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| Ernest Augustus | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ernest Augustusc. 1921–22 | |||||
| Duke of Brunswick | |||||
| Reign | 1 November 1913 –8 November 1918 | ||||
| Predecessor | William VIII | ||||
| Successor | Monarchy abolished | ||||
| Head of the House of Hanover | |||||
| Pretence | 14 November 1923 –30 January 1953 | ||||
| Predecessor | Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover | ||||
| Successor | Prince Ernest Augustus | ||||
| Born | (1887-11-17)17 November 1887 Penzing, Vienna, Austria-Hungary | ||||
| Died | 30 January 1953(1953-01-30) (aged 65) Marienburg Castle, Hanover, West Germany | ||||
| Burial | 1 February 1953 Berggarten Mausoleum,Hanover, West Germany | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue |
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| House | Hanover | ||||
| Father | Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover | ||||
| Mother | Princess Thyra of Denmark | ||||
| Signature |  | ||||
Ernest Augustus (Ernest Augustus Christian George;German:Ernst August Christian Georg; 17 November 1887 – 30 January 1953) wasDuke of Brunswick from 2 November 1913 to 8 November 1918. He was a grandson ofGeorge V of Hanover, thus a Prince of Hanover and aPrince of the United Kingdom. He was also a maternal grandson ofChristian IX of Denmark and the son-in-law of German EmperorWilhelm II. ThePrussians had deposed King George from the Hanoverian throne in 1866, but his marriage ended the decades-long feud between the Prussians and the Hanoverians.
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Ernest Augustus was born atPenzing nearVienna, the sixth and youngest child offormer Crown Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover and his wife,Princess Thyra of Denmark. His great-grandfather,Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the fifth son ofGeorge III of the United Kingdom, became king ofHanover in 1837 becauseSalic Law barredVictoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, from inheriting the Hanoverian throne.
His father succeeded as pretender to the Hanoverian throne and asDuke of Cumberland and Teviotdale in the peerage ofGreat Britain in 1878. The younger Ernest Augustus became heir apparent to the dukedom of Cumberland and to the Hanoverian claim upon the deaths of his two elder brothers, George and Christian. Through his mother, he was a first cousin ofChristian X of Denmark,Haakon VII of Norway,George V of the United Kingdom,Constantine I of Greece andNicholas II of Russia.
In 1884, his paternal great-granduncle thereigning Duke of Brunswick (a male line descendant ofHenry, the older brother ofWilliam, his male line ancestor) died. Since the younger branch of theHouse of Welf ended with him, under house rules it would have passed to the Duke of Cumberland, who immediately claimed the throne. However, the Imperial Chancellor,Otto von Bismarck, managed to get the Federal Council (Bundesrat) of the German Empire to rule that the Duke of Cumberland would disturb the peace of the empire if he ascended the throne of Brunswick. Bismarck did this because the duke had never formally renounced his claims to the kingdom of Hanover, which had been annexed toPrussia in 1866 following the end of theAustro-Prussian War (Hanover had sided with losingAustria). Instead,Prince Albrecht of Prussia became the regent of Brunswick. After Prince Albrecht's death in 1906, the duke offered that he and his elder son, Prince George, would renounce their claims to the Duchy of Brunswick in order to allow Ernest Augustus, his only other surviving son, to take possession of the Duchy, but this option was rejected by the Bundesrat and the regency continued, this time underDuke Johann Albrecht of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who had previously acted as regent for his nephew in Mecklenburg.
When Ernest Augustus's older brother George died in an automobile accident on 20 May 1912, theGerman Emperor,Wilhelm II, sent a message of condolence to the Duke of Cumberland. In response to this friendly gesture, the Duke sent his only surviving son, Ernest Augustus, to Berlin to thank the Emperor for his message. Ernest Augustus and Wilhelm II were third cousins through George III of the United Kingdom. In Berlin, Ernest Augustus met and fell in love with the emperor's only daughter,Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia.
On 24 May 1913, Ernest Augustus and Victoria Louise, third cousins once removed through descent from George III's sonsKing Ernest Augustus of Hanover andEdward, Duke of Kent, were married to each other.[1] This marriage ended the decades-long rift between the Houses ofHohenzollern andHanover.[2] The wedding of Prince Ernest Augustus and Princess Victoria Louise was also the last great gathering ofEuropean sovereigns before the outbreak of theGreat War, as recalled byConstantine II of Greece, a grandson of the married couple, in 2003.[3] In addition to the German Emperor and Empress and the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland, KingGeorge V andQueen Mary of the United Kingdom andTsar Nicholas II attended. Upon the announcement of his betrothal to Princess Victoria Louise in February 1913, Ernest Augustus swore allegiance to the German Empire and accepted a commission as a cavalry captain and company commander in theZieten–Hussars, a Prussian Army regiment in which his grandfather (George V) and great-grandfather (Ernest Augustus) had beencolonels. Two imprisoned British spies,Captain Stewart andCaptain Trench, were pardoned and released by the German Emperor as a wedding present to the United Kingdom.[4] George V of the United Kingdom had given consent to the marriage on 17 March 1913, as required by theRoyal Marriages Act.[5]
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On 27 October 1913, the Duke of Cumberland formally renounced his claims to the duchy of Brunswick in favor of his surviving son. The following day, the Federal Council voted to allow Ernest Augustus to become the reigning Duke of Brunswick. The new Duke of Brunswick formally took possession of his duchy on 1 November. He received a promotion to colonel in the PrussianZieten Hussars. The new duke and duchess of Brunswick moved intoBrunswick Palace in the capital ofBrunswick and began their family with the birth of their eldest son,Prince Ernest Augustus, less than a year after their wedding.[citation needed]
During the First World War, Ernest Augustus rose to the rank ofmajor-general.
In 1917, the British dukedom of Ernest Augustus's father, and his own title as a Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, were removed by theTitles Deprivation Act 1917, which took effect in 1919, as a result of the Duke's service in the German army during the war. On 8 November 1918, Ernest Augustus was forced to abdicate his throne, as were all the other German kings, grand dukes, dukes, and princes during theGerman Revolution of 1918–1919.[6] Thus, when his father died in 1923, Ernest Augustus did not succeed to his father's title of Duke of Cumberland. For the next thirty years, Ernest Augustus remained as head of the House of Hanover, living in retirement on his various estates, mainlyBlankenburg Castle in Germany andCumberland Castle in Gmunden, Austria. He also ownedMarienburg Castle near Hanover, although rarely ever living there until 1945.
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While Ernest Augustus never officially joined theNazi Party, he donated funds and was close to several leaders.[7] As a former British prince, Ernest Augustus, as well as Victoria Louise, desired arapprochement between the United Kingdom and Germany. Ostensibly desiring to pursue an alliance with the UK, in the mid-1930s,Adolf Hitler took advantage of their sentiment by asking the couple to arrange a match between their daughter Princess Frederica and thePrince of Wales. The Duke and Duchess of Brunswick refused, believing that the age difference was too great.[8] After his abdication in 1936, Edward VIII and his wife visited "the Cumberlands" at Cumberland Castle in Gmunden, Austria.[9] In 1938 Princess Frederica married PrincePaul of Greece, brother and heir-presumptive of KingGeorge II of Greece.
By the time the Second World War ended in Europe in April 1945, he and his family were staying at Blankenburg.[10] A few days before Blankenburg was handed over to theRed Army by British and U.S. forces in late 1945, to become part ofEast Germany, the family was able to move toMarienburg Castle, at the time located in theBritish Occupation Zone, with all their furniture, transported by British Army trucks, on the order ofKingGeorge VI.[11]
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Ernest Augustus lived to see his daughter Frederica become a queen consort in 1947 when her husband Paul became King of the Hellenes. Ernest Augustus died at Marienburg Castle in 1953. He was interred, later to be joined by the remains of his wife, in front of the Royal Mausoleum in the Berggarten atHerrenhausen Gardens in Hanover, which is the burial chapel of King Ernest Augustus of Hanover and his wife.[12]
The Duke and Duchess of Brunswick had five children:[13]
Grand Cross of Henry the Lion,ca. 1903; Sovereign Grand Master,1 November 1913 (Duchy of Brunswick)
Knight of St. George,29 August 1903;[14] Sovereign Grand Master,14 November 1923 (Hanoverian Royal Family)
Grand Cross of theRoyal Guelphic Order,ca. 1903; Sovereign Grand Master,14 November 1923 (Hanoverian Royal Family)
Grand Cross of theOrder of Ernst August,ca. 1903; Sovereign Grand Master,14 November 1923 (Hanoverian Royal Family)
Knight of the Elephant,15 November 1905 (Denmark)[14][15]Commemorative Medal for the Golden Wedding of King Christian IX and Queen Louise (Denmark)[15]
King Christian IX Centenary Medal (Denmark)[15]
Knight of St. Hubert,1909 (Kingdom of Bavaria)[14]
Knight of the Black Eagle,13 February 1913 (German Empire)[14]
Grand Cross of the Red Eagle,ca. February 1913 (German Empire)
Knight of St. Andrew,24 May 1913 (Russian Empire)[14]
War Merit Cross, 2nd Class,ca. 1914 (Duchy of Brunswick)War Merit Cross, 1st Class,ca. 1914 (Duchy of Brunswick)
Iron Cross, 2nd Class,ca. 1914 (German Empire)Iron Cross, 1st Class,ca. 1914 (German Empire)
Grand Cross of St. Stephen,ca. 1914 (Austria-Hungary)[16]
Grand Cross of the Redeemer,9 January 1938 (Kingdom of Greece)[citation needed]| Ancestors of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick |
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Their Lordships do humbly report to Your Majesty that the persons hereinafter named have adhered to Your Majesty's enemies during the present war: —His Royal Highness Leopold Charles, Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow; His Royal Highness Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, Earl of Armagh; His Royal Highness Ernest Augustus (Duke of Brunswick), Prince of Great Britain and Ireland; Henry, Viscount Taaffe of Corren and Baron of Ballymote.
victoria louise.
Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick Cadet branch of theHouse of Welf Born: 17 November 1887 Died: 30 January 1953 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Ernest Augustus unrecognized Title last held by William | Duke of Brunswick 2 November 1913 – 8 November 1918 | Vacant |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Loss of title | — TITULAR — Duke of Brunswick 8 November 1918 – 30 January 1953 Reason for succession failure: German Revolution | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — King of Hanover 14 November 1923 – 30 January 1953 Reason for succession failure: Austro-Prussian War | |
| — TITULAR — Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale 14 November 1923 – 30 January 1953 Reason for succession failure: Titles Deprivation Act 1917 | ||
Final hereditary rulers of thestates of the German Empire | |
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Heads of theHanoverian royal family since1866 | ||
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See alsoHouse of Hanover Potential claimants of the Dukedom of Cumberland and Teviotdale since 1917 and the Duchy of Brunswick since 1918 1also aBritish prince;2alsoDuke of Cumberland and Teviotdale and Earl of Armagh;3alsoDuke of Brunswick until 1913;4alsoDuke of Brunswick until 1918 | ||
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