Sofia of Nassau
Encyclopedia
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Sophia was Queen of Sweden for 35 years, longer than any other Swedish queen before her.
Family
Sophia was the youngest daughter of Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau, by his second wife Princess Pauline Friederica Marie of Württemberg.Her maternal grandfather was Prince Paul of Württemberg
Prince Paul of Württemberg
Prince Paul of Württemberg was a German prince and the fourth child and second son of Frederick I of Württemberg and Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.-Early life:...
, a son of King Frederick I of Württemberg
Frederick I of Württemberg
Frederick I William Charles of Württemberg was the first King of Württemberg. He was known for his size: at and about , he was in contrast to Napoleon, who recognized him as King of Württemberg.-Biography:...
and his ill-fated consort Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was a German princess, and first wife of Frederick of Württemberg...
(1764–88). Augusta was a daughter of Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg and Princess Augusta of Great Britain, an older sister of George III of the United Kingdom
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
.
Marriage
Sophia's marriage to Prince Oscar of Sweden, second son of the reigning king, was considered to be the first in the Royal House that was not completely arranged. Though the match was considered very suitable, the couple was allowed to make their own decision on the basis of their feelings, and generally, their marriage was considered happy. She married Prince Oscar (later King Oscar II of SwedenOscar II of Sweden
Oscar II , baptised Oscar Fredrik was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death and King of Norway from 1872 until 1905. The third son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg, he was a descendant of Gustav I of Sweden through his mother.-Early life:At his birth in Stockholm, Oscar...
) on 6 June 1857 at the Castle in Wiesbaden-Biebrich
Wiesbaden-Biebrich
Biebrich is a borough of the city of Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. With over 36,000 inhabitants, it is the most-populated of Wiesbaden's boroughs. It is located south of the city center on the Rhine River, opposite the Mainz borough of Mombach...
. Sophia was received with enormous enthusiasm when she arrived in Sweden in 1857 because the then-Crown Prince Charles XV of Sweden
Charles XV of Sweden
Charles XV & IV also Carl ; Swedish and Norwegian: Karl was King of Sweden and Norway from 1859 until his death....
and his wife were not expected to produce a male heir.
Following the death of her father-in-law in 1859, Oscar was first in line to the Swedish throne after his brother the King.
The couple lived a quiet life in Arvfurstens palats
Arvfurstens palats
Arvfurstens palats is a palace located at Gustav Adolfs Torg in central Stockholm.Designed by Erik Palmstedt, the palace was originally the private residence of Princess Sophia Albertina. It was built 1783-1794 and declared a historical monument in 1935 and subsequently restored by Ivar Tengbom...
. Sophia was said to dislike the frivolity of her brother-in-law's court and the French-influenced culture and Catholic tendencies she reportedly saw there. She was described as learned, calm and sensible but boring and regarded as a respected and dignified a center of the Royal Family life and someone from whom to seek advice. She exercised stern discipline over both her sons and her husband and shocked people by letting her sons attend a public boys' school. Her family life represented the Victorian ideal but involved the usual double-standards. Oscar was sometimes unfaithful, but much more discreet than his brother Charles.
Upon the death of her brother-in-law on 12 May 1873, Sophia became Queen consort of Sweden.
Queen
As queen, Sophia was liberalLiberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and almost democratic in her views, in contrast to her daughter-in-law Victoria of Baden
Victoria of Baden
Victoria of Baden was a Queen consort of Sweden by her marriage to King Gustaf V of Sweden. She was politically active in a conservative fashion during the development of democracy and known as a pro-German during the First World War.-Birth:Princess Viktoria was born on 7 August 1862 at the castle...
, whose militant aggression she disliked. She had a moderating effect on her husband's more conservative and pro-German ideas. It was noticed that she had a stabilising effect on him. After 1866, when her home (Nassau) was annexed by Prussia, she became an Anglophile. Acting as her husband's advisor, she is known to have used her political influence on several occasions. She was popular in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, where she spent all her summers between 1892 and 1904. In 1895, a dispute broke out with Norway, which wished to have its own embassies abroad. The royal family gathered by the Queen's sickbed to discuss what to do, accompanied by the German Emperor William II
William II, German Emperor
Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe...
. William recommended military intervention, but Sophia forbade anything of the sort and told the Emperor that he did not understand the situation. In 1898, the Prime Minister (Boström) threatened to resign, and the King to abdicate, after the Norwegians began using their own flag. Sophia calmed the situation, called the minister and convinced him to stay. She is often credited with using her influence to prevent war between Sweden and Norway when their union dissolved in 1905.
She supported her son Eugén, who wanted to study art in Paris (1886), and her son Oscar when he wanted to marry the noble lady-in-waiting Ebba Munck af Fulkila (1888).
Queen Sophia was deeply religious and very active in charity work, especially health care and medicine. During her first years as queen, her husband had several affairs, notably with Magda von Dolcke
Magda von Dolcke
Magda von Dolcke was a Danish stage actor and the director of a travelling theatre company, active in Sweden. She is known for her relationship with King Oscar II of Sweden....
and Marie Friberg
Marie Friberg
Marie Friberg , was a Swedish opera singer of the Royal Swedish Opera. She is known for her relationship to of King Oscar II of Sweden, with whom she allegedly had two sons....
. The adultery of Oscar humiliated Sophia, who was noted to leave Stockholm for the countryside during his affairs. The humiliation she felt over the adultery of Oscar caused her to have a greater interest in religion. She attended various religious groups and services, often in the company of her sister-in-law Eugenie
Princess Eugenie of Sweden
Princess Eugenie of Sweden and Norway was a member of the Royal House of Bernadotte and a dilettante artist.-Biography:...
, and in 1878, she became a follower of the English preacher Lord Radstock
Granville Waldegrave, 3rd Baron Radstock
Granville Augustus William Waldegrave, 3rd Baron Radstock was a British missionary and a Peer of Ireland....
, whom she had listened to when he visited Stockholm. Radstock's teachings, that suffering ennobled the soul, appealed to her. Despite her religious interests, however, she did not mix her religion with her social work, and she was respected for this: it was said of her, that pious as she was, she still valued human dignity and justice more than religion.
In 1884, Sophia established the first school for the education of nurses after a visit to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where she was inspired by Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
. In 1887, she founded the hospital Sophiahemmet. She was always very interested in increasing respect for the nursing profession among doctors and had many conflicts with authorities over this. She wanted the profession of nursing to be seen as a holy task, not a profession, that the nurses be well educated in medicine, and encouraged women from the upper-classes to be nurses, all because she wanted nurses to be respected. In her nursing school, even students from the aristocracy were expected to scrub the floors.
Queen Sophia suffered from poor health and in 1887, she had an ovariotomy operation. The surgery was considered a success, but afterwards she had difficulty walking and often used a wheelchair. Despite this she continued riding. Although she was very much active as a Queen in regards to her social projects and in politics, she was hardly ever seen at mere social occasions, such as balls and similar events: when she attended the Amaranter Ball in 1885, the occasion was so rare that it caused general amazement.
She often visited the country, as well as spas in Norway, Germany and Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
in Great Britain. During her visit to Paris, she caused great attention while dining at a public restaurant: this was unusual for a royal woman at this time, and it was also her only occasion to do so. She was interested in literature, and her library also included English detective stories. As Queen dowager, she took to making trips abroad by car: in 1909, for example, she visited Germany by car.
Queen Sophia was a respected symbolic figure who represented the traditional Victorian virtues. She enjoyed a status similar to that of Britain's Queen Victoria. When she died in 1913, her grandson remarked : "The old time died with Grandma."
Children
Her children were:- King Gustav V (1858–1950)
- Prince Oscar, Duke of GotlandGotlandGotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
, later Count Oscar Bernadotte af WisborgBernadotte af WisborgThe title Count of Wisborg is, since 1892, borne by the male-line descendants of four princes of Sweden who married morganatically without the consent of the King of Sweden and thereby lost the right of succession to the throne of Sweden for themselves, their children and their descendants...
(1859–1953) - Prince Carl, Duke of VästergötlandVästergötland', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
(1861–1951) - Prince Eugén, Duke of NärkeNärke' is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the southwest, and Värmland to the northwest...
(1865–1947)
Sofia was the half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Adolphe I, Grand Duke of Luxembourg was the last Duke of Nassau, and the fourth Grand Duke of Luxembourg.-Biography:...
(and formerly the last Duke of Nassau), who created the title Count of Wisborg
Bernadotte af Wisborg
The title Count of Wisborg is, since 1892, borne by the male-line descendants of four princes of Sweden who married morganatically without the consent of the King of Sweden and thereby lost the right of succession to the throne of Sweden for themselves, their children and their descendants...
in the Luxembourg nobility for Sofia's son Oscar, who lost his succession rights and titles by marrying without the King's consent.
Her great-grandsons are King Harald V of Norway
Harald V of Norway
Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...
and King Albert II of Belgium
Albert II of Belgium
Albert II is the current reigning King of the Belgians, a constitutional monarch. He is a member of the royal house "of Belgium"; formerly this house was named Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
; her great-great-grandsons are King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him...
and Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg OIH is the head of state of Luxembourg. He is the eldest son of Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. His maternal grandparents were King Leopold III of Belgium and Astrid of Sweden...
; her great-great-granddaughter is Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375-1412 during the Kalmar Union.-Early life:...
.
Titles and styles
- 9 July 1836 – 26 September 1853: Her Ducal Serene Highness Princess Sophia of Nassau
- 26 September 1853 – 18 September 1872: Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Sweden and Norway
- 18 September 1872 – 26 October 1905: Her Majesty The Queen of Sweden and Norway
- 26 October 1905 – 8 December 1907: Her Majesty The Queen of Sweden
- 8 December 1907 – 30 December 1913: Her Majesty The Dowager Queen of Sweden
Ancestry
External links
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