Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen (6 August 1843 – 11 November 1919) was the daughter of Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, and Princess Marie Frederica of Hesse-Kassel. She was the mother of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg.

Family and early life Augusta was the only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen. Her only sibling was Georg, who would succeed their father in 1866. Georg was seventeen years older than she was.

Augusta's paternal grandparents were Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Her maternal grandparents were William II, Elector of Hesse and Princess Augusta of Prussia, daughter of Frederick William II of Prussia.

Like her brother, Augusta was born in Meiningen. Despite the large age difference, they seemed to have a good relationship. He was a great lover of theatre; in 1856, he wrote his parents stating how happy he was that Augusta was allowed to attend the theatre and how their mother was more tolerant than she had been when he was a child, when she had declared that no child under thirteen should be allowed in the theatre.

Marriage On 15 October 1862, Augusta married Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg in Meiningen. He was fourteen years older, and was a younger son of Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Marie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. They had five children:

NameBirthDeathNotes Princess Marie Anne 14 March 1864 3 May 1918 married on 16 April 1882 to George, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. Princess Elisabeth Augusta Marie Agnes 25 January 1865 24 March 1927 married on 27 April 1884 to Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia; [upon her marriage, she took the name Elizaveta Mavrikievna in a Russian Orthodox baptism] Princess Margarethe Marie Agnes Adelaide Karoline Fredericka 22 May 1867 17 June 1882 Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg 31 August 1871 22 March 1955 married Princess Adelaide of Schaumburg-Lippe Princess Luise Charlotte Marie Agnes 11 August 1873 14 April 1953 married on 6 February 1895 to Prince Edward of Anhalt; they divorced in 1918, shortly before he became Duke of Anhalt and later died.

Honours Ernestine duchies: Insignia of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order Dame of the Order of Theresa, in Diamonds Grand Cross of St. Catherine

Ancestry