Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen


Princess Augusta Louise Adelaide Caroline Ida of Saxe-Meiningen was the daughter of Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his wife 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 Anne14 March 18643 May 1918married on 16 April 1882 to George, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.
Princess Elisabeth Augusta Marie Agnes25 January 186524 March 1927married on 27 April 1884 to Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia;
Princess Margarethe Marie Agnes Adelaide Karoline Fredericka22 May 186717 June 1882
Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg31 August 187122 March 1955married Princess Adelaide of Schaumburg-Lippe
Princess Luise Charlotte Marie Agnes11 August 187314 April 1953married on 6 February 1895 to Prince Edward of Anhalt; they divorced in 1918, shortly before he became Duke of Anhalt and later died.

Ancestry