Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau (; ) (25 December 1833 – 24 November 1916) was a

Princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

Anhalt-Dessau Anhalt-Dessau was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and later a duchy of the German Confederation. Ruled by the House of Ascania, it was created in 1396 following the partition of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, and finally merged into th ...

and member of the

House of Ascania The House of Ascania () was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Principality of Anhalt, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ' ...

. As the wife of Adolphe of Nassau, she was

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they a ...

of Nassau from 1851 until 1866 and Grand Duchess of

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

from 1890 until 1905.

Birth and family

Adelheid Marie was born on 25 December 1833, in

Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...

, to

Prince Frederick Augustus of Anhalt-Dessau Frederick Augustus of Anhalt-Dessau () (23 September 1799 – 4 December 1864), was a German prince of the House of Ascania from the Anhalt-Dessau branch. Birth and family Frederick was born in Dessau on 23 September 1799 as the fourth (but thi ...

and

Princess Marie Luise Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel Princess Marie Luise Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel (9 May 1814 – 28 July 1895) was a member of the Electorate of Hesse, House of Hesse-Kassel by birth. Through her marriage to Prince Frederick Augustus of Anhalt-Dessau, she became a princess of An ...

Marriage and issue

On 23 April 1851, in Dessau, as his second wife, she was married to Adolphe of Nassau, Duke of Nassau and later Grand Duke of Luxembourg. They had five children, of whom only two lived to the age of eighteen and to become prince and princess of Luxembourg: *

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

(1852–1912), second Grand Duke of Luxembourg * Prince Frederick of Nassau (28 September 1854 – 23 October 1855) * Princess Marie of Nassau (14 November 1857 – 28 December 1857) * Prince Francis Joseph William of Nassau (30 January 1859 – 2 April 1875) * Princess Hilda of Nassau (1864–1952), married Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden.

Grand Duchess consort of Luxembourg

Duke Adolph supported the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

of 1866. After Austria's defeat, Nassau was annexed to the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

and Adolph and Marie Adelheid lost their throne on 20 September 1866. In 1890, King

William III of the Netherlands William III (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk''; English: ''William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis''; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until ...

died. His only daughter, Wilhelmina, succeeded on his death without surviving male issue to the Dutch throne, but was excluded from the succession to the

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembourg ...

by the House treaty between the two branches of the House of Nassau. The Grand Duchy, which had been linked to the Netherlands since 1815, passed to the Dutch royal family's distant relative – the dispossessed Duke Adolphe – on 23 November 1890, in accordance with the

Nassau Family Pact The Nassau Family Pact was a mutual pact of inheritance and succession made in 1783 by princes of the House of Nassau. It confirmed that Salic Law was to operate in favor of all the agnatic lines of the family, specifically the two senior surviv ...

. Marie Adelheid now became Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

Death

Marie Adelheid died on 24 November 1916, aged 82, in

Königstein im Taunus Königstein im Taunus (, ) is a health spa and lies on the thickly wooded slopes of the Taunus in Hesse, Germany. The town is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Owing to its advantageous location ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

Legacy

The Grand Dukes of Luxembourg are still descendants of Adolphe and Marie-Adelheid, although cognatically, since the very independence of the Grand-Duchy required an alteration of the succession laws at the absence of male heirs.

Ancestry

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Adelheid Marie Of Anhalt-Dessau, Princess House of Ascania Grand ducal consorts of Luxembourg 1833 births 1916 deaths House of Nassau-Weilburg Burials in the Royal Crypt of Weilburg Schlosskirche Mothers of monarchs