by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2012

The palace chapel at Ludwigsburg Palace has been the traditional burial site of the rulers of Württemberg since it was built in the early 1700s. The first King of Württemberg, Friedrich I, was the last of the rulers to be buried in the chapel but the last king, Wilhelm II, and his family are buried in a small cemetery in the grounds of the palace.

Kings of Württemberg

• Friedrich I (reigned 1806-1816)
• Wilhelm I (reigned 1816-1864)
• Karl I (reigned 1864-1891)
• Wilhelm II (reigned 1981-1918)

Friedrich I
reigned January 1, 1806 – October 30, 1816

Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich I of Württemberg

Friedrich was born November 6, 1754, in Treptow Poland, the son of Friedrich II, Duke of Württemberg and Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt. His first marriage, to Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel on October 15, 1780, produced four children but was not a happy union. She died in 1788. Friedrich married again on May 18, 1797, to Charlotte, Princess Royal of Great Britain, daughter of King George III (King of Great Britain and Hanover).

King Friedrich I died on October 30, 1816. He is buried in the Royal Crypt in the Schlosskapelle (Castle Chapel) at Ludwigsburg Palace.

Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Unofficial Royalty: Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Augusta was born December 3, 1764, in Brunswick, the eldest daughter of Carl Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick and Princess Augusta of Great Britain. Her younger sister, Caroline, was the wife of King George IV of the United Kingdom and Hanover. She married Friedrich I on October 15, 1780, at the age of 15. After fleeing her husband’s violence toward her, Augusta ended up taking refuge at Lohde Castle, an estate of her sister-in-law, the Empress Catherine of Russia.

Augusta died at Lohde Castle while giving birth to an illegitimate child, on September 27, 1788. She is buried at St John’s Church in Kullamaa, Estonia.

Charlotte, Princess Royal of Great Britain

Unofficial Royalty: Charlotte, Princess Royal

Charlotte was born at Buckingham House on September 29, 1766, the eldest daughter of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She married the future Friedrich I, as his second wife, on May 18, 1797. They had one child, a stillborn daughter. Charlotte was the godmother of her niece, the future Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Queen Charlotte died at Ludwigsburg Palace on October 5, 1828. She is buried in the Royal Crypt in the Schlosskapelle at Ludwigsburg Palace.

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Wilhelm I
reigned October 30, 1816 – June 25, 1864

Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm I of Württemberg

Wilhelm I was born September 27, 1781, the son of Friedrich I and his first wife, Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He married three times – first to Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, daughter of King Maximilian I of Bavaria, on June 8, 1808 – they had children, and divorced in 1814; second – to Catherine Pavlovna of Russia on January 24 1816 – they had two daughters; and third – to Pauline Therese of Württemberg on April 15 1820 – they had three children.

King Wilhelm I died on June 25, 1864, at Rosenstein Castle (Schloss Rosenstein). He is buried at the Württemberg Mausoleum in Stuttgart, on the site of the former Wirtemburg Castle, with his second wife, Catherine Pavlovna of Russia.

Caroline Augusta of Bavaria

Unofficial Royalty: Caroline Augusta of Bavaria

Caroline was born February 8, 1792, daughter of King Maximilian I of Bavaria and Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. She married the future King Wilhelm I on June 8, 1808. They had no children, and the couple divorced August 31, 1814. She remarried in 1816 to the Austrian Emperor Franz I.

Empress Caroline died February 9, 1873, and is buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.

Catherine Pavlovna of Russia

Unofficial Royalty: Catherine Pavlovna of Russia

Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna was born May 10, 1788, daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russi and Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. She was first married to Duke George of Oldenburg from 1809-1812 and had two sons. She then married the future Wilhelm I on January 24, 1816, and the couple had two daughters, Marie and Sophie, who would later become Queen Consort of the Netherlands as the first wife of King Willem III.

Queen Catherine died on January 9, 1819. She is buried at the Württemberg Mausoleum in Stuttgart, built by her husband Wilhelm I upon her death.

Pauline Therese of Württemberg

Unofficial Royalty: Pauline Therese of Württemberg

Duchess Pauline was born September 4, 1800, daughter of Duke Louis of Württemberg and Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg. On April 15, 1820, she married King Wilhelm I, as his third wife. They had three children but had a very strained and distant marriage.

Queen Pauline survived her husband by nearly nine years and died in Stuttgart on March 10, 1873. She is buried in the Royal Crypt in the Schlosskapelle at Ludwigsburg Palace.

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Karl I
reigned June 25, 1864 – October 6, 1891

Unofficial Royalty: Karl I of Württemberg

Karl was born March 6, 1823, the son of King Wilhelm I and his third wife, Pauline Therese of Württemberg. He married Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas I and Charlotte of Prussia, on July 13, 1846, at the Peterhof Palace in St Petersburg, Russia. They had no children, but in 1863 they adopted Olga’s niece, Grand Duchess Vera, the daughter of Olga’s brother Grand Duke Konstantin.

King Karl I died on October 6, 1891, and is buried with his wife in the crypt beneath the Schlosskirche at the Old Castle (Altes Schloss) in Stuttgart.

Olga Nikolaevna of Russia

Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia

Grand Duchess Olga was born September 11, 1822, the daughter of Tsar Nicholas I and Charlotte of Prussia. She married the future Karl I on July 13, 1846.

Queen Olga survived her husband by a year, passing away on October 30, 1892. She is buried with her husband in the Crypt of the Old Castle (Altes Schloss) in Stuttgart.

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Wilhelm II
reigned October 6, 1891 – November 30, 1918

Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm II of Württemberg

Wilhelm II was born February 25, 1848, the son of Prince Friedrich of Württemberg and Princess Catherine of Württemberg, a daughter of King William I. He married Princess Marie of Waldeck-Pyrmont, on February 15, 1877. The couple had three children, only one of which lived to adulthood. Princess Marie died as a result of complications from giving birth to their third child and died April 30, 1882. Wilhelm remarried, to Princess Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe, on April 8, 1886. They had no children. He was deposed on November 30, 1918.

King Wilhelm II died at his estate in Bebenhausen on October 2, 1921. He is buried in the Old Cemetery on the grounds of Ludwigsburg Palace, with both of his wives and two younger children.

Marie of Waldeck-Pyrmont

Unofficial Royalty: Princess Marie of Waldeck-Pyrmont

Marie was born May 23, 1857, the third daughter of George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and Princess Helena of Nassau. Her younger sister, Emma, became Queen of the Netherlands, and another sister, Helena, became the Duchess of Albany in the United Kingdom. Marie married King Wilhelm II on February 1,7 1877.

Marie died as a result of complications from childbirth on April 30, 1882, having given birth to a stillborn daughter just 6 days earlier. She was buried in a small gravesite (the Old Cemetery) on the grounds of Ludwigsburg Palace, with her son, Ulrich, who had died in 1880, as well as the stillborn daughter. Later, her husband and his second wife were buried there as well.

Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe

Unofficial Royalty: Princess Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe

Charlotte was born October 10, 1864, daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Bathildis of Anhalt-Dessau. She married Wilhelm II on April 8, 1866, and in 1891, she became the last Queen of Württemberg.

Queen Charlotte died on July 16, 1946, having survived her husband by nearly 25 years. As well as being the last Queen of Württemberg, she was also the last surviving Queen from any of the German states. She is buried with her husband and his first wife, at the Old Cemetery on the grounds of Ludwigsburg Palace.

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