by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

The traditional burial site of the Grand Ducal Family of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach is the Weimarer Fürstengruft (link in German) in the Historical Cemetery in Weimar. After the establishment of the cemetery in 1818, Grand Duke Karl August commissioned the construction of the Grand Ducal Vault, which was built between 1823 and 1828. Several tombs of previous members of the Ducal family were moved there, having previously been interred in the Weimar City Castle chapel, which had been destroyed by fire in 1774.

In addition to the tombs of the Grand Ducal family, the Fürstengruft was also the burial site of the renowned German authors Friedrich Schiller in 1827 and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1832. It has since been discovered that the remains in Schiller’s tomb were not his, and they have been removed. The empty tomb remains.

Grand Duke Karl August was the first member of the Grand Ducal family buried there, following his death in June 1828. The last was Grand Duchess Caroline, the first wife of the last Grand Duke, Wilhelm Ernst, who was interred there in 1905.

The Fürstengruft consists of a small chapel on the upper floor with numerous memorials surrounding it. At the center, beneath the dome, is an open area that looks down into the crypt. There were a total of 42 tombs and in 1994, ten tombs were removed for conservation purposes.

In July 1860, construction began on a Russian Orthodox Chapel (link in German), adjacent to the Fürstengruft, to serve as the mausoleum for Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, the wife of Grand Duke Karl Friedrich. After being completed in 1862, her tomb was moved there from the Fürstengruft. Sometime in the early 1900s, the foundation wall between the chapel and the Fürstengruft was excavated, creating a small arched passageway between the two buildings. The tomb of the Grand Duchess lies in the passageway, just a few feet away from the tomb of her husband, and the rest of the Grand Ducal Family of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Grand Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

• Karl August – reigned April 21, 1815 – June 14, 1828
• Karl Friedrich – reigned June 14, 1828 – July 8, 1853
• Karl Alexander – reigned July 8, 1853 – January 5, 1901
• Wilhelm Ernst – reigned January 5, 1901 – November 9, 1918

Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Index

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Karl August
Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
(reigned April 21, 1815 – June 14, 1828)

Unofficial Royalty: Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Karl August was born September 3, 1757, the elder son of Ernst August II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Duke of Saxe-Eisenach, and Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He succeeded his father at just nine months old, with his mother serving as Regent. In 1775, he married Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt and had seven children, only four of whom lived past birth. He became the first Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in 1815 and reigned until his death on June 14, 1828. He is buried in the Weimarer Fürstengruft.

Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt
Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Unofficial Royalty: Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Luise Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt was born in Berlin on January 30, 1757, the daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Caroline of Zweibrücken. She married the future Grand Duke Karl August in 1775 and had seven children, only four of whom lived past birth. She died on February 14, 1830, and is buried in the Weimarer Fürstengruft.

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Children of Karl August and Luise

Princess Luise Auguste
February 3, 1779 – March 24, 1784
Princess Luise Auguste was born in Weimar and died just after her sixth birthday.

stillborn daughter
September 10, 1781

Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (below)

stillborn son
February 26, 1785

Princess Karoline Luise
July 18, 1786 – January 20, 1816
Wikipedia: Karoline Luise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
In 1810, Karoline Luise became the second wife of Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and had three children – Albert (1812); Hélène (1814); and Magnus (1815). She died at Schloss Ludwigslust in Mecklenburg on January 20, 1816. She is buried in the Elena Pavlovna Mausoleum on the grounds of Ludwigslust Palace.

stillborn son
April 13, 1789

Prince Bernhard
May 30, 1792 – July 31, 1862
Wikipedia: Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Prince Carl Bernhard was the youngest child of Grand Duke Karl August. He was a distinguished military officer, serving in the Saxon army and later commanding the Dutch East Indies Army. In 1816, he married Princess Ida of Saxe-Meiningen and had eight children. Bernhard died at Schloss Belvedere in Weimar on July 31, 1862, and is buried in the Weimarer Fürstengruft.

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Karl Friedrich
Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
(reigned June 14, 1828 – July 8, 1853)

Unofficial Royalty: Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Karl Friedrich was born in Weimar on February 2, 1783. In 1804, he married Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia and had four children – Prince Karl (1805); Princess Maria (1808); Princess Augusta (1811) and Grand Duke Karl Alexander (1811). Grand Duke Karl Friedrich died at Schloss Belvedere in Weimar on July 8, 1853. He is buried in the Weimarer Fürstegruft.

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Unofficial Royalty: Maria Pavlovna of Russia, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on February 16, 1786, the daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. She married Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach on August 3, 1804, and had four children – Prince Karl (1805), Princess Marie (1808), Princess Augusta (1811) and Grand Duke Karl Alexander (1818). Maria died at Schloss Belvedere in Weimar on June 23, 1859. She was initially interred in the Fürstengruft, during the construction of the Royal Orthodox Chapel. Following the chapel’s consecration in 1862, her tomb was moved there. Today, her tomb lies in the arched passageway which now connects the two buildings, just beside the tomb of her husband.

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Children of Karl Friedrich and Maria Pavlovna

Prince Karl
September 25, 1805 – April 10, 1806
Prince Paul Alexander Karl was the eldest son of Grand Duke Karl Friedrich. He died before his first birthday.

Princess Marie
February 3, 1808 – January 18, 1877
Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Princess Marie married Prince Karl of Prussia on May 26, 1827, and had three children – Prince Friedrich Karl (1828); Princess Luise (1829); and Princess Anna (1836). Marie died in Berlin in 1877 and is buried at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in the Volkspark Glienicke in Berlin.

Princess Auguste
September 30, 1811 – January 7, 1890
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Princess Auguste married the future King Wilhelm I of Prussia (later the first Emperor of Germany) on June 11, 1829. They had two children – Emperor Friedrich III (1831); and Princess Luise (1838). Through her son, she was the grandmother of the last German Emperor, Wilhelm II. Empress Augusta died in Berlin and is buried in the Mausoleum at Charlottenburg Palace.

Karl Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (below)

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Karl Alexander
Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
(reigned July 8, 1853 – January 5, 1901)

Unofficial Royalty: Karl Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Karl Alexander was born in Weimar on June 24, 1818. In October 1842, he married his first cousin, Princess Sophie of the Netherlands, and had four children – Hereditary Grand Duke Karl August (1844); Princess Marie (1849); Princess Anna (1851); and Princess Elisabeth (1854). Grand Duke Karl Alexander died in Weimar on January 5, 1901. He is buried in the Weimarer Fürstegruft.

Princess Sophie of the Netherlands
Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Unofficial Royalty: Sophie of the Netherlands, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Princess Sophie of the Netherlands was born at Lange Voorhout Palace in The Hague on April 8, 1824, the daughter of King Willem II of the Netherlands and Anna Pavlovna of Russia. She married Karl Alexander in 1842 and had four children. From 1890 until her death, Grand Duchess Sophie was first in the line of succession to the throne of the Netherlands, as the young Queen Wilhelmina – Sophie’s niece – had no children at the time. Grand Duchess Sophie died in Weimar on March 23, 1897, and is buried in the Weimarer Fürstegruft.

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Children of Karl Alexander and Sophie

Karl August, Hereditary Grand Duke
July 31, 1844 – November 20, 1894
Wikipedia: Karl August, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Karl August was the only son of Grand Duke Karl Alexander. He married his second cousin, Princess Pauline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, on August 26, 1873, and had two sons – Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst (1876) and Prince Bernhard (1878). From 1890 until his death, Karl August was second in line for the Dutch throne, behind his mother. He died in Cap Martin, France on November 20, 1894, and is buried in the Weimarer Fürstegruft.

Princess Marie
January 20, 1849 – May 6, 1922
Wikipedia: Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Princess Marie married Heinrich VII, Prince Reuss of Kostritz on February 6, 1876, and had six children. She died in Trebschen on May 6, 1922, and is buried in the Reuss family mausoleum in Podlegórz (now in Poland).

Princess Anna
March 29, 1851 – April 26, 1859
Princess Anna died just before her 8th birthday, having suffered a severe ear infection. She is buried in the Weimarer Fürstegruft.

Princess Elisabeth
February 28, 1854 – July 10, 1908
Wikipedia: Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Princess Elisabeth married Duke Johann Albrecht of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on November 6, 1886. They had no children. She died at Schloss Wiligrad, near Lübstorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and is buried at the Doberan Minster in Mecklenburg.

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Wilhelm Ernst
Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
(reigned January 5, 1901 – November 9, 1918)

Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Wilhelm Ernst was the last Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. He was born in Weimar on June 10, 1876, the elder son of Hereditary Grand Duke Karl August and Princess Pauline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. As his father had already died, Wilhelm Ernst succeeded his grandfather as Grand Duke in 1901. After his grandmother’s death in 1897, he became heir presumptive to the Dutch throne until the birth of the future Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in 1909. In April 1903, Wilhelm Ernst married Princess Caroline Reuss of Greiz. They had no children, and Caroline died under mysterious circumstances just two years later. In January 1910, he married again to Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen and had four children – Princess Sophie (1911); Hereditary Grand Duke Karl August (1912); Prince Bernhard (1917); and Prince Georg (1921). Wilhelm Ernst was forced to abdicate on November 9, 1918. He went into exile in Heinrichau in Silesia in Silesia where he died on April 24, 1923. He is buried in the park of Schloss Heinrichau (link in German).

Princess Caroline Reuss of Greiz
Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
(first wife of Wilhelm Ernst)

Unofficial Royalty: Caroline Reuss of Greiz, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Princess Caroline was born on July 13, 1884, the daughter of Heinrich XXII, Prince Reuss of Greiz and Princess Ida of Schaumburg-Lippe. In 1903, she married Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Less than two years later, on January 17, 1905, Caroline died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Officially she died of pneumonia, but there was much speculation that she committed suicide. She is buried in the Weimarer Fürstegruft.

Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen
Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
(second wife of Wilhelm Ernst)

Unofficial Royalty: Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Princess Feodora was the second wife of Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst and the last Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. She was born in Hanover on May 9, 1890, the daughter of Prince Friedrich Johann of Saxe-Meiningen and Countess Adelheid of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She married Wilhelm Ernst in January 1910 and had four children. Grand Duchess Feodora survived her husband by nearly 49 years, passing away in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, on March 12, 1972. She is buried in the cemetery in Freiburg in Breisgau.

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Children of Wilhelm Ernst and Feodora

Princess Sophie Luise
March 20, 1911 – November 21, 1988
Wikipedia: Princess Sophie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Princess Sophie married Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg, on March 7, 1938. They had no children and divorced just seven months later. She never remarried and died in Hamburg on November 21, 1988. Sophie is buried in the cemetery in Bad Krozingen.

Karl August, Hereditary Grand Duke
July 28, 1912 – October 14, 1988
Wikipedia: Karl August, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Hereditary Grand Duke Karl August was the son of Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst. He succeeded his father as head of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in 1923, at just 13 years old. In October 1944, he married Baroness Elisabeth of Wangenheim-Winterstein, and had three children – Princess Elisabeth (1945); Prince Michael (1946); and Princess Beatrice-Maria (1948). Karl August died on October 14, 1988, in Schienen am Bodensee, Germany. He is buried in the Bergfriedhof Cemetery in Heidelberg, Germany.

Prince Bernhard
March 3, 1917 – March 23, 1986
Prince Bernhard married Felicitas of Salm-Horstmar on March 12, 1943, in Heinrichau. They had three children. He died in Wiesbaden on March 23, 1986.

Prince Georg
November 24, 1921 – March 11, 2011
Prince Georg was the youngest son of Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst and Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen. He married Gisella Jänisch on February 5, 1953, in Freiburg, and had three daughters. He renounced his rights and royal titles, taking on the name Jörg Brena. He died on March 11, 2011, and is buried in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.

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