The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Facing her future with resignation (Part two)

Read part one here.

While William may have acted positively toward Augusta’s parents, he wrote to his sister Charlotte, “The Princess is beautiful and clever, but she leaves me cold.”¹ Augusta’s father made him wait several weeks before responding, “I confess to you that I will not say no if my daughter expresses her yes.”² He told William to talk to Augusta in person as soon as possible.

He came by on 18 October 1828 and declared his intentions to her. Augusta did not seem averse to him, but her father kept William for a few more days before putting him out of his misery. William wrote to his sister Charlotte, “Augusta was very cordial and delighted to see me; she has become even more embellished and taller, but not stronger.”³ Charles Frederick told Augusta to put her intentions on paper, which she did a few days after William’s visit. She wrote, “You requested a written reply, and I will consider myself fortunate if the one I give you openly and confidently satisfies you, or at least makes you favourably disposed toward an event I consider the most important of my life. […] Now, dear papa, since the Prince has been allowed to stay here, and is being treated so well, since it has been explained above all that my choice is decisive, and I personally have nothing against him, the moment seems to me ripe for a very painful, important but necessary decision, and therefore I have received your paternal blessing for your child, who faces her future with resignation, trust in God, and gratitude for the sympathy shown to me.”⁴ Augusta knew about William’s love for Elisa Radziwiłł and similarly resigned to do her duty.⁵

Finally, her father consented to the match, and the unofficial betrothal took place. William wrote to his father that he was “happier than I had expected, for I see how Augusta loves me. Knowing, as I do now, how charming and sensible she is, and how deep and intense her feelings are, I can look forward to an untroubled future.”⁶

What no one knew at the time was that Augusta’s grandmother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, had died that day in St Petersburg. Once the news arrived in Weimar, the court went into mourning. Despite the mourning, preparations for Augusta’s wedding went ahead. Shortly before the wedding, Augusta went to say goodbye to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who later wrote, “May she be happy in the great restless world which she is about to enter.”⁷

The official engagement took place on 16 February 1829.⁸ William presented Augusta with a “string of pearls, worth 15,000 thalers.”⁹ William wrote to his sister Charlotte, “Thus, I am now a significant step closer to the long-awaited goal, which I look forward to with ever-increasing confidence, contentment, and happiness the more often I see and get to know Augusta.”¹⁰ When Elisa Radziwiłł learned of William’s engagement, she wrote, “Tell the Prince that my prayer is for his wife’s happiness and that I will be truly happy to hear that their marriage, through mutual love and faithful fulfilment of duty, will be a joy to all witnesses.”¹¹

On 7 June 1829, William arrived in Weimar to escort Augusta back to Berlin, where the wedding was to take place. A few days before, he had said his final farewell to Elisa Radziwiłł. Her mother wrote, “He [William] was so dissolved in tears and pain, and seems to still love Elisa so much.”¹² Meanwhile, Augusta was very anxious about her debut in Prussia. She had written to William, “I am very afraid of my debut, especially the moment when you introduce me to your father.”¹³

Augusta was received in Potsdam by her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Elisabeth (born Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria), whose marriage to William’s elder brother, King Frederick William IV, was and would remain childless. Augusta made her ceremonial entry into Berlin the following day with Elisabeth by her side. On 11 June, the wedding took place at Charlottenburg Palace.¹⁴ Prince William wore the uniform of a general with the orange ribbon of the Order of the Black Eagle, and Augusta wore a gown of interwoven silk and silver with a train covered with sprigs of myrtle. On her head, she wore the regal Prussian Princesses’ crown, placed there by her sister-in-law.¹⁵

After the ceremony, a concert and a ball took place, and Augusta danced with her uncle, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. She also danced with the Prussian King and, in turn, all the Grand Dukes, Dukes, and Princes.¹⁶

The following day, Augusta and William moved into the Tauentzien Palais, which had been assigned to them. They usually spent the summer at the Marble Palace in Potsdam and later also used the Schloss at Babelsberg. That same day, they hosted a large luncheon for all the imperial and royal wedding guests. In the afternoon, they received military and civil officials, and they ended the day at the opera.¹⁷ Of those first few days in Berlin, Augusta later wrote, “My memories of the first few days bring me only the most oppressive feeling of bewilderment, fear and homesickness.”¹⁸

She made a good first impression, and the following month, William wrote to Charlotte, “Augusta sends you her warmest greetings. I promised you this, and promise you again, to do my best to make her happy. She is so good and so childlike that it is a true delight to see. She is thawing more and more and is now in a particularly brilliant mood, amusing everyone with her cheerfulness. I am very pleased with her appearance, having somewhat curbed her slight tendency towards excess by your example, a little addiction that I already had to start curbing in Weimar.”¹⁹

Part three coming soon.

1. Carl Friedrich by Detlef Jena p.195
2. Carl Friedrich by Detlef Jena p.195
3. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.56
4. Carl Friedrich by Detlef Jena p.195
5. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.17
6. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.17
7. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.17
8. Carl Friedrich by Detlef Jena p.198
9. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.61
10. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.61
11. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.62
12. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.62
13. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.63
14. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.18
15. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.18-19
16. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.19
17. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.20
18. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.73
19. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.76-77