the year of louise of mecklenburg-strelitz Archives

The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – The life and death of King Frederick William III of Prussia (Part two)

Tuesday, 4 August 2026, 6:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Read part one here. Frederick William initially did not want to enter the Napoleonic Wars. As early as 1797, he had told his uncle, “Everybody knows that I abhor war and that I know of nothing greater on earth than the preservation of peace and tranquillity as the only system suited to the happiness of [read more]

The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – The Order of Louise

Monday, 3 August 2026, 6:00 Moniek Bloks 0

On his 44th birthday, four years after his wife’s death, Louise’s widower King Frederick William III of Prussia instituted the Order of Louise (Luisenorden). The order was intended for “women who had made a distinguished contribution to the war effort.” It resembled the Iron Cross in shape, but it was enamelled in Prussian blue and [read more]

The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – The life and death of King Frederick William III of Prussia (Part one)

Monday, 3 August 2026, 6:00 Moniek Bloks 0

On 24 December 1793, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz married the future King Frederick William III of Prussia. He had been born on 3 August 1770 as the eldest son of the future King Frederick William II of Prussia and Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was born during the reign of his great-uncle, Frederick II, who was [read more]

The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Charlotte of Prussia: “A great lady” (Part seven)

Saturday, 25 July 2026, 6:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Read part six here. In 1853, the Crimean War broke out. By September 1854, the war was not going much to Nicholas’s frustration. Nicholas and Charlotte both fell ill, and one courtier wrote, “Lately, he seems more dejected every day; his face is worried, his gaze dull. His beautiful, majestic figure has bowed under the [read more]

The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Charlotte of Prussia: “Crushed hopes” (Part six)

Wednesday, 22 July 2026, 6:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Read part five here. Once back in Russia, the focus returned to the upcoming nuptials of Charlotte’s eldest son, Alexander, and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. On 12 December 1840, Marie was accepted into the Russian Orthodox Church with the name Maria Alexandrovna. She and Alexander could now be officially betrothed. The wedding took [read more]

The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Charlotte of Prussia: “A quiet melancholy” (Part five)

Monday, 20 July 2026, 6:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Read part four here. The Austrian diplomat Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont and his wife, Dolli, were invited to the Peterhof. Dolli later wrote, “But there, too, was Sophie Urusova, this enigmatic figure, with her dazzling white and dispassionate beauty, at the sight of which the Empress’s friends’ hearts ached, and who occupied a place in [read more]