Grand Duke Adolphe (1817-1905) and Wives (Elisabeth and Adelheid)


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Was Adolphe styled Serene Highness or Highness as Duke of Nassau?

This is what wikipedia states about his styles and titles in life:
Titles and styles
24 July 1817 – 20 August 1839: His Highness The Hereditary Duke of Nassau
20 August 1839 – 20 September 1866: His Highness The Duke of Nassau
20 September 1866 – 23 November 1890: His Highness Adolphe, Duke of Nassau
23 November 1890 – 17 November 1905: His Royal Highness The Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Nassau

Notes:
It was customary for a reigning Duke, his heir apparent, and their spouses to use the style of Highness.
It was customary for a reigning Grand Duke, his heir apparent, and their spouses to use the style of Royal Highness
 
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On base of what? The Treaty of a Separation of 1884 only named him Son Altesse le Duc Adolphe de Nassau: https://www.koninklijkeverzamelingen.nl/images/tentoonstelling/Luxemburg/scheiding.jpg


He wasn't a Grand Duke in 1884. Once he became Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890 he was elevated to a Royal Highness.

Other Grand Dukes were Royal Highnesses as well:

Baden
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f42.image

Hesse & the Rhine
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f72.image

Mecklenburg-Schwerin
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f93.image

Mecklenburg-Strelitz
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f94.image

Oldenburg
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f97.image

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f121.image
 
He wasn't a Grand Duke in 1884. Once he became Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890 he was elevated to a Royal Highness.

Other Grand Dukes were Royal Highnesses as well:

Baden
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f42.image

Hesse & the Rhine
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f72.image

Mecklenburg-Schwerin
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f93.image

Mecklenburg-Strelitz
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f94.image

Oldenburg
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f97.image

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34488w/f121.image

My understanding was that the style HRH came with the marriage to HRH Prince Félix de Bourbon de Parme. After all the Nassau-Weilburgs were a fürstliche dynasty and became hoheit when the Dukedom of Nassau was formed. And never königlich but I see a difference was made in Dukes and Grand-Dukes:

Verfassung des Norddeutschen Bundes

vom 16. April 1867

(Bundesgesetzblatt 1867 S. 2)

Seine Majestät der König von Preußen,
Seine Majestät der König von Sachsen,

Seine Königliche Hoheit der Großherzog von Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
Seine Königliche Hoheit der Großherzog von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach,
Seine Königliche Hoheit der Großherzog von Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
Seine Königliche Hoheit der Großherzog von Oldenburg,

Seine Hoheit der Herzog von Braunschweig und Lüneburg,
Seine Hoheit der Herzog von Sachsen-Meiningen und Hildburghausen,
Seine Hoheit der Herzog zu Sachsen-Altenburg,
Seine Hoheit der Herzog zu Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha,
Seine Hoheit der Herzog von Anhalt,

Seine Durchlaucht der Fürst zu Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,
Seine Durchlaucht der Fürst zu Schwarzburg-Sondershausen,
Seine Durchlaucht der Fürst zu Waldeck und Pyrmont,
Ihre Durchlaucht die Fürstin Reuß älterer Linie,
Seine Durchlaucht der Fürst Reuß jüngerer Linie,
Seine Durchlaucht der Fürst von Schaumburg-Lippe,
Seine Durchlaucht der Fürst zur Lippe,

der Senat der freien und Hansestadt Lübeck,
der Senat der freien Hansestadt Bremen,
der Senat der freien und Hansestadt Hamburg,

jeder für den gesammten Umfang ihres Staatsgebietes,

und Seine Königliche Hoheit der Großherzog von Hessen und bei Rhein, für die nördlich vom Main belegenen Theile des Großherzogtums Hessen,

schließen einen ewigen Bund zum Schutze des Bundesgebietes und des innerhalb desselben gültigen Rechtes, sowie zur Pflege der Wohlfahrt des Deutschen Volkes. Dieser Bund wird den Namen des Norddeutschen führen und wird nachstehende Verfassung haben.

[....]


https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak2/mussgnug/altehtml/vfg1867.html
 
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My understanding was that the style HRH came with the marriage to HRH Prince Félix de Bourbon de Parme.
A Grand Duke, his wife, the heir and his wife were traditionally Royal Highnesses but what happened in 1919 was that because of the patrilinial descent of the children of Charlotte and Felix suddenly also the younger siblings of the heir were Royal Highnesses as well.
 
He wasn't a Grand Duke in 1884. Once he became Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890 he was elevated to a Royal Highness.

Many thanks for that explanation regarding the elevation of style.
 
Many thanks for that explanation regarding the elevation of style.
Thank you. I realize now that I misunderstood your question and you asked about his style as Duke of Nassau not GD of Luxembourg.
 
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This is what wikipedia states about his styles and titles in life:

Quote:
Titles and styles
24 July 1817 – 20 August 1839: His Highness The Hereditary Duke of Nassau
20 August 1839 – 20 September 1866: His Highness The Duke of Nassau
20 September 1866 – 23 November 1890: His Highness Adolphe, Duke of Nassau
23 November 1890 – 17 November 1905: His Royal Highness The Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Nassau

Notes:
It was customary for a reigning Duke, his heir apparent, and their spouses to use the style of Highness.
It was customary for a reigning Grand Duke, his heir apparent, and their spouses to use the style of Royal Highness

Wikipedia is wrong, as far as I can see.

Reigning dukes in the German Confederation were not recognized as HH prior to 1844. Previously they were officially HSH. See for instance the reference to a source on German law on this page.

In Germany, His Highness the Duke of Nassau, His Highness Adolph Duke of Nassau, and His Highness Duke Adolph of Nassau (I am not sure why Wikipedia uses the French version of his name for his style as duke of Nassau) are all proper citations for the same person, not different titles and styles. As one observes from the quotation from the 1884 treaty provided by Duc_et_Pair, it cited him as His Highness Duke Adolphe of Nassau, not His Highness Adolphe Duke of Nassau.


This is the first page of the Treaty of Separation of 1884 with which King Willem III, after initial resistance, changed his thoughts on having his daughter Wilhelmina to succeed him in Luxembourg as well. Instead his wife's uncle, Adolf von Nassau, would succeed him as Grand-Duke, with this finally respecting the Nassauischer Erbverein (despite his opinion that the Duke had forfeited his rights and duped the dynasty by "selling" the Duchy of Nassau to Prussia).

https://www.koninklijkeverzamelingen.nl/images/tentoonstelling/Luxemburg/scheiding.jpg

What I can read:

Sa Majesté Guillaume III, Roi des Pays-Bas, Prince d'Orange-Nassau, Grand-Duc de Luxembourg, Etc., Etc., Etc., en qualité de Chef de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau

et

Son Altesse le Duc Adolphe de Nassau, en qualité de Chef de la branche Walram de la Maison de Nassau


Considérant que d'après l'article 3 de la Constitution du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg du 17 Octobre 1868, la Couronne est héréditaire dans la famille de Nassau conformément au pacte du 30 Juin 1783 [etc] et qu'ainsi la succession au Trône du Grand-Duché passe aux Agnats de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau [....]

Interesting that the treaty cited Adolph as merely head of the Walramian branch of the House of Nassau, rather than head of the entire House of Nassau, even though the Walramian branch was senior.
 
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[...]



Interesting that the treaty cited Adolph as merely head of the Walramian branch of the House of Nassau, rather than head of the entire House of Nassau, even though the Walramian branch was senior.


I noticed that too. Very strange. More logical would be:


Sa Majesté Guillaume III, Roi des Pays-Bas, Prince d'Orange-Nassau, Grand-Duc de Luxembourg, Etc., Etc., Etc., en qualité de Chef de la branche Otto de la Maison de Nassau ( instead of: Chef de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau )

et

Son Altesse le Duc Adolphe de Nassau, en qualité de Chef de la branche Walram de la Maison de Nassau





Maybe the difference is that the Ottonian branch was identical to the remnant of the House of Orange-Nassau. The Walramian branch still had (and has) other agnates, like the von Merenbergs, the line of Adolf von Nassau's halfbrother Nikolaus Wilhelm von Nassau.

Wilhelm, Herzog von Nassau, x Pauline, Prinzessin von Württemberg
|
Nikolaus Wilhelm, Prinz von Nassau x Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina
|
Georg, Graf von Merenberg x Elisabeth Anne Müller-Uri
|
Clothilde, Gräfin von Merenberg x Enno von Rintelen
 
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Thank you. I realize now that I misunderstood your question and you asked about his style as Duke of Nassau not GD of Luxembourg.
No worries I understood your explanation and all made sense :flowers:
 
Why did Grand Duke Adolphe serve as regent of Luxembourg for King Willem III of The Netherlands in 1889?
 
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