Sophie of Sweden
Encyclopedia
Grand Duchy of Baden
The Grand Duchy of Baden was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.-History:...
.
Biography
Sophie was born in StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
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....
, on 21 May 1801. She was the daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden also Gustav Adolph was King of Sweden from 1792 until his abdication in 1809. He was the son of Gustav III of Sweden and his queen consort Sophia Magdalena, eldest daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife Louise of Great Britain. He was the last Swedish...
and Queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
Frederica of Baden
Frederica of Baden
Friederike Dorothea Wilhelmina of Baden was Queen consort of Sweden from 1797 to 1809. Daughter of Karl Ludwig of Baden and Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, she was the younger sister of Empress Elisabeth Alexeievna , wife of Tsar Alexander I of Russia.-Biography:She was born in Karlsruhe...
. After her birth, she was placed under the supervision of Hedvig Ulrika De la Gardie
Hedvig Ulrika De la Gardie
Hedvig Ulrika De la Gardie was a Swedish lady in waiting. She was married to Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt. She was the head governess of the Swedish royal children in 1799-1803....
, who acted as the governess of the court of the royal children from 1799 until 1803.
Sophie was eight years old (1809) when her father was deposed and she left Sweden with her family. Between the time of the coup which deposed her father, and leaving Sweden, she and her mother were under house arrest. During this period, she was described in the famous diary of Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp as a stubborn girl who was much more haughty and possessed less self-control than her brother Gustav. An anecdote describes the contrast between the siblings. When Fredrika and her children were given permission to join the deposed king, famous Swedish nobleman Axel von Fersen
Axel von Fersen
Lieutenant General Count Hans Axel von Fersen was a Swedish Count, a Lieutenant General in the Royal Swedish Army, one of the Lords of the Realm, diplomat and statesman...
came to discuss the arrangements. When he was about to leave, Sophie's older brother ran to the door to open it for Fersen. The former queen Fredrika is quoted as saying, Sophie would never in the world have done that, she thinks of herself too highly for that. .
In 1815, she was engaged, and on 25 July 1819 in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, Sophie married her half-grand-uncle Prince Leopold of Baden
Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden succeeded in 1830 as the fourth Grand Duke of Baden....
, the son of a morganatic marriage. The marriage with Leopold had been specifically arranged by her uncle, Grand Duke Karl I of Baden
Karl, Grand Duke of Baden
Charles, Grand Duke of Baden became ruler of Baden on June 11, 1811 and ruled until his death. He was born in Karlsruhe....
, to improve the chances that Leopold would one day succeed him as Grand Duke because of Sophie's royal lineage; Leopold, though his right to the throne was recognized, was originally the issue of a morganatic marriage. During the reign of Louis I, Grand Duke of Baden, they lived a modest life away from court, as Louis did not want the heir to the throne at court. In 1830, her husband ascended to the grand ducal throne as Leopold I
Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden succeeded in 1830 as the fourth Grand Duke of Baden....
, and Sophie became Grand Duchess of Baden.
Sophie is described as wise and dutiful but strict. She kept late hours and arose late in the mornings, after which she spent hours writing letters to various relatives around Europe in her negligé. She was interested in science, art and politics, and kept herself well informed on all political events of the day through her correspondence. Her ties to the Viennese court were particularly tight, and it was to Vienna her sons were sent to complete their education. Sophie retained a certain bitterness over the deposition of her father, and took it very badly when her brother was deprived of his status as a Swedish Prince. During the tumult caused by the appearance of Kaspar Hauser
Kaspar Hauser
Kaspar Hauser was a German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. Hauser's claims, and his subsequent death by stabbing, sparked much debate and controversy....
, Sophie was rumoured to have ordered Hauser's assassination in 1833. This damaged her relationship to her husband, and Sophie was said to have had an affair. During the revolution of 1848, she was forced to flee from Karlsruhe with her family to Strasburg
Strasburg, Germany
Strasburg is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated in the historic Uckermark region, about west of Pasewalk, and east of Neubrandenburg....
. They returned in 1849 after the revolt had been subdued by Prussian military. She became a widow in 1852. Sophie convinced her son Frederick to enter an arranged dynastic marriage rather than a marriage to his love, baroness Stephanie von Gensau. In 1852, the Swedish royal house wished to make peace with the deposed Swedish royal house, and Oscar I of Sweden
Oscar I of Sweden
Oscar I was King of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to his death. When, in August 1810, his father Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was elected Crown Prince of Sweden, Oscar and his mother moved from Paris to Stockholm . Oscar's father was the first ruler of the current House of Bernadotte...
and Josephine of Leuchtenberg
Josephine of Leuchtenberg
Joséphine of Leuchtenberg was Queen consort of Sweden and Norway as the wife of King Oscar I...
tried to arrange a meeting, but withouth success. In 1863, however, Sophie met the Swedish crown prince Oscar II of Sweden
Oscar 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...
and his consort Sophie of Nassau. The meeting was a success: Sophie asked him about how the Stockholm of her childhood had changed, and when they left, she presented the couple with a gift to their son prince Gustaf
Gustaf V of Sweden
Gustaf V was King of Sweden from 1907. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg...
, a medallion with the inscription "G" and the crown of the Swedish Crown Prince, because he had the same name as her brother.
In 1864, Sophie was interviewed by an unnamed Swedish writer, an interview which was published in her biography about famous Swedish women by Wilhelmina Stålberg (who was likely the unnamed writer in question):
Her palace was placed in a little park and had the appearance of a beautiful private residence rather than a royal palace. Beautiful trees, well tendered lawns and alleys surrounded the building. No grandeur in regard of staff or other things was visible anywhere. In the room, in which I first entered, there were an abundance of flowers and paintings. Everything there seemed to represent the home of a soul living in the solitude of her memories. I was also told that the Grand Duchess seldom appeared. She soon entered with light, bearely audible steps, a gracious figure who arrived with open arms to embrace and kiss me. [...] She soon turned the conversation to Sweden and her memories of it. She particularly remembered Haga Palace and Stockholm Royal Palace, the latter so well that, if she should ever see it again, she would have the ability to find her way in any part of the palace. I asked, if she should not make a visit to her childhood home. There had been rumours in Sweden that she had the wish to to so, and that she had written about it to King Oscar, who had assured her of a kind welcome. The Grand Duchess disregarded the rumour as "completely unfounded". She had never had a serious plan to visit Sweden, despite the fact that she often longed for it. Especially during spring she always felt a strange melancolic longing for her childhood home. But to travel there was now too late for her. This she uttered with a tearful glimmer in her big blue eyes. In any case, a true smile seemed uncharacteristic for this not-really-beautiful but very interesting face. As for the latest Swedish literature, she did read it, but all in translation, "Because", she said, "I can no longer remember the Swedish language well enough to speak or read it in person. I can however understand it spoken, and my prayers are in Swedish!"
Family
On 25 July 1819 in KarlsruheKarlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, Sophie married her half-grand-uncle Leopold I of Baden
Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden succeeded in 1830 as the fourth Grand Duke of Baden....
. They became the paternal grandparents of the Swedish Queen consort 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...
.
Sophia and Leopold I had the following children:
- AlexandrineAlexandrine of Baden (1820-1904)Alexandrina of Baden was the eldest child of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and his wife Princess Sophie of Sweden .-Background:Before he ascended the throne, Alexander II of Russia was sent to Baden in order to present himself as a...
(1820–1904), married Duke Ernest II of Saxe-Coburg and GothaErnst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and GothaErnest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the second sovereign duke of the German duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, reigning from 1844 to his death...
(1818–93), childless marriage due to which Ernest's younger brother Albert's British issue succeeded in that duchy. - Ludwig (1822-22)
- Louis II (1824–58), reigned as Grand Duke 1852-58, deemed mentally unfit to rule.
- Frederick I (1826–1907), Grand Duke 1858-1907, Regent 1852-58, father of Queen Victoria of SwedenVictoria of BadenVictoria 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...
. - WilliamPrince Wilhelm of Baden (1829–1897)Prince Louis William Augustus of Baden was a Prussian general and politician. He was the father of Prince Maximilian of Baden, the last Minister President of the Kingdom of Prussia and last Chancellor of the German Empire...
(1829–97), Prussian General, married Marie of LeuchtenbergLeuchtenbergLeuchtenberg is a municipality in the district of Neustadt in Bavaria in Germany, essentially a suburb of nearby Weiden in der Oberpfalz, and a historical region in Old Germany governed by the Landgrave of Leuchtenberg....
, became ancestor of the younger line of princes of Baden and father of Prince Max of Baden, German Chancellor, and later the heir of Grand Duchy. - Charles (1832–1906), married Rosalie von Beust (morganatic)
- Marie (1834–99), married Prince Ernest of Leiningen (1830–1904)
- Cecilie (1839–91), known as Olga Feodorovna, married Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of RussiaGrand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of RussiaGrand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia was the fourth son and seventh child of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia...
(1832–1902), Governor General in Tbilisi.
She died at Karlsruhe Palace
Karlsruhe Palace
Karlsruhe Palace was erected in 1715 by Margrave Charles III William of Baden-Durlach, after a dispute with the citizens of his previous capital, Durlach...
on 6 July 1865.