wedding wilhelm auguste viktoria
Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein

Royal Wedding Recollections – Auguste Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein & the future Wilhelm II, German Emperor

On 27 February 1881, the future Wilhelm II, German Emperor, married Auguste Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein. They became secretly engaged on 14 February 1880 after his parents, and in particular his mother, Victoria, future German Empress, played a crucial role in overcoming the protests of other family members. Especially his grandfather, Wilhelm I, who had objected [read more]

Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Augusta of Saxe-Weimar

Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach – The first German Empress (Part two)

Read part one here. On 2 August 1861, William’s brother passed away, and he became King of Prussia with Augusta as his Queen. Her increasing ill-health prevented her from enjoying the role. She underwent several unspecified operations which failed to improve the situation. Victoria would later write of her ever-complaining mother-in-law, “She stands so alone [read more]

Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein

Thousands of private letters to last German Empress discovered

A forgotten cabinet in Potsdam’s New Palace has been hiding thousands of letters that had been written to the last Empress of Germany, Augusta Victoria. The New Palace in Potsdam has been undergoing renovations for several years now, which lead to the discovery of the letters. The Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation (SPSG) announced that [read more]

Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein

Lost Kingdoms – Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia came into being in 1701 in return for an alliance against France in the War of the Spanish Succession. Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia became the first King in Prussia in 1701 and crowned himself King Frederick I on 18 January 1701 in Königsberg. Frederick was married three times. His first wife [read more]