Grand Ducal House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Wettin)

[Marengo]

Welcome to the thread about the Grand Ducal House of Saxe-Weimar & Eisenach. Post all your questions and remarks about this family in this thread.

Arms of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

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[sinulord]

The current Head of the Grand Ducal House is HRH Prince Michael-Benedikt (b.1946), succeeding his father Hereditary Grand Duke Karl Augustus upon his death in 1988. His designated heir is his cousin Prince Wilhelm-Ernst since he does not have a son (yet). Prince Michael-Benedikte is also the most senior agnatic descendant of the entire House of Wettin to which HM Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain belongs. He is also, as is Queen Beatrix of Holland, a direct descendant of King George II of Great Britain.

[brewer]

Are there many living Princes of Saxe Weimar Eisenach or is the house in danger of becoming extinct in the male line if Prince Michael Benedikt does not have any sons?

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by brewer

Are there many living Princes of Saxe Weimar Eisenach or is the house in danger of becoming extinct in the male line if Prince Michael Benedikt does not have any sons?

He has a cousin Prince Wilhelm-Ernst who has 2 children from his former wife (now married to the Fürst of Wrede). Princess Desirée who is married to Count Florian von und zu Hoensbroech and Prince Georg-Constantin who is unmarried.

[brewer]

Thank you Stefan, I hope the line continues and Prince Georg-Constantine marries and has sons. Do you know of any books or websites devoted to the Saxe Weimar Eisenach family?

[Helen88]

I once had dinner with Michael-Benedikt's daughter Leonie when we were both little girls. I thought she was the heir. Why are females not allowed to become heir? I mean, it's modern times...

[fearghas]

The reason that Leonie inot the heir is that the german families stick to the old rules. Perhaps if they had continued to reign after the war they would have evolved along with the other European families and allowed female line descent.

[Harold]

Wilhelm Ernst was the last reining Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Are there any biographies of him? Preferably in English? I know little if anything about these Albertine Wettins. (I hope I got that right!) But according to his Wiki article linked below, he did much for his state but was the "most hated prince in Germany" due to his personal life.

Edit: Well, duh. As I look again at the Wiki article it references an article in the European Royal History Journal (December 1999). Is this on line anywhere?


wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ernest,_Grand_Duke_of_Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

[Warren]

Wedding of Erbprinz Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha, Coburg, 23 May 2009...

Hereditary Prince Michael Benedikt of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, daughter Princess Leonie (L) and wife Princess Dagmar (R): [DNF] Fotoarchief Denieuwsfoto
.

[fearghas]

Leoine would make a suitable spouse, geaologically, for Georg Friedrich of Prussia

[principessa]

The birthroom of Duchess Anna Amalia at the castle of Wolfenbüttel will be renovated, according to an article at newsclick.de.

Google Nachricht

[Stefan]

Hereditary Gtrand Duchess Elisabeth had died at the age of 98 last Monday. She will be buired at the Wartburg.
Letzte Ruhestätte der Erbgroßherzogin auf der Wartburg - thueringer-allgemeine.de

[Marengo]

May she rest in piece. Oddly enough wikipedia states that she died in 1985 already, which obviously is not the case.

[Lumutqueen]

Bad mistake on wikipedia's part.

May she rest in peace.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by Marengo

May she rest in piece. Oddly enough wikipedia states that she died in 1985 already, which obviously is not the case.

I read somewhere that her death was once published by Gotha Nieuws in the 1980's and even appeared in some official publications.

[Emeralds and Opals]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/7922433/My-40-year-friendship-with-Elisabeth-Germanys-last-grand-duchess.html

"Germany’s last Grand Duchess, HRH Hereditary Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Duchess of Saxony, Landgravine of Thuringia, Countess Wettin-nee von Wangenheim."

[Warren]

In case it's not "permanent", some excerpts:

My 40-year friendship with Elisabeth, Germany's last Grand Duchess

In March, I attended the funeral of Germany's last Grand Duchess, HRH Hereditary Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Duchess of Saxony, Landgravine of Thuringia, Countess Wettin. She was 98...As I had wanted to earn money by giving English lessons, I had put an advert...The first response was from a lady with almost indecipherable handwriting, signing herself Gräfin Wettin. At that time, my German was not up to knowing that Gräfin meant countess, but I went to meet her at a modest but elegant flat on the outskirts of the town, with lovely views of the Black Forest.

Elisabeth and her twin sister, Dorothée, were born to Baron and Baroness von Wangenheim on January 16 1912, in Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg.
The family subsequently lived at Behringen Castle in Thüringia. Her mother died in 1913 while giving birth to her younger brother, Jobst, who was to die at Stalingrad.

In October 1944, Elisabeth married Hereditary Grand Duke Karl-August of Saxe-Weimar at Wartburg Castle, which was owned by his family until 1922, and is best known as the setting of Wagner’s Tannhäuser. She bore three children, Princess Elisabeth in 1945, Prince Michael in 1946 and Princess Beatrice in 1948.

Just before giving birth to Elisabeth, she had to flee eastern Germany with her husband as the Red Army approached. They went to stay with the Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg at Weikersheim Castle. All the family’s extensive estates and property in eastern Germany were lost. As they had to use a small car to avoid attracting attention as they fled, they were only able to take a small number of possessions. Once, while I was having tea with the Grand Duchess in Freiburg, she turned over a silver plate that was numbered 44. “There used to be 200,” she said. As Germans living in the West were entitled to reclaim the property they had lost though Soviet occupancy, there was hope the family might do the same. Through negotiations with family lawyers and the German government, a settlement of several million euros was reached for the family, none of whom moved back to Thüringia to live, though they keep a hunting lodge there.

I loved the stories she told, including the one about her attending the reception of the wedding of Archduke Otto von Habsburg to Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen, a cousin of her husband. Apparently, as a congratulatory card was passed around to be signed, Empress Zita, who had a reputation for being frugal, hesitated with the pen until her son Otto said: “It’s all right, Mother. You can sign it. It is not a cheque!”

At the funeral service on an unseasonably warm day in Munich, which was attended by members of the imperial Hohenzollern and Preussen dynasties, a butterfly appeared from a bouquet of flowers and hovered over the coffin, which was covered with the flag of Thüringia. How the Grand Duchess would have enjoyed that. With special permission, a casket containing her ashes was interred at Wartburg Castle at a private ceremony in May.

My 40-year friendship with Elisabeth, Germany's last grand duchess - Telegraph - 2 August 2010

[Proletari]

Dear all,
I need to ask a confidential question about one of the possible representatives of Wettin house.Any help will be appreciated.I ,however, prefer to write directly to somebody.Thank you a lot for understanding as wella s for your kind help.

[Seraphine]

Leonie of Sachsen Weimar works for n-tv now. Today they sent a reportage about Kate Middleton, that was made by her. She works behind the cameras as an editor.

[magnik]

Some genealogy
Saxony