This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}@media all and (max-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{width:auto!important;clear:none!important;float:none!important))You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (September 2012) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the German article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,884 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Carl Alexander (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach)]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template ((Translated|de|Carl Alexander (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach))) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Karl Alexander
Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Reign8 July 1853 – 5 January 1901
PredecessorCharles Frederick
SuccessorWilliam Ernest
Born(1818-06-24)24 June 1818
Weimar
Died5 January 1901(1901-01-05) (aged 82)
Weimar
Burial
Weimarer Fürstengruft
SpouseSophie of the Netherlands
IssueCharles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Marie, Princess Heinrich VII Reuss
Princess Anna Sophia
Elisabeth, Duchess Johann Albrecht of Mecklenburg
Names
Charles Alexander Augustus John
German: Karl Alexander August Johann Großherzog von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach
HouseSaxe-Weimar-Eisenach
FatherCharles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
MotherMaria Pavlovna of Russia
ReligionLutheranism

Charles Alexander (Karl Alexander August Johann; 24 June 1818 – 5 January 1901) was the ruler of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach as its grand duke from 1853 until his death.

Biography

Born in Weimar, he was the second but eldest surviving son of Karl Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. His mother engaged as tutor for Karl the Swiss scholar Frédéric Soret who became a close acquaintance to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

When he was the Hereditary Grand Duke, Karl Alexander established a strong friendship with Fanny Lewald and Hans Christian Andersen, but this close relationship stopped in 1849 for the war against Denmark over the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein (the First German-Danish War). On 8 July 1853 his father died, and Karl Alexander became Grand Duke; but he stopped his constitutional accession until the Goethe's birthday, on 28 August 1853.

The Danish author and poet Hans Christian Andersen was reportedly infatuated with Karl Alexander, writing "I quite love the young duke, he is the first of all princes that I really find attractive".[1]

Karl Alexander renovated Wartburg Castle, and left his traces in many places in Eisenach. He was the protector of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt, retained the tradition of Weimar's classical period, and gave the old part of Weimar a new and better appearance with the establishment of the Herders monuments, how/as country, and the double monument for Goethe and Schiller. In 1860, he founded the Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School (with Arnold Böcklin, Franz von Lenbach and the plastic artist Reinhold Begas). As Grand Duke he was automatically rector, president of Jena University where he supported especially the collections among them prominently the Oriental Coin Cabinet.

In the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), Karl Alexander participated only in "Samaritan"; stressed, however, for his war entrance in favor of Schleswig in 1849. The Weimar Congress of the Goethe Federation (opposing the Lex Heinze) occurred towards the end of his reign, in November 1900 - that congress described his government as the Silver Age of Weimar.

He was the 1,045th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain, and was created the 71st Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword in 1854.

He died at Weimar in 1901. Following his death, he was succeeded as Grand Duke by his grandson Wilhelm Ernst, his only son Carl August having predeceased him.

Family and children

At Kneuterdijk Palace in The Hague, on 8 October 1842, Karl Alexander married with his first cousin, Princess Sophie of the Netherlands, daughter of William II and Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia, sister of his mother. They had four children:

  1. Karl August Wilhelm Nicolaus Alexander Michael Bernhard Heinrich Frederick Stefan, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. Weimar, 31 July 1844 – d. Cap Martin, France, 20 November 1894).
  2. Marie Anna Alexandrine Sophie Auguste Helene (b. Weimar, 20 January 1849 – d. Trebschen, 6 May 1922), known as Marie; married on 6 February 1876 to Prince Heinrich VII Reuss.
  3. Maria Anna Sophia Elisabeth Bernhardine Ida Auguste Helene (b. Weimar, 29 March 1851 – d. Weimar, 26 April 1859), known as Anna.
  4. Elisabeth Sibylle Maria Dorothea Anna Amalie Luise (b. Weimar, 28 February 1854 – d. Wiligrad, 10 July 1908), known as Elisabeth; married on 6 November 1886 to Duke Johann Albrecht of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Ancestry

Family of Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
16. Ernest August I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar
8. Ernest August II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar
17. Sophie Charlotte of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
4. Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
18. Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
9. Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
19. Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia
2. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
20. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
10. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
21. Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg and Münzenberg
5. Luise Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt
22. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
11. Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken
23. Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken
1. Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
24. Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
12. Peter III of Russia
25. Anna Petrovna of Russia
6. Paul I of Russia
26. Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
13. Catherine II of Russia
27. Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
3. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
28. Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg
14. Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg
29. Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis
7. Sophie Dorothea of Württemburg
30. Friedrich Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt
15. Friederike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt
31. Sophie Dorothea Marie, Princess of Prussia

References

  1. ^ His dark materials Archived 2007-03-14 at the Wayback Machine, The Independent, 27 March 2005.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
German royalty Preceded byKarl Frederick Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 1853–1901 Succeeded byWilhelm Ernst
Princes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Authority control databases
Categories