Charles Frederick (german: Karl Friedrich; 2 February 1783 – 8 July 1853) was the reigning Grand Duke of

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was ra ...

Biography

Born in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, he was the eldest son of

Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a politica ...

and Luise Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt. Charles Frederick succeeded his father as Grand Duke when the latter died in 1828. His capital,

, continued to be a cultural center of

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

, even after the death of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

in 1832.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. He was a pupil of Mozart, Salieri and Clementi. He als ...

made his career in Weimar as ''Kapellmeister'' until his death in 1837.

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

settled in Weimar in 1848 as ''Kapellmeister'' and gathered about him a circle that kept the Weimar court a major musical centre. Due to the intervention of Liszt, the composer

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

found refuge in Weimar after he was forced to flee

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

for his role in the revolutionary disturbances there in 1848-49. Wagner's opera ''Lohengrin'' was first performed in Weimar in August 1850. Charles Frederick died at

Schloss Belvedere, Weimar The Baroque palace Schloss Belvedere on the outskirts of Weimar,The more famous Schloss Belvedere is located in Vienna. is a pleasure-house ('' Lustschloss'') built for house-parties, built in 1724–1732 to designs of Johann August Richter and ...

, in 1853 and was buried in the

Weimarer Fürstengruft The Klassik Stiftung Weimar (''Classical Foundation Weimar'') is one of the largest and most significant cultural institutions in Germany. It owns more than 20 museums, palaces, historic houses and parks, as well as literary and art collections, ...

Family and children

In St. Petersburg on 3 August 1804, Charles Frederick married the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, daughter of Emperor Paul I. They had four children: * Paul Alexander ''Karl'' Constantin Frederick August (b. Weimar, 25 September 1805 – d. Weimar, 10 April 1806). * ''Marie'' Luise Alexandrine (b. Weimar, 3 February 1808 – d. Berlin, 18 January 1877), married on 26 May 1827 to Karl of Prussia. * Marie Luise ''Augusta'' Katharine (b. Weimar, 30 September 1811 – d. Berlin, 7 January 1890), married on 11 June 1829 to Wilhelm of Prussia, who became

Wilhelm I, German Emperor William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was th ...

. * ''Karl Alexander'' August Johann, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. Weimar, 24 June 1818 – d. Weimar, 5 January 1901), married on 8 October 1842 to Sophie of the Netherlands.

Ancestry

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles Frederick Of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Grand Duke 1783 births 1853 deaths Princes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Protestant monarchs Nobility from Weimar Grand Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary