| Adolphe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Grand Duke of Luxembourg | |
| Reign | 23 November 1890 –17 November 1905 |
| Predecessor | William III |
| Successor | William IV |
| Duke of Nassau | |
| Reign | 20 August 1839 –20 September 1866 |
| Predecessor | William |
| Successor | Nassau annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia[a] |
| Born | (1817-07-24)24 July 1817 Biebrich Palace,Wiesbaden,Duchy of Nassau |
| Died | 17 November 1905(1905-11-17) (aged 88) Schloss Hohenburg,Lenggries,Kingdom of Bavaria,German Empire |
| Burial | Schlosskirche ofSchloss Weilburg (since 1953) |
| Spouse | |
| Issue Among others... | William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg Hilda, Grand Duchess of Baden |
| House | Nassau-Weilburg |
| Father | Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau |
| Mother | Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen |
| Religion | Protestantism |
| Signature |  |
Adolphe (Adolf Wilhelm August Karl Friedrich; 24 July 1817 – 17 November 1905) wasGrand Duke of Luxembourg from 23 November 1890 to his death on 17 November 1905. The first grand duke from theHouse of Nassau-Weilburg, he succeeded KingWilliam III of the Netherlands, ending thepersonal union betweenthe Netherlands andLuxembourg. Adolphe wasDuke of Nassau from 20 August 1839 to 20 September 1866, when the Duchy was annexed to theKingdom of Prussia.
Adolphe became Duke of Nassau in August 1839, following the death of his fatherWilliam. The Duchy was annexed to Prussia after Austria's defeat in theAustro-Prussian War. From 1815 to 1839, theGrand Duchy of Luxembourg was ruled by thekings of the Netherlands as a province of theNetherlands. Following theTreaty of London (1839), the Grand Duchy became independent but remained in personal union with theNetherlands. Following the death of his sons, the Dutch king William III had no male heirs to succeed him. In the Netherlands, females were allowed to succeed to the throne. Luxembourg, however, followedSalic law which barred females from succession. Thus, upon King William III's death, the crown of the Netherlands passed to his only daughter,Wilhelmina, while that of Luxembourg passed to Adolphe in accordance with theNassau Family Pact. Adolphe died in 1905 and was succeeded by his son,William IV.
Born into theHouse of Nassau, Adolphe was a son ofWilliam, Duke of Nassau (1792–1839) andPrincess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
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Adolphe becameDuke of Nassau in August 1839 at the age of 22, after the death of his father.Wiesbaden had by this time become the capital of the Duchy, and Adolphe took up residence in the newly constructedStadtschloss in 1841. On 4 March 1848 he consented to the population of Nassau's nine "Demands of the Nassauers". A few years later, however, he revoked his liberal views and took a strongly conservative and reactionary course. In general, though, he was seen as a popular ruler. He supported theAustrian Empire in theAustro-Prussian War of 1866. After Austria's defeat, Nassau was annexed to theKingdom of Prussia and he lost his throne on 20 September 1866.
In 1879, Adolphe's nieceEmma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the daughter of another of his half-sisters, marriedWilliam III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. In 1890, upon William's death without surviving male issue, their only daughterWilhelmina succeeded to the Dutch throne, but was excluded from the succession to Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy, which had been linked to the Netherlands inpersonal union since 1815, passed to Adolphe in accordance with theNassau Family Pact.
Adolphe was King-Grand Duke William III's 17th cousin once removed through a male-only line[citation needed], but was also his 3rd cousin as they both descended fromWilliam IV, Prince of Orange (he being the paternal great-grandson of William IV's eldest daughterPrincess Carolina of Orange-Nassau). He had, in fact, taken over the regency of Luxembourg for a short time during William III's illness.
Adolphe was already 73 years old by this time and knew little of Luxembourgish politics. He mostly abstained from day-to-day governing; Prime MinisterPaul Eyschen, in office since 1888, took care of the affairs of state. This established a convention that the monarch would remain absent from the politics of the day, despite being vested with considerable reserve powers on paper. In 1902 Adolphe appointed his son William as Lieutenant-Representative.
He died in 1905 at his summer home,Schloss Hohenburg inLenggries, and in 1953 was buried in the crypt of the church ofSchloss Weilburg.
On 31 January 1844, Adolphe married firstly inSt. Petersburg,Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, niece ofEmperor Nicholas I of Russia. She died less than a year afterwards giving birth to a stillborn daughter. Adolphe built the Russian OrthodoxChurch of Saint Elizabeth 1847 to 1855 as her funeral church.
On 23 April 1851, he remarried toPrincess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau. They had five children, of whom only two lived to the age of eighteen and became prince and princess of Luxembourg:
In 1892, Grand Duke Adolphe conferred the personal title ofPrince Bernadotte in the nobility of Luxembourg as well as the hereditary title ofCount of Wisborg[2] on his Swedish nephew,Oscar, who had lost his Swedish titles after marrying without his father's approval. Wisborg (also spelledVisborg) is the ruins of an old castle in the city ofVisby within Oscar's former Dukedom of Gotland, but the title itself was created in the nobility of Luxembourg.
On April 20, 1842, theAdelsverein,Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, was organised in the Grand Duke's castle atBiebrich on theRhine. He was named the Protector of the organisation. The Verein was responsible for the large emigration of Germans toTexas in the 19th century, and on January 9, 1843, established the 4,428 acreNassau Plantation inFayette County, Texas and named it after the Grand Duke.[3][4]
Russian Empire:Knight of St. Andrew,20 September 1839
Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of theSaxe-Ernestine House Order,October 1839[5]
Baden:[6]
Kingdom of Bavaria:Knight of St. Hubert,1839[7]
Kingdom of Hanover:[8]
Denmark:Knight of the Elephant,1 February 1840[9]
Kingdom of Prussia:Knight of the Black Eagle,12 March 1840[10]
Austrian Empire:Grand Cross of St. Stephen,1840[11]
Grand Duchy of Hesse:Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order,8 January 1843[12]
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach:Grand Cross of the White Falcon,1 November 1843[13]
Württemberg:Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown,1846[14]
Oldenburg:Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown,9 September 1849[15]
Electorate of Hesse:Grand Cross of the Golden Lion,16 July 1850[16]
Ascanian duchies:Grand Cross of Albert the Bear,12 February 1851[17]
Sweden-Norway:
Kingdom of Saxony:Knight of the Rue Crown,1857[20]
Nassau:[21]
Belgium: Grand Cordon of theOrder of Leopold,10 August 1861[22]
Luxembourg: Grand Master of theOrder of the Oak Crown,23 November 1890
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Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg Cadet branch of theHouse of Nassau Born: 24 July 1817 Died: 17 November 1905 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Duke of Nassau 1839–1866 | Succeeded byasPrince of Nassau |
| Preceded by | Grand Duke of Luxembourg 1890–1905 | Succeeded by |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Loss of title | — TITULAR — Duke of Nassau 1866–1905 | Succeeded by William IV of Luxembourg |
Generations are numbered from the accession ofWilliam as Duke of Nassau in 1816. | ||
| 1st generation |  | |
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*also aprince of Luxembourg ^also aprince of Bourbon-Parma §not a Luxembourgian prince by birth, but createdPrince Consort | ||
