Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau

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Nikolaus Wilhelm Prince of Nassau

Prince Nikolaus "Niclas" Wilhelm zu Nassau (born September 20, 1832 in Biebrich Castle ; † September 17, 1905 in Wiesbaden ) was a Prussian infantry general and president of the first chamber of the estates of the Duchy of Nassau .

Life

origin

His parents were Duke Wilhelm von Nassau (1792–1839) and his wife Pauline von Württemberg (1810–1856).

Military career

Prince Nikolaus joined the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Nassau Army as a second lieutenant on February 25, 1845 and became first lieutenant there on July 24, 1849 . On February 2, 1850, he resigned from the army and served in Austria as a lieutenant colonel in the 18th Jäger Battalion. In mid-June 1854 he resigned as a captain in Nassau's service and on July 1 became major à la suite of the Jäger Battalion. As such, he took part in the 1859 war in Italy at the Austrian headquarters . After Otto I was deposed from Greece in 1862, the British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston tried to lift him to the Greek throne. In the eyes of the British government, a king with good connections to Russia would have been useful there. However, Emperor Napoleon III spoke against it . who didn't want to see an officer there who had recently fought him. In 1863, Wilhelm von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg became King George I of Greece.

Nikolaus was promoted to colonel on January 1, 1864 and major general on February 1, 1865 . He then joined on 16 March 1867 in Prussian services over and was with the character hired as Major General à la suite of the Army. During the Franco-Prussian War , Nikolaus was part of the Guard Corps and took part in the battles at Gravelotte , Sedan and Le Bourget as well as the siege of Paris . For Sedan he received the Iron Cross, 2nd class and for Paris, the Cross, 1st class. In the further course of his military career, the Prussian king gave him the character of Lieutenant General on June 11, 1879 and the character of General of the Infantry on September 10, 1897.

marriage and family

Natalia Pushkin (1836–1913)
Tomb of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm zu Nassau in the old cemetery in Wiesbaden

In 1856 Nicholas represented the Duchy of Nassau at the coronation ceremonies of Tsar Alexander II . There he met Natalia Puschkin, at that time still the wife of the Russian general Michail Leontiewitsch von Dubelt (1822-1900). The marriage was unhappy, and from 1862 Natalia tried to separate from her husband, with whom she had three children. The divorce took place on May 18, 1868.

On July 1, 1868, the prince married in morganatic marriage Natalia Pushkin (born May 23, jul. / June 4, 1836 greg. In Saint Petersburg , † March 10 jul. / 23 March 1913 greg. In Cannes ), daughter of Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin . Due to the inappropriate marriage, she was not allowed to use the title of her husband. On June 29, 1868, Nikolaus' brother-in-law, Prince Georg Viktor von Waldeck-Pyrmont , gave her the title of Count of Merenberg for herself and her children . The Merenberg affair developed through the later demands of inheritance and inheritance claims .

The couple had the following children:

⚭ May 12, 1895 Princess Olga Alexandrovna Jurjewskaja (* November 8, 1873 - August 10, 1925) daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia
⚭ January 2, 1930 Adelheid Moran-Brambeer (* October 18, 1875; † May 12, 1942)

From 1869 until his death, the couple lived in a stately villa in Wiesbaden.

politics

Nikolaus zu Nassau was a member of the first chamber of the Nassau estates from 1859 to 1866 and was president of the chamber. The candidacy in the Reichstag constituency Wiesbaden 1 region for election to the constituent Reichstag of the North German Confederation in 1867 failed miserably.

From 1856 he was a member of the Nassau State Council.

He was president of the Wiesbaden Red Cross.

literature

  • Jochen Lengemann : MdL Hessen. 1808-1996. Biographical index (= political and parliamentary history of the state of Hesse. Vol. 14 = publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse. Vol. 48, 7). Elwert, Marburg 1996, ISBN 3-7708-1071-6 , p. 276.
  • Nassau parliamentarians. Part 1: Cornelia Rösner: The Landtag of the Duchy of Nassau 1818–1866 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Nassau. 59 = Prehistory and history of parliamentarism in Hesse. 16). Historical Commission for Nassau, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-930221-00-4 , p. 126.
  • Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 7, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1939], DNB 367632829 , p. 465, no. 2412.

Web links

Commons : Nikolaus Wilhelm zu Nassau  - Collection of images
personal data
SURNAME Nassau, Nikolaus Wilhelm too
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nassau, Niclas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general of the infantry, founder of the line of the Counts of Merenberg
DATE OF BIRTH September 20, 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH Biebrich Castle
DATE OF DEATH 17th September 1905
Place of death Wiesbaden