Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a political union) in 1809, and grand duke from 1815 until his death. He is noted for the intellectual brilliance of his court.

Biography Born in Weimar, he was the eldest son of Ernst August II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach (Ernest Augustus II), and Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

His father died when he was only nine months old (28 May 1758), and the boy was brought up under the regency and supervision of his mother. His governor was the Count Johann Eustach von Görtz and in 1771, Christoph Martin Wieland was appointed his tutor. In 1774 the poet Karl Ludwig von Knebel came to Weimar as tutor to his brother, the young Prince Frederick Ferdinand Constantin, and in the same year the two princes set out, with Count Görtz and Knebel, for Paris. At Frankfurt, Knebel introduced Karl August to the young Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; 1= 1. Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 2= 2. Ernest Augustus II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 3= 3. Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 4= 4. Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 5= 5. Princess Sophie Charlotte of Brandenburg-Bayreuth 6= 6. Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 7= 7. Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia 8= 8. John Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Weimar 9= 9. Princess Sophie Auguste of Anhalt-Zerbst 10= 10. George Frederick Charles, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth 11= 11. Princess Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck 12= 12. Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 13= 13. Duchess Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 14= 14. Frederick William I of Prussia 15= 15. Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover

Children The children of Karl August and Luise Auguste's: Charles Frederick, Caroline Louise and Bernhard. Portrait by Johann Friedrich August Tischbein, 1798.

Karl August and Luise Auguste had seven children: Luise Auguste Amalie (b. Weimar, 3 February 1779 – d. Weimar, 24 March 1784). a daughter (b. and d. Weimar, 10 September 1781). Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. Weimar, 2 February 1783 – d. Schloss Belvedere, near Weimar, 8 July 1853). a son (b. and d. Weimar, 26 February 1785). Caroline Louise (b. Weimar, 18 July 1786 – d. Ludwigslust, 20 January 1816), married on 1 July 1810 to Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. a son (b. and d. Weimar, 13 April 1789). Karl Bernhard (b. Weimar, 30 May 1792 – d. Liebenstein, 31 July 1862).

In addition, Karl August acknowledged five children by him born out of wedlock:

With Eva Dorothea Wiegand (b. 1755 – d. 1828) Johann Karl Sebastian Klein (b. Stützerbach, 9 June 1779 – d. Weimar, 28 June 1830), married on 22 April 1817 to Anna Fredericka Henriette Müller. They had three sons who possibly died young. With Luise Rudorf (b. 1777 – d. 1852) Karl Wilhelm von Knebel (b. Templin, 18 January 1796 – d. Jena, 16 November 1861), married firstly on 6 February 1825 to Fredericka von Geusau, with whom he had one son, who died in infancy, before they divorced in 1837; secondly he married on 14 May 1839 Josephine Karoline Emilie Trautmann, with whom he had one son and two daughters. With Karoline Jagemann (b. 1777 – d. 1848), created Frau von Heygendorff Karl Wolfgang von Heygendorff (b. Weimar, 25 December 1806 – d. Dresden, 17 February 1895) August von Heygendorff (b. Weimar, 10 August 1810 – d. Dresden, 23 January 1874). Mariana von Heygendorff (b. Weimar, 8 April 1812 – d. The Hague, 10 August 1836), married on 15 October 1835 to Daniel, Baron Tindal.