Rosalie von Rauch | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Hohenau | |
 Rosalie, Countess of Hohenau, born von Rauch. | |
| Full name | Rosalie Wilhelmina Johanna |
| Born | 29 August 1820 Berlin |
| Died | 5 March 1879 (aged 58) Albrechtsberg Palace, Dresden |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Issue |
|
| Father | Gustav von Rauch |
| Mother | Rosalie von Holtzendorff |
Rosalie von Rauch (Rosalie Wilhelmine Johanna; 29 August 1820 – 5 March 1879), was a German noblewoman and, since 1853, Countess of Hohenau.
Born in Berlin, she was the only daughter of Prussian General and Minister of War Gustav von Rauch by his second wife, Rosalie von Holtzendorff (1790-1862). She had one half-brother Adolf from her father's previous marriage to Caroline von Geusau (1780–1867) and three full brothers Gustav, Fedor and Albert von Rauch.
Rosalie was a maid of honour of Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, wife of Prince Albert, youngest son of King Frederick William III of Prussia. In Berlin on 13 June 1853, she became the second wife of the Prussian prince, who had divorced his wife in 1849. Almost two weeks before the wedding, on 28 May, Rosalie was already created Countess of Hohenau (German: Gräfin von Hohenau). Due to her lower status, according to the laws of the House of Hohenzollern the marriage was morganatic, and the couple was forced to avoid the Prussian court. Albert was in conflict with his brother King Frederick William IV, who opposed his divorce from Princess Marianne.
The couple resided for some time in Meiningen, at the side of Albert's oldest daughter, Hereditary Princess Charlotte, and later moved to a vineyard in Loschwitz near Dresden, Saxony, where Albert had a residence, Albrechtsberg Castle, erected in 1854. The Prussian ambassador in Dresden, Count Heinrich von Redern (1804-1888), repeatedly ignored Rosalie at the court in Dresden, which is why she and her husband never appeared there.
After Albert's second eldest brother William I became King of Prussia in 1861, the family circumstances were relaxed. William I visited Albrechtsberg Castle and Rosalie was formally introduced as his brother's wife. After her husband's death Rosalie lived in retirement at Albrechtsberg Castle, where she died, aged 58.
Over ten years after Rosalie's death, her daughter-in-law Charlotte was involved in the "Kotze scandal", which lasted from the autumn of 1892 until the summer of 1894. Her son Fritz's wife was rumoured to be having an affair with Fritz's cousin Emperor Wilhelm II.
