Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/198

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1 6 2 GERMANY — SAXE-TVEIM AB.

X. SAXE- WEIMAR.

(Grossherzogthum Sachsen- Weimar.)

Reigning Sovereign and Family.

Karl Alexander, Grand-duke of Saxe-Weimar, born June 24, 1818, the son of Grand-duke Karl Friedrich and of Grand-duchess Marie, daughter of the late Czar Paul I. of Eussia. Succeeded his father, July 8, 1853 ; married, October 8, 1842, to Sophie, born April 8, 1824, daughter of the late King Willem II. of the Nether- lands. Issue of the union are: — 1. Prince Karl August, heir- apparent, born July 31, 1844. 2. Princess Marie, born January 20, 1849. 3. Princess Elisabeth, born February 28, 1854.

Sisters of the Grand-duke. — 1. Princess Marie, born February 3, 1808; married, May 26, 1827, to Prince Karl of Prussia. 2. Princess Augusta, born September 30, 1811; married, June 11, 1829, to Prince Wilhelm, now King Wilhelm I. of Prussia.

Cousins of the Grand-duke. — 1. Prince Eduard, born October 11, 1823, the son of the late Duke Berahard of Saxe-Weimar, brother of Grand-duke Karl Friedrich ; entered the British army as ensign, June 1, 1841; captain, May 19, 1846; major, June 20, 1854; lieutenant-colonel in the Grenadier Guards and aide-de-camp to the Queen, May 18, 1855; married, November 27, 1851, to Lady Augusta Catherine, born January 14, 1827, daughter of the late Charles Gordon-Lennox, fifth Duke of Richmond. 2. Prince Her- mann, bora August 4, 1825, brother of the preceding; married, June 17, 1851, to Princess Augusta, born October 4, 1826, youngest daughter of Kino; Wilhelm I. of Wurtemberg. Issue of the union are two daughters andfour sons. 3. Prince Gustav, born June 28, 1827, brother of the preceding ; major-general in the Austrian army. 4. Princess Amalia, born May 20, 1830: married, May 19, 1853, to Prince Hendrik of Orange-Nassau, brother of King Willem III. of the Netherlands.

The family of the Grand-duke stands at the head of the Ernestine or elder line of the princely houses of Saxony, which include Saxe- Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, while the younger, or Albertine line, is represented by the Kings of Saxony. Saxe-Weimar was formed into an independent duchy towards the end of the sixteenth century, when Elector Johann Wilhelm of Saxony divided his territory between his two sons, Friedrich Wilhelm and Johann, giving the former Saxe-Altenburg and the latter Saxe- Weimar. At the Congress of Vienna a considerable increase of territory, together with the title of Grand-duke, was awarded to