Ancestral Trails 2016 » Alexandra Friedrike Henriette von SAXE-ALTENBURG (1830-1911)

Persoonlijke gegevens Alexandra Friedrike Henriette von SAXE-ALTENBURG 

• Zij is geboren op 8 juli 1830 in Altenburg, Saxe-Altenburg, Germany.
• Zij is overleden op 6 juli 1911 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, zij was toen 80 jaar oud.
• Zij is begraven juli 1911 in Grand Ducal Mausoleum, St Petersburg, Russia.
• Een kind van Joseph George Friedrich von SAXE-ALTENBURG en Amelia Therese Louise von WURTTEMBERG

Gezin van Alexandra Friedrike Henriette von SAXE-ALTENBURG

Zij is getrouwd met Konstantin Nikolaevich of RUSSIA.

Zij zijn getrouwd op 11 september 1848 te The Winter Palace, St Petersburg, Russia, zij was toen 18 jaar oud.

Kind(eren):

1. Konstantin Konstantinovich of RUSSIA  1858-1915
2. Dimitri Konstantinovich of RUSSIA  1860-1919
3. Vyacheslav Konstantinovich of RUSSIA  1862-1879
4. Nikolas Konstantinovich of RUSSIA  1850-1918
5. Vera Konstantinovna of RUSSIA  1854-1912
6. Olga Konstantinovna of RUSSIA  1851-1926 

• Het echtpaar heeft gemeenschappelijke voorouders.



Notities over Alexandra Friedrike Henriette von SAXE-ALTENBURG

Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia (8 July 1830 Altenburg - 6 July 1911 Saint Petersburg), born Princess Alexandra Friederike Henriette of Saxe-Altenburg was the fifth daughter of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Amelie Theresa Luise, Duchess of Württemberg. She is the ancestor of the British, Greek, Romanian, Yugoslavian and Spanish Royal Families through her elder daughter Olga. Alexandra's parents were married on 24 April 1817, at Kirchheim unter Teck. They had six children, all daughters:

Marriage and issue
In the summer of 1846, Alexandra met Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia when he visited Altenburg. He was the second son of Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia, and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, née Princess Charlotte of Prussia.

Konstantin stayed for a few days at Alexandra’s father’s castle. His visit there had been arranged by Alexandra’s aunt, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, who had been born Princess Charlotte of Württemberg. Elena and Alexandra's mother were both descended from Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. Elena was married to Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich, the younger brother of Tsar Nicholas I. Elena Pavlovna was therefore Konstantin’s aunt by marriage and Alexandra’s aunt by birth. Elena was a strong influence over Konstantin, who admired her intellect and progressive views. She had literary interests and was musical, founding the St Petersburg Conservatoire, and the young Konstantin often spent time at Elena's home and salon in St Petersburg.

Konstantin was intellectual and liberal, whereas Alexandra was conservative and rather high spirited. Although their temperaments differed, they both shared an interest in music, and enjoyed playing duets at the piano. Konstantin was captivated by Alexandra's youthful beauty: she being tall, slender and attractive. He quickly became besotted, and was eager to marry her "I don't know what is happening to me. It is as if I am a completely new person. Just one thought moves me, just one image fills my eyes: forever and only she, my angel, my universe. I really do think I’m in love. However, what can it mean? I've only know her just a few hours and I'm already up to my ears in Passion". She was only sixteen and Konstantin nineteen; they were engaged but had to wait two more years before they could finally marry.

Alexandra arrived in Russia on 12 October 1847, and was greeted by much fanfare and popular celebration, with jubilant crowds lining the streets and balconies. It was said that Alexandra looked so much like her fiance's sister, the Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolayevna, who died in childbirth, that her prospective mother-in-law burst into tears at their first meeting.

In February 1848, Alexandra converted to Russian Orthodoxy, taking the name of Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, which reflected her father's name Joseph (unlike many princesses she took a patronymic, choosing to reflect her parentage rather than the usual religious or dynastic associations which was also possible because Iosif was a common name in Russia).

Alexandra and Konstantin were married in The Winter Palace in St Petersburg, on 11 September 1848. Konstantin received the Marble Palace in St Petersburg as a wedding gift from his parents. Strelna on the Gulf of Finland, which Konstantin inherited when aged four, was the wedded couple's country retreat. The lively Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna took a particular interest in the grounds at Strelna, establishing a free school of gardening, where she taught classes herself. There were also educational toys for the children: a wooden mast and trampoline for gymnastics, and the transplanted cabin of one of Konstantin’s frigates.

A year after their marriage Konstantin inherited the palace of Pavlovsk, situated 19 miles to the south of St Petersburg, from his uncle Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich. The public was admitted to the fine park in its grounds. The Grand-Ducal family supported an impressive concert hall situated at Pavlovsk station, which proved popular with the middle classes, and attracted names such as Johann Strauss II, Franz Liszt, and Hector Berlioz.

Alexandra and Konstantin later acquired the palace of Oreanda, located in the Crimea, which had originally been built by Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna and left to her second son for his retirement.

Konstantin and Alexandra had 6 children:

Nikolai Konstantinovich (1850-1918); married 1882, Nadedja Alexandrovna von Dreyer.
Olga Konstantinovna, Queen of the Hellenes (1851-1926); married 1867, George I of Greece and is a grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Vera Konstantinovna (1854-1912); married 1874, Duke Eugen of Württemberg.
Constantin Konstantinovich (1858-1915); married 1884, Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg.
Dmitry Konstantinovich (1860-1919); died unmarried.
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich (1862-1879); died unmarried.

Family crisis
In 1867, Alexandra's eldest daughter, Olga, married King George I of Greece. She was only sixteen, and Konstantin was initially reluctant for her to marry so young. In July 1868, Olga's first child was born and was named Konstantin after his grandfather. The beginning of their daughter's family coincided with the start of the breakdown of Alexandra and Konstantin's marriage.

In June 1889, Alexandra’s 18-year-old granddaughter, Princess Alexandra of Greece, returned to Russia to marry Grand Duke Paul, who was the younger brother of Tsar Alexander III. Towards the end of the wedding celebrations, Konstantin suffered a stroke. This was followed in August 1889 by a severe stroke, which left him unable to walk or speak.

For the remaining three years of his life Konstantin lived with his wife in her favourite palace Pavlovsk, having a wing of the building to himself. He was confined to a bath chair, and Alexandra saw to it that Konstantin was denied contact with his mistress and illegitimate offspring.[5] Alexandra’s grandson, Christopher of Greece, wrote in his memoirs that Konstantin became so frustrated with being under Alexandra’s control that he one day grabbed her by the hair and beat her with his stick. Seeing as Christopher would have only been four years old at the time of Konstantin’s death, it is difficult to know the full truth of this story.

Despite his illness, Konstantin tried to amuse himself as best he could. His grand-nephew Cyril Vladimirovich remembered skating parties at Pavlovsk, where Konstantin would watch from his sledge, and how he always "smelt of cigars". Cyril found Alexandra a formidable woman, with her "high pitched voice....driving about in an open carriage with a kind of awning over it, which could be opened and closed like an umbrella. I have never seen anything quite the same anywhere else, and think that she was the only person in the world who had such an ingenious cover to her carriage".

When Konstantin died, in January 1892, Alexandra arranged for his mistress Anna to visit Pavlovsk and pray at Konstantin’s bedside.
SOURCE: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Alexandra_of_Saxe-Altenburg

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