Louise of Sweden-Norway

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Louise of Sweden-Norway
Louise as Crown Princess with her daughter Louise (1875–1906) (painting by Laurits Tuxen )

Queen Louise of Denmark (born Princess Louise Josephine Eugenie of Sweden ; born October 31, 1851 in Stockholm ; †  March 20, 1926 in Amalienborg Palace , Copenhagen ) was a Swedish princess and at the side of her husband, King Frederick VIII ( Danish: Frederik VIII ), Queen of Denmark from 1906 to 1912 .

family

Louise Josephine Eugenie of Sweden comes from the Bernadotte family and was the daughter of King Charles XV. and Luise von Oranien-Nassau . Louise married Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark on July 28, 1869 and became Queen at her husband's side in 1906. The couple had eight children.

Since Louise's parents had no male candidate for the Swedish and Norwegian throne, these two went to Charles XV. Brother, Oskar II about. It is said that Karl promised his daughter Louise on her death bed that a son would in turn become a candidate for the Norwegian throne. In 1905 Louise's son Karl became King of Norway under the name Håkon VII when Norway gained independence from Sweden .

In contrast to the other Scandinavian elective monarchies, Norway has always been a hereditary monarchy. The rules of succession were not as strict, but a member of the Fairhair dynasty on the father's side was entitled to the throne. After this dynasty had already expired in the Middle Ages , the Norwegian throne in the female line was first passed on to a Swedish prince, then to a Danish princess and thus finally to the Danish kings. Due to wars, but also due to the fact that he was a descendant of the younger line of the House of Oldenburg - the Norwegian royal family at that time - Norway fell to Charles XIII. of Sweden. Since, according to old Norwegian tradition, a line of succession from the female line is not excluded, it was not too difficult to enforce the claim of Louise's son to the throne by constitution.

Louise's great-granddaughter Margrethe II is the reigning Queen of Denmark.

Crown princess and queen

After the war of 1864 that was lost against Germany , the Danish royal family initially lost popularity. The fact that Louise was a Scandinavian princess and not, like many previous crown princesses, came from a German princely house was very much welcomed and made for increasing popularity among the population.

Louise was not interested in politics and was rather shy of representative duties. She led a withdrawn life and concentrated seriously on raising her children and on her interest in art, literature and religion. She was deeply religious and an Inner Mission devotee , which was how she differed from her husband. She actively supported charitable causes. She found the recognition of her extroverted mother-in-law, Queen Louise , difficult, and she and her husband took little part in family life on Fredensborg .

Louise and Frederik lived in the Brockdorff Palace at Amalienborg Palace . Charlottenlund Palace served as the summer residence and had to be expanded to accommodate the large number of children.

Louise and Frederik were in the position of crown prince couple for an unusually long time before Frederik finally became king in 1906 and only for a relatively short time. The royal couple made trips abroad and within Denmark. Louise was very well recognized by the Danish population.

As a widow, from 1912, Louise continued her charity work and she looked after her unmarried children. Since her maternal grandparents had left her a considerable inheritance, she was able to build Egelund Castle for her unmarried son Gustav and thus secure him a life befitting his class.

Queen Louise died in 1926 at Amalienborg Palace and was buried next to her husband in Roskilde Cathedral near Copenhagen.

See also

literature

  • Grethe Jensen: Danmarks dronninger. In: Steffen Heiberg (ed.): Danske dronninger i tusind år. Gyldendal Verlag, Copenhagen 2000, pp. 92-94: LOVISA .
  • Louise (Lovisa) Josephina Eugenia . In: Christian Blangstrup (Ed.): Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon . 2nd Edition. tape 15 : Kvadratrod – Ludmila . JH Schultz Forlag, Copenhagen 1923, p. 1064-1065 (Danish, runeberg.org ).

Web links

Commons : Louise of Sweden-Norway  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Grethe Jensen: Danmarks dronninger. In: Steffen Heiberg (ed.): Danske dronninger i tusind år. Gyldendal Verlag, Copenhagen 2000, ISBN 87-00-45504-0 , p. 92.
  2. ↑ a b Grethe Jensen: Danmarks dronninger. In: Steffen Heiberg (ed.): Danske dronninger i tusind år. Gyldendal Verlag, Copenhagen 2000, ISBN 87-00-45504-0 , p. 94.
predecessor Office Successor
Louise of Hesse Queen of Denmark
1906–1912 		Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
personal data
SURNAME Louise of Sweden-Norway
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lovisa, Louisa; Bernadotte, Louise Josephine Eugenie; Louise of Denmark
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish princess, queen of Denmark
DATE OF BIRTH October 31, 1851
PLACE OF BIRTH Stockholm
DATE OF DEATH March 20, 1926
Place of death Amalienborg Palace , Copenhagen