- Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf
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Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf Duchess consort of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Auguste Reuss of Ebersdorf as Artemisia, 1775, painted by Johann Heinrich Tischbein, sen., called: the Kasseler. Tenure 1800–1806 Spouse Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Issue Antoinette, Duchess Alexander of Württemberg
Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia
Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Prince Ferdinand
Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent and Strathearn
Leopold I of BelgiumFull name Augusta Caroline House House of Wettin
House of ReussFather Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf Mother Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg Born 19 January 1757
Saalburg-EbersdorfDied 16 November 1831 (aged 74)
CoburgCountess (later Princess) Augusta Caroline Reuss of Ebersdorf (German: Gräfin Reuß zu Ebersdorf) (19 January 1757 – 16 November 1831), was by marriage a duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She was born in Saalburg-Ebersdorf.
Contents
Family
She was the second of seven children of Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf and his wife Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg. Her birthplace, Ebersdorf, was a center of Pietism in Thuringia and Augusta's grandparents were ardent admirers of this religious movement. Augusta's great-aunt Countess Erdmuthe Dorothea, by marriage Countess of Zinzendorf was closely connected with the Moravian Church. This background explains the deep religious feelings of Princess Augusta in later years.
Marriage
Augusta was one of the most beautiful women of her time. Her father commissioned a portrait of Augusta as Artemisia by the painter Johann Heinrich Tischbein. Count Heinrich XXIV showed this painting during the Perpetual Diet so potential marriage candidates were aware of his beautiful daughter.
In Ebersdorf on 13 June 1777 Augusta married Franz Frederick Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Duke Franz previously acquired the Artemisia painting for four times the original price because he was deeply in love with Augusta, but he had to marry a relative, Princess Sophie of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Princess Sophie died seven months after the wedding, so the Duke was free to pursue the hand of his beloved.
During her marriage, Augusta bore her husband ten children; some of them played important roles in European history: Victoria, Duchess of Kent, and King Leopold I of Belgium.
Issue
- Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Countess von Mensdorff-Pouilly
- Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
- Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia
- Stillborn son
- Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Victoria, Duchess of Kent and Strathearn
- Princess Marianne
- Leopold I of Belgium
- Prince Francis Maximilian
Notable descendants
Countess Augusta is the grandmother of many notable monarchs of Europe, including both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (through her mother Victoria) and her husband, Prince Albert (through his father Ernst), King Consort of Portugal Ferdinand II (through his father Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), and also Empress Carlota of Mexico and her brother Leopold II of Belgium (through their father Leopold I who was elected King of the Belgians on 26 June 1831.)
Elevation to Princess
The House of Reuss became princes on 9 April 1806, and all the surviving members of the Ebersdorf-Lobenstein line (including Augusta) bore the title Prince(ss) Reuss of Ebersdorf (German: Fürst/Fürstin Reuß zu Ebersdorf, Jüngere Linie) . Augusta died in Coburg on 16 November 1831, aged seventy-four, five months after the election of her son Leopold as King of the Belgians.
Ancestry
Ancestors of Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf 16. Heinrich X, Count Reuss of Lobenstein 8. Heinrich X, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf 17. Marie Sibylle of Reuss-Obergreiz 4. Heinrich XXIX, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf 18. Johann Friedrich, Count of Solms-Baruth 9. Erdmuthe Benigna of Solms-Laubach 19. Benigna of Promnitz 2. Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf 20. Wolfgang Georg I of Castell-Remlingen 10. Wolfgang, Count of Castell-Castell 21. Sophia Juliana of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg 5. Sofie Theodora of Castell-Castell 22. Maximilian Ernst, Count of Zinzendorf-Pottendorf 11. Dorothea Renata of Zinzendorf-Pottendorf 23. Anna Amalia of Dietrichstein 1. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf 24. Georg Albert I, Count of Erbach-Schönberg 12. Georg Albrecht II., Count of Erbach-Fürstenau 25. Elisabeth Dorothea of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst 6. Georg August, Count of Erbach-Schönberg 26. Philipp Gottfried, Count of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg 13. Anna Dorothea, Countess of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg 27. Anna Christine Schenkin of Limpurg 3. Countess Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg 28. Heinrich Ernst, Count of Stolberg-Gedern 14. Ludwig Christian, Count of Stolberg-Gedern 29. Anna Elisabeth, Countess of Stolberg 7. Ferdinande Henriette, Countess of Stolberg-Gedern 30. Gustav Adolf, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow 15. Princess Christine of Mecklenburg-Gustrow 31. Magdalene Sibylle, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp References
- Gertraude Bachmann: Natur und Kunst in den Reisetagebüchern der Herzogin Auguste Caroline Sophie von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld (text of the lecture from the 175th anniversary of Duchess Augusta's death on 16 November 2006 at the Naturkunde-Museum Coburg), Coburg 2006.
Countess Augusta Reuss of EbersdorfCadet branch of the House of ReussBorn: 19 January 1757 Died: 16 November 1831German royalty Preceded by
Sophia Antonia of Brunswick-WolfenbüttelDuchess consort of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
8 September 1800 – 9 December 1806Vacant Title next held byLouise of Saxe-Gotha-AltenburgThe generations are numbered from the union of Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Saalfeld in 1699 1st generation 2nd generation Duchess Sophie Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
3rd generation Princess Sophie of Saxe-Hildburghausen · Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf
4th generation 5th generation none
* became princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by marriage in 1826 Categories:- 1757 births
- 1831 deaths
- People from Saalburg-Ebersdorf
- Duchesses of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
- German princesses
- House of Reuss
- House of Wettin
- Princesses of Reuss
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