Grand Duchess Vera Constantinovna of Russia
Encyclopedia
Grand Duchess Vera Constantinovna of Russia (16 February 1854 – 11 April 1912) was a daughter of Grand Duke Konstantine Nicholaievich of Russia. She was a granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I
and first cousin of Tsar Alexander III
of Russia
.
Grand Duchess Vera spent her early years in St Petersburg and in 1861, the family moved to Warsaw
when her father was appointed Viceroy of Poland. Vera was a troubled child, prone to violent fits of anger, and suffered what was officially described as a "nervous condition". She became so unmanageable that her parents decided to send her to her aunt, Grand Duchess Olga, Queen of Württemberg
, who agreed to take care of her. On 7 December 1863, Grand Duke Constantin and his wife arrived with nine-year-old Vera in Stuttgart
, entrusting her care to the childless King Karl of Württemberg
and Queen Olga. Officially this was ascribed to the more advanced medical treatment the child would receive in Germany, but it was also a way for Vera's parents to hide her embarrassing illness from the Russian court. Queen Olga was happy to take care of her niece in spite of the difficulties, and for Vera, her aunt eventually took the place of her mother.
Queen Olga and her husband were devoted foster parents, but in the beginning, they had little success in improving the girl's condition. Vera was homesick and continued to be extremely difficult, to the point of being physically violent towards them. Periodically, Vera had to be brought under control by an army officer, and on more than one occasion she was locked up. Karl went for long walks with Vera and read passages from the Bible to her in the evening. By 1866, there was still little improvement in Vera's condition, but Queen Olga persevered and with time, Grand Duchess Vera eventually outgrew her disruptive behavior.
As a young woman, she was introspective, shy, but clever with an intellectual bent. She disliked ceremony. Her physical appearance, like her personality, was rather peculiar. She had thick, curly blonde hair, but was short, stumpy and extremely plain.
King Karl and Queen Olga legally adopted Grand Duchess Vera in 1871. They arranged her marriage to a member of the Silesian branch of their family, Duke Eugen of Württemberg
(b. 20 August 1846 – 27 January 1877), as in this way she would not have to leave the country after her marriage.
The engagement took place in January 1874, pleasing both families. Grand Duke Konstantine wrote to the King and Queen profusely thanking them for the help they had given to his daughter. Queen Olga wrote to her friend Marie von Kinderlen-Waechter, "My problem child is now a happy bride, loving and beloved. I never dreamed that such happiness could exist. Eugen is already like a son to the King. I fold my hands and thank God day and night for such a blessing.". Even the heir to the Wuerttemberg throne, Prince William, wrote that Vera was the luckiest bride in the world. "While she is very ugly and will always remain so, compared to how she was as a child she is unbelievably improved. I consider her not to be without accomplishments, and, I believe, not without heart."
Vera was nineteen and Eugen twenty-eight. The wedding was celebrated with great pomp in Stuttgart
on 4 May 1874 in the presence of Vera's uncle, Tsar Alexander II
, who, noticing the unattractiveness of his niece, remarked ungallantly, "I confess that I do not envy the young husband". He did, however, arrange for Vera's father to settle a million rubles on her as a dowry.
The couple settled in a large house, the "Akademie" in Stuttgart. The following year, Vera gave birth to a son, Karl Eugen, who died only seven months later. In 1876, Vera had twin daughters, Elsa and Olga.
However, the Grand Duchess' married life was to be short-lived. Her husband, an officer in the Württemberg army, took charge of a command in Düsseldorf, where he died unexpectedly on 27 January 1877. The cause of death was officially given as, alternately, a fall from a horse, and a respiratory illness. However, many believed the Duke, a well-known bon vivant, had actually been killed in a duel, which was hushed up. The marriage had lasted three years. Only twenty-three years old, Vera never married again. She reacted to the death of her husband in practical, not grief-stricken terms.
Rather than returning to her native country, the young widow decided to stay in Württemberg
, the country she felt to be her own, where she had the protection of the King. However, she traveled frequently to visit her relatives in Russia as well as her only sister, Queen Olga of the Hellenes
, in Greece.
At the death of King Karl in 1891, Vera inherited a considerable fortune, and when Queen Olga died a year later, she received Villa Berg in Stuttgart
, where she lived in considerable style. She also wrote poetry, and her home was the scene of many cultural as well as family gatherings
Bright and talkative, Grand Duchess Vera was popular in Württemberg, where she dedicated herself to charitable work. Refuges for fallen women, called "Vera's Homes"; the Benevolent Institution; the Olga Clinic in Stuttgart; the Nicholas nursing station for the blind, the Mariaberg Institute near Reutlingen, the dragoon regiment of her late husband, and a Russian regiment, were among the more than thirty institutions and organizations under her patronage. She was also involved in the construction of the Orthodox Church of St Nicholas in Stuttgart.
Grand Duchess Vera visited Russia often and was present with her daughters in May 1896 during the coronation ceremonies of Tsar Nicholas II
. The elder of the twins, Elsa, was first engaged in January 1895 to Hereditary Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
, a grandson of Queen Victoria. The engagement was quickly broken off, and Elsa married a distant cousin, Prince Albert of Schaumburg-Lippe, brother of Queen Charlotte of Württemberg
. The following year, Vera's other daughter, Olga, married her brother-in-law's younger brother, Prince Maximilian of Schaumburg-Lippe. Olga's fate was similar to Vera's; she had three children and within a few years of her marriage, she lost a child and her husband, becoming a widow at an early age and never marrying again.
Aged beyond her years, Grand Duchess Vera was now in poor health. Some authorities now speculate that she suffered from Sydenham's chorea
or Saint Vitus Dance, a neurological movement disorder characterized by abrupt, involuntary movements. In Stuttgart Vera was assigned an officer to follow her about, to make sure that if she had an attack she would not fall and injure herself.
By the turn of the century, Vera Constantinova appeared small and dumpy with a fat, round face. She wore her hair very short, which gave her a masculine look. Extremely nearsighted, she wore a pince-nez
. She was considered rather eccentric, but she had a good sense of humor and her funny remarks were remembered by her nephews and nieces. She was well liked by her family.
After living in Württemberg for so long, she was at odds politically and religiously with her Russian relatives. Her political sympathies lay with Germany and she did not share the increasingly anti-German view of the Romanovs. Vera Konstantinovna was very religious, but had never understood the Orthodox faith and eventually abandoned it to convert to Lutheranism
in 1909, to the consternation of the Romanov family. She then commissioned the building of a Protestant church on the grounds of Villa Berg.
In 1903, during the wedding dinner for Princess Alice of Battenberg to her nephew Prince Andrew of Greece
in Darmstadt
, Prince Christopher
recalled "My brother George
sat next to her, and at a pause in the proceedings, snatched off her tiara and put it on his own head. Everybody laughed, Aunt Vera included, although she vowed vengeance on the culprit. Her turn came, as she thought, a little later, when the bride and bridegroom started on their honeymoon. We were all gathered at the door, throwing rice at them, when someone knocked off poor Aunt Vera's glasses, which were smashed to atoms on the stone steps." An unfortunate man who happened to be standing next to the Grand Duchess, then became the object of her wrath. She knocked the man's hat off and began to hit him over the head with it.
Grand Duchess Vera Constantinovna suffered a stroke in October 1911 and she died in Stuttgart
on 11 April 1912, aged fifty-eight.
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
and first cousin of Tsar Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
of Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
.
Early life
Grand Duchess Vera Constantinovna of Russia was born in St. Petersburg on 16 February 1854, the fourth child and second daughter of the six children of Grand Duke Constantine Nicholaievich of Russia and his wife Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna (born Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg).Grand Duchess Vera spent her early years in St Petersburg and in 1861, the family moved to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
when her father was appointed Viceroy of Poland. Vera was a troubled child, prone to violent fits of anger, and suffered what was officially described as a "nervous condition". She became so unmanageable that her parents decided to send her to her aunt, Grand Duchess Olga, Queen of Württemberg
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...
, who agreed to take care of her. On 7 December 1863, Grand Duke Constantin and his wife arrived with nine-year-old Vera in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, entrusting her care to the childless King Karl of Württemberg
Charles I of Württemberg
Charles was the third King of Württemberg, from 25 June 1864 until his death in 1891.-Early life:He was born 6 March 1823 at Stuttgart, as HRH Charles Frederick Alexander, Crown Prince of Württemberg the son of William I, King of Württemberg and his third wife Pauline Therese of Württemberg .He...
and Queen Olga. Officially this was ascribed to the more advanced medical treatment the child would receive in Germany, but it was also a way for Vera's parents to hide her embarrassing illness from the Russian court. Queen Olga was happy to take care of her niece in spite of the difficulties, and for Vera, her aunt eventually took the place of her mother.
Queen Olga and her husband were devoted foster parents, but in the beginning, they had little success in improving the girl's condition. Vera was homesick and continued to be extremely difficult, to the point of being physically violent towards them. Periodically, Vera had to be brought under control by an army officer, and on more than one occasion she was locked up. Karl went for long walks with Vera and read passages from the Bible to her in the evening. By 1866, there was still little improvement in Vera's condition, but Queen Olga persevered and with time, Grand Duchess Vera eventually outgrew her disruptive behavior.
As a young woman, she was introspective, shy, but clever with an intellectual bent. She disliked ceremony. Her physical appearance, like her personality, was rather peculiar. She had thick, curly blonde hair, but was short, stumpy and extremely plain.
Marriage
Duke Eugen of Württemberg (1846–1877)
-Early life and family:Duke Eugen was born at Bückeburg, Schaumburg-Lippe, second child and first son of Duke Eugen of Württemberg , and his wife, Princess Mathilde of Schaumburg-Lippe ,...
(b. 20 August 1846 – 27 January 1877), as in this way she would not have to leave the country after her marriage.
The engagement took place in January 1874, pleasing both families. Grand Duke Konstantine wrote to the King and Queen profusely thanking them for the help they had given to his daughter. Queen Olga wrote to her friend Marie von Kinderlen-Waechter, "My problem child is now a happy bride, loving and beloved. I never dreamed that such happiness could exist. Eugen is already like a son to the King. I fold my hands and thank God day and night for such a blessing.". Even the heir to the Wuerttemberg throne, Prince William, wrote that Vera was the luckiest bride in the world. "While she is very ugly and will always remain so, compared to how she was as a child she is unbelievably improved. I consider her not to be without accomplishments, and, I believe, not without heart."
Vera was nineteen and Eugen twenty-eight. The wedding was celebrated with great pomp in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
on 4 May 1874 in the presence of Vera's uncle, Tsar Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
, who, noticing the unattractiveness of his niece, remarked ungallantly, "I confess that I do not envy the young husband". He did, however, arrange for Vera's father to settle a million rubles on her as a dowry.
The couple settled in a large house, the "Akademie" in Stuttgart. The following year, Vera gave birth to a son, Karl Eugen, who died only seven months later. In 1876, Vera had twin daughters, Elsa and Olga.
However, the Grand Duchess' married life was to be short-lived. Her husband, an officer in the Württemberg army, took charge of a command in Düsseldorf, where he died unexpectedly on 27 January 1877. The cause of death was officially given as, alternately, a fall from a horse, and a respiratory illness. However, many believed the Duke, a well-known bon vivant, had actually been killed in a duel, which was hushed up. The marriage had lasted three years. Only twenty-three years old, Vera never married again. She reacted to the death of her husband in practical, not grief-stricken terms.
Rather than returning to her native country, the young widow decided to stay in Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
, the country she felt to be her own, where she had the protection of the King. However, she traveled frequently to visit her relatives in Russia as well as her only sister, Queen Olga of the Hellenes
Olga Konstantinovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia , later Queen Olga of the Hellenes , was the queen consort of King George I of Greece and briefly in 1920, Queen Regent of Greece...
, in Greece.
At the death of King Karl in 1891, Vera inherited a considerable fortune, and when Queen Olga died a year later, she received Villa Berg in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, where she lived in considerable style. She also wrote poetry, and her home was the scene of many cultural as well as family gatherings
Bright and talkative, Grand Duchess Vera was popular in Württemberg, where she dedicated herself to charitable work. Refuges for fallen women, called "Vera's Homes"; the Benevolent Institution; the Olga Clinic in Stuttgart; the Nicholas nursing station for the blind, the Mariaberg Institute near Reutlingen, the dragoon regiment of her late husband, and a Russian regiment, were among the more than thirty institutions and organizations under her patronage. She was also involved in the construction of the Orthodox Church of St Nicholas in Stuttgart.
Last Years
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
. The elder of the twins, Elsa, was first engaged in January 1895 to Hereditary Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Prince Alfred of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was born a member of the British Royal Family.-Early life:...
, a grandson of Queen Victoria. The engagement was quickly broken off, and Elsa married a distant cousin, Prince Albert of Schaumburg-Lippe, brother of Queen Charlotte of Württemberg
Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe
Princess Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe was the daughter of Prince Wilhelm Karl August of Schaumburg-Lippe, and his wife, Princess Bathildis of Anhalt-Dessau. As the second wife of King William II of Württemberg she became Queen Charlotte of Württemberg...
. The following year, Vera's other daughter, Olga, married her brother-in-law's younger brother, Prince Maximilian of Schaumburg-Lippe. Olga's fate was similar to Vera's; she had three children and within a few years of her marriage, she lost a child and her husband, becoming a widow at an early age and never marrying again.
Aged beyond her years, Grand Duchess Vera was now in poor health. Some authorities now speculate that she suffered from Sydenham's chorea
Chorea (disease)
Choreia is an abnormal involuntary movement disorder, one of a group of neurological disorders called dyskinesias. The term choreia is derived from the Greek word χορεία , see choreia , as the quick movements of the feet or hands are vaguely comparable to dancing or piano playing.The term...
or Saint Vitus Dance, a neurological movement disorder characterized by abrupt, involuntary movements. In Stuttgart Vera was assigned an officer to follow her about, to make sure that if she had an attack she would not fall and injure herself.
By the turn of the century, Vera Constantinova appeared small and dumpy with a fat, round face. She wore her hair very short, which gave her a masculine look. Extremely nearsighted, she wore a pince-nez
Pince-nez
Pince-nez are a style of spectacles, popular in the 19th century, which are supported without earpieces, by pinching the bridge of the nose. The name comes from French pincer, to pinch, and nez, nose....
. She was considered rather eccentric, but she had a good sense of humor and her funny remarks were remembered by her nephews and nieces. She was well liked by her family.
After living in Württemberg for so long, she was at odds politically and religiously with her Russian relatives. Her political sympathies lay with Germany and she did not share the increasingly anti-German view of the Romanovs. Vera Konstantinovna was very religious, but had never understood the Orthodox faith and eventually abandoned it to convert to Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
in 1909, to the consternation of the Romanov family. She then commissioned the building of a Protestant church on the grounds of Villa Berg.
In 1903, during the wedding dinner for Princess Alice of Battenberg to her nephew Prince Andrew of Greece
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the seventh child and fourth son of King George I of Greece and Olga Constantinovna of Russia. He was a grandson of Christian IX of Denmark.He began military training at an early age, and was...
in Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, Prince Christopher
Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark
Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Royal House.-Family background:...
recalled "My brother George
Prince George of Greece and Denmark
align=right| Prince George of Greece and Denmark was the second son of King George I of the Hellenes and Grand Duchess Olga, and is remembered chiefly for having saved the life of a future Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II...
sat next to her, and at a pause in the proceedings, snatched off her tiara and put it on his own head. Everybody laughed, Aunt Vera included, although she vowed vengeance on the culprit. Her turn came, as she thought, a little later, when the bride and bridegroom started on their honeymoon. We were all gathered at the door, throwing rice at them, when someone knocked off poor Aunt Vera's glasses, which were smashed to atoms on the stone steps." An unfortunate man who happened to be standing next to the Grand Duchess, then became the object of her wrath. She knocked the man's hat off and began to hit him over the head with it.
Grand Duchess Vera Constantinovna suffered a stroke in October 1911 and she died in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
on 11 April 1912, aged fifty-eight.
Children
Grand Duchess Vera and her husband Duke Eugene of Württemberg had three children:- Charles-Eugen of Württemberg (8 April 1875 – 11 November 1875).
- Elsa of WürttembergDuchess Elsa of Württemberg-Early life and family:Duchess Elsa was born at Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg, the elder twin daughter of Duke Eugen of Württemberg , and his wife, Grand Duchess Vera Constantinovna of Russia , -Early life and family:Duchess Elsa was born at Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg, the elder twin...
(1 March 1876 – 27 May 1936) m. 1897 Albrecht of Schaumburg-Lippe (24 October 1869 – 25 December 1942).- Maximilian of Schaumburg-Lippe (28 March 1898 – 4 February 1974)
- Franz Josef of Schaumburg-Lippe (1 September 1899 – 6 July 1963)
- Alexander of Schaumburg-Lippe (20 January 1901 – 26 November 1923)
- Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe (11 November 1903 – 29 June 1983)
- Olga of Württemberg (1 March 1876 – 21 October1932) m. 1898 Maximilian of Schaumburg-Lippe (13 March 1871 – 1 April 1904).
- Eugen of Schaumburg-Lippe (8 August 1899 – 9 November 1929)
- Albrecht of Schaumburg-Lippe (17 October 1900 – 20 May 1984)
- Bernhard of Schaumburg-Lippe (8 December 1902 – 24 June 1903)