retire from his military employments in Hanover and resign the governorship, his brother-in-law granted his request, promoted Charles to the rank of field marshal and granted him a pension. Charles spent some time traveling before settling down in Darmstadt, where he became President of the Imperial Credit Commission. Following the childless death of his older brother Adolf Friedrich IV on 2 June 1794, Charles succeeded him as the ruling Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; as ruler, Charles encouraged new agricultural trends, established a new police force, implemented compulsory education. In 1806, his duchy joined the Confederation of the Rhine. Following the Congress of Vienna, he was elevated to the rank of grand duke on 28 June 1815.
In the summer of 1816 Charles went on a tour of Rebberg and Hildburghausen. Shortly after returning he was taken ill with inflammation of the lungs, he died in Neustrelitz after suffering a fit of apoplexy. He was succeeded by his eldest son Georg. After unsuccessful attempts to marry a Princess of Denmark and a Princess of Saxe-Gotha, Charles married as his first wife Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt, a daughter of Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt on 18 September 1768 in Darmstadt, they had ten children together. Two of the daughters became German queens consort. Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz married Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Duchess Caroline Auguste of Mecklenburg Duke Georg Carl of Mecklenburg Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg married Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis Duke Friedrich Georg of Mecklenburg Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg married Frederick William III of Prussia Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg married Prince Louis Charles of Prussia Frederick William, Prince of Solms-Braunfels Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Duke Friedrich Karl of Mecklenburg Duchess Auguste Albertine of Mecklenburg After Friederike's death in 1782, Charles married her sister Princess Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt on 28 September 1784 in Darmstadt.
Charlotte died on 12 December 1785 shortly after giving birth to their son Duke Charles of Mecklenburg. 10 October 1741 – 2 June 1794: His Serene Highness Duke Charles of Mecklenburg, Prince of Mirow 2 June 1794 – 28 June 1815: His Ducal Serene Highness The Duke of Mecklenburg 28 June 1815 – 6 November 1816: His Royal Highness: The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg
Media related to Duchess Caroline Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz at Wikimedia Commons
