Elisabeth of Mecklenburg

Grand Duchess Elisabeth, née Duchess of Mecklenburg [-Schwerin]

Elisabeth Alexandrine Mathilde, Duchess of Mecklenburg [-Schwerin] (born August 10, 1869 in Schwerin ; † September 3, 1955 in Schloss Schaumburg near Diez ) was a daughter of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg and through marriage and her husband's succession to the throne, the last Grand Duchess of Oldenburg .

origin

Elisabeth Alexandrine Mathilde was the eldest child of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg [-Schwerin] (1801-1883) and his third wife Marie von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1850-1922). When her father died, she was 13 years old and had three younger brothers ( Friedrich Wilhelm , Adolf Friedrich and Heinrich ) as well as four adult half-siblings, Friedrich Franz , Paul Friedrich , Marie , married Grand Duchess of Russia , and Johann Albrecht , one of whom was Friedrich Franz III. Became Grand Duke.

Marriage and children

The 27-year-old Elisabeth married the 44-year-old, widowed Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich August von Oldenburg (1852–1931) in Schwerin on October 24, 1896 . Friedrich August's first wife, Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia , died on August 28, 1895 in Fulda . From this marriage he had a daughter, Sophie Charlotte (1879–1964), who in 1906 married Eitel Friedrich , Prince of Prussia , the second eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II .

Elisabeth and Friedrich August had five children, and one pair of twins died shortly after the birth:

Nikolaus Friedrich Wilhelm von Oldenburg (born August 10, 1897 in Oldenburg; † April 3, 1970 in Rastede ), the "Niki propeller" for ships developed by his father was named after him, ⚭ 1921 Helena (1899-1948), a Daughter of Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont .
² Alexandrine a . Friedrich August von Oldenburg (born March 25, 1900 in Oldenburg; † March 26, 1900 in Oldenburg)
Ingeborg Alix von Oldenburg (* July 20, 1901 in Oldenburg; † January 10, 1996 in Damp ), ⚭ 1921 Prince Stephan Alexander Victor von Schaumburg-Lippe (1891–1965)
Altburg Marie Mathilde von Oldenburg (born May 19, 1903 in Oldenburg; † June 16, 2001 in Bad Arolsen ), ⚭ 1922 Josias (1896–1967), eldest son of Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont

When Grand Duke Peter II died on June 13, 1900, his son Friedrich August succeeded him on the throne and Elisabeth became the new (and last) Grand Duchess of Oldenburg. Elisabeth felt increasingly neglected and inappropriately treated by her husband. In 1904 she began a relationship with the head of house of her children, which was stopped by the transfer of her husband.

The Grand Duchess tried to reach a separation regulation through the involvement of her family and the Mecklenburg government. The divorce of the Hessian Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig from his wife Victoria Melita of Edinburgh in 1901 and of the Saxon Crown Prince / King Friedrich August III in 1903 made it possible to get divorced even with ruling rulers in the German Empire . shown by Luise of Austria-Tuscany , where Luise had fled from the Saxon court.

separation

A new relationship between the Grand Duchess and Professor Johann Schütte (1873–1940) led to the planning of her escape from Oldenburg in 1909. The Grand Duke had his wife diagnosed with a mental disorder and in the spring of 1909 she was taken to a clinic in Switzerland near Constance . Since the authorities in Switzerland did not want to participate in the guarding and control of the Grand Duchess, she was transferred to the Hohe Mark Clinic near Frankfurt.

The marital crisis of the Grand Duke, which had simmered since 1909, led to serious dynastic and political upheavals between the royal houses involved, which came to a head in 1913/1914. After details had leaked to the public and had led to speculations and rumors, the Grand Duke had to react in January 1914 to a petition from the Oldenburg state parliament, with which he was asked to be more lenient towards his wife. Friedrich August then threatened the dissolution of the state parliament . He had placed his wife under guardianship, forbade her return to Oldenburg, had her rooms in the castle cleared and largely prevented contact with her children. Since Kaiser Wilhelm II forbade the divorce , advocated by many advisors, and the personal hostilities involved the ruling houses of Mecklenburg , Hesse and the Netherlands , tensions threatened to break up the Federal Council with Friedrich August, who was largely isolated in princely circles except for the support of Prussia .

The Grand Duchess had lived with her mother Marie at Raben Steinfeld Castle near Schwerin since 1910 . Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1869–1931) had been her guardian since July 1910 . With the consent of her nephew Friedrich Franz IV , she took part in social life in Schwerin largely unhindered. Dealing with their children was very limited until 1914.

Her husband died in 1931 and her three children had been married since 1922. In 1937 she attended the wedding of her niece, the Dutch Crown Princess Juliana , the daughter of her brother Heinrich , who died in 1934 , with Prince Bernhard , along with several members of the Schwerin family and her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter .

In 1945 Elisabeth fled to live with her children in West Germany and died in 1955 at the residence of her younger daughter.

Ships with their names

The first training ship Grand Duchess Elisabeth of the German Training Ship Association was named after Elisabeth in 1901 , the patron of which was the Grand Duke. The couple could not attend the christening of the full ship on March 7, 1901 because the Grand Duke fell ill. The ship was delivered to France as a reparation payment after the Second World War and has been preserved in Dunkirk as the Duchesse Anne museum ship .
The Duchess Elisabeth (ship, 1902) was a government yacht of the imperial governorate of Cameroon.
Since 1982 the seafaring school in Elsfleth has had a three-masted schooner Grand Duchess Elisabeth built in 1909 , which was previously called Ariadne and was built in the Netherlands as San Antonio .

Grand Duchess Elisabeth 1913, all sails set
Duchess Elisabeth in 1904 in Woermann Dock in Duala, Cameroon
Grand Duchess Elisabeth 2005 at the Sail in Bremerhaven

literature

Bernd Kasten : An unfaithful woman - Grand Duchess Elisabeth von Oldenburg (1869–1955). In: Same: Prince Schnaps. Black sheep in the Princely House of Mecklenburg. Hinstorff, Rostock 2009. ISBN 978-3-356-01334-4 . Pp. 50-66.

Web links

Commons : Elisabeth zu Mecklenburg - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature about Elisabeth, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg in the state bibliography MV

Individual evidence

↑ Lothar Machtan : The abdication. How Germany's crowned heads fell out of history. Propylaen Verlag, Berlin 2008, pp. 54–57 (unabridged new edition by dtv, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-423-28085-3 ).

personal data
SURNAME	Elisabeth of Mecklenburg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Elisabeth Alexandrine Mathilde (full name); Elisabeth Alexandrine Mathilde, Duchess of Mecklenburg; Mecklenburg, Elisabeth zu (wrong name form)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Duchess of Mecklenburg [-Schwerin]; Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
DATE OF BIRTH	August 10, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH	Schwerin
DATE OF DEATH	3rd September 1955
Place of death	Schaumburg Castle near Diez

[1] Lothar Machtan : The abdication. How Germany's crowned heads fell out of history. Propylaen Verlag, Berlin 2008, pp. 54–57 (unabridged new edition by dtv, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-423-28085-3 ).