Feodora zu Leiningen

Princess Feodora zu Leiningen , full name Princess Anna Feodora Auguste Charlotte Wilhelmine zu Leiningen (born December 7, 1807 in Amorbach , † September 23, 1872 in Baden-Baden ), by marriage Princess zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg , was the half-sister of the British Queen Victoria and niece of the first Belgian king Leopold I.

The view of the grave in Baden-Baden

biography

Feodora was the only daughter of Prince Emich Carl zu Leiningen (1763-1814) and his second wife Princess Victoire von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld (1786-1861), daughter of Duke Franz von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld . She grew up in Amorbach with her three years older brother and later Prince Karl zu Leiningen (1804-1856) .

After the death of her father, her mother married Eduard August, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767-1820), the fourth son of King George III in 1818 . of Great Britain . The only child from this second marriage was Alexandrina Victoria , who later became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India .

In the fall of 1819 the family moved to a cottage in Sidmouth. After the early death of their stepfather, they moved back into Kensington Palace in January 1820 with the help of his sister, Princess Augusta Sophia . Feodora received school training from private tutors and, at the request of the king, learned to ride .

Marriage and offspring

On February 18, 1828, Princess Feodora zu Leiningen married Prince Ernst I zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1794-1860), the eldest son of Prince Karl Ludwig and Countess Amalie Henriette zu Solms-Baruth, in Kensington Palace . The marriage had six children:

Karl Ludwig Wilhelm Leopold (1829–1907) ⚭ 1861 ( marriage to the left ) Marie Grathwohl (1837–1901), Baroness von Bronn (1890)
Elise Adelheid Victorie (1830–1851), unmarried
Hermann Ernst Franz Bernhard (1832–1913) ⚭ 1862 Princess Leopoldine of Baden (1837–1903)
Viktor Ferdinand Franz (1833–1891) ⚭ 1861 ( marriage to the left ) Lady Laura Wilhelmina Seymour, Countess von Gleichen (1861)
Adelheid Victoria Amalie Louise Maria Konstanze (1835–1900) ⚭ 1856 Duke Friedrich VIII of Schleswig-Holstein
Feodora Victoria Adelheid (1839–1872) ⚭ 1858 Duke Georg II of Saxony-Meiningen (1826–1914)

Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Her politically engaged husband was often present in Stuttgart , so the princely family moved into a second home next to Langenburg . She got involved in social life in England, where she visited her numerous relatives. Princess Feodora was known everywhere for her independent way of thinking and for her religiously inspired charity. On February 18, 1830, she and her husband founded the child rescue center for the benefit of abandoned and poor children. On the occasion of her silver wedding in 1853, she founded the poor relief institution for children and the sick.

After the death of her husband, the widow moved to Baden-Baden and moved there to the so-called Villa Hohenlohe on Michaelsberg, where she was visited several times by her sister. Princess Feodora died there on September 23, 1872 after a serious illness. She was buried in the main cemetery in Baden-Baden .

gallery

Princess Feodora, painting by George Dawe (1818)
Feodora zu Leiningen (circa 1828)
Feodora, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg with her daughter Adelheid, painting by Sir George Hayter (1840)
Feodora, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (circa 1859)
Base inscription of the grave
Base inscription of the grave
Base inscription of the grave

Trivia

In 1843 Princess Feodora wrote to her sister Queen Victoria: «When I look back on those years that should have been the happiest of my life, from 14 to 20, then I have to pity myself ... Cut off from all company, not a single happy thought in our sad situation, that was tough. My only good time was when I could go out or go out with you and Baroness Luise Lehzen … I was spared a few years of imprisonment, which you, poor dear sister, had to endure after I was married. "

It was said that King George IV of Great Britain took a liking to Victoria's half-sister Feodora. At 19, she reminded him of his own daughter, Princess Charlotte Augusta , who had married at about the same age.

Feodora married to escape the dungeon in Kensington: "I would have - I don't know who took to get away from there."

Feodora's granddaughter, Princess Auguste Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1858–1921), was the last German Empress and Queen of Prussia.

Individual evidence

^ Henry Sigfried Steinberg, IH Evans (Ed.): Steinbergs Dictionary of British History. 2nd edition 1970, p. 421.
↑ Karl Heinz Wocker: Queen Victoria - The story of an age. Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-453-55072-2 , p. 40.
↑ Karl Heinz Wocker: Queen Victoria - The story of an age. Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-453-55072-2 , p. 72.

personal data
SURNAME	Leiningen, Feodora too
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Anna Feodora Auguste Charlotte Wilhelmine zu Leiningen, Feodora zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, half-sister of the British Queen Victoria
DATE OF BIRTH	December 7, 1807
PLACE OF BIRTH	Amorbach
DATE OF DEATH	September 23, 1872
Place of death	Baden-Baden

[1] Henry Sigfried Steinberg, IH Evans (Ed.): Steinbergs Dictionary of British History. 2nd edition 1970, p. 421.

[2] Karl Heinz Wocker: Queen Victoria - The story of an age. Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-453-55072-2 , p. 40.

[3] Karl Heinz Wocker: Queen Victoria - The story of an age. Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-453-55072-2 , p. 72.