Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxemburg
From Kaiserreich
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Charlotte von Nassau-Weilburg (born Charlotte Adelgonde Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine vu Lëtzebuerg on January, 23 1896 in Schloss Berg, Luxemburg), is the current ruler of the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, the most recent constituent state of the German Empire, since January, 24 1933, upon succeeding her sister, Maria-Adelheid. The only female ruler in the German Empire, she is also the first Grand Duchess of Luxemburg to rule the country since it was incorporated in the German Empire, following the Weltkrieg.
Biography
Second daughter of then Hereditary Grand Duke Wëllem of Luxemburg (future Grand Duke Wëllem IV) and his wife Marie Anne of Portugal, Charlotte was a devout Catholic, as his sister Maria-Adelheid, who had succeeded his father to the Luxemburgish throne. Unlike her ruling sister, she decided not to meddle with politics, and let Maria-Adelheid approach the Germans and chose the collaboration path during the Weltkrieg, during the occupation of the small but independant Grand Duchy by the German armies. In 1921, the Peace with Honour acknowledged the incorporation of Luxemburg within the German Empire, as a constituent and autonomous state, the Grand Duchy was enlarged to include the former Belgian Luxeburg. As Maria-Adelheid was childless, there was terrible troubles about her succession: even if Charlotte, the heir apparent, finally succeeded, many Germans were speaking of an annexation of Luxemburg within the new Imperial Territory of Lüttich, or to chose Princess Antoinette as her successor, a choice that would have meant the complete annexation of Luxemburg by Germany, as the Princess was spouse of Rupprecht, King of Bavaria. Charlotte however succeeded her sister on January, 24 1933, when the latter died in a car accident near Lüttich. She thus became becoming the first Luxemburgish Grand Duke to rule under German mastery and the only female ruler in Germany. As such, Charlotte took a lot of efforts to maintain a bit the country's autonomy, such as advocating the teaching of the Luxemburgish language or enhancing special relations with the Italian Federation.
Family
On November, 6 1919, Charlotte married her cousin of their mothers' side, Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma (born on October, 28 1893), one of the children of the desposed Duke Robert I of Parma, half-brother-in-law to Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, former Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl, and brother to the Carlist claimant to the Spanish throne Duke Francisco Javier. They had six children together.
- Hereditary Grand Duke Jean von Luxemburg (born January, 5 1921)
- Princess Elizabeth (born 1922).
- Princess Marie-Adélaide (born 1924).
- Princess Marie Gabriele (born 1925).
- Prince Charles (born 1927)
- Princess Alix (born 1929)
