Auguste von Württemberg

Auguste Wilhelmine Henriette of Württemberg was born on October 4, 1826, in Stuttgart, the youngest child of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg and his wife, Pauline Therese. Her siblings included Karl I and Katharina Friederike, who were also children of her parents. She additionally had two older half-sisters, Marie and Sophie, born from Wilhelm I’s marriage to his second wife, Yekaterina Pavlovna of Russia. Eveline von Massenbach, a lady-in-waiting, described Auguste as not especially beautiful but as an alert and intelligent girl. On June 17, 1851, Auguste married Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Hermann served as an officer in the Württemberg cavalry and was promoted from Rittmeister to lieutenant colonel later that same year. In 1853, he received command of a guards regiment. The couple lived in the Weimar Palace at 25 Neckarstraße, which over the years became a center of social life. The atmosphere of the household was strongly shaped by both spouses’ enthusiasm for art. Hermann left military service in 1865 with the rank of lieutenant general after being denied a further promotion. He subsequently sought, without success, the position of adjutant general to his brother-in-law Karl I of Württemberg and the office of imperial governor of Alsace-Lorraine. Lacking other duties, he increasingly devoted himself to supporting social, patriotic, and artistic associations. Auguste likewise took an active part in charitable work and contributed to the efforts of these organizations. Auguste and Hermann had a large family. Their children included Pauline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, who married Karl August, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and Wilhelm, who was married to Princess Gerta of Isenburg-Büdingen-Wächtersbach. Their son Bernhard adopted the name Count of Crayenburg from 1901 onward. He first married Marie Louise Brockmüller in 1900 and, after her death, married Countess Elisabeth von der Schulenburg in 1905. Their other children included Alexander, Ernst, and Olga. Olga married Prince Leopold of Isenburg-Birstein. Through these marriages, the family became closely connected with several German princely houses. Auguste of Württemberg died in her birthplace, Stuttgart, on December 3, 1898, at the age of 72.