| Julia | |
|---|---|
| Princess of Battenberg | |
 Julia Hauke byWoldemar Hau | |
| Born | Julia Therese Salomea Hauke (1825-11-24)24 November 1825 Warsaw,Congress Poland,Russian Empire |
| Died | 19 September 1895(1895-09-19) (aged 69) Schloss Heiligenberg,Jugenheim,Hesse-Darmstadt |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| House | Battenberg |
| Father | Hans Moritz Hauke |
| Mother | Sophie LaFontaine |
Julia, Princess of Battenberg, previouslyCountess Julia von Hauke andCountess of Battenberg (bornJulia Therese Salomea Hauke; 24 November [O.S. 12 November] 1825 – 19 September 1895), was the wife ofPrince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, the third son ofLouis II, Grand Duke of Hesse.
The daughter of a Polish general of German descent, Julia was not of royal origin. She became alady-in-waiting toMarie of Hesse, wife of the future Russian EmperorAlexander II and a sister of Alexander, whom Julia married after meeting him in the course of her duties. Although the marriage of social unequals like Julia and Alexander was deemedmorganatic, the Duke of Hesse made her Princess of Battenberg. Julia was the mother ofAlexander, Prince of Bulgaria, and she is an ancestor of the currentBritish andSpanish royal families.
Hauke was born inWarsaw,Congress Poland, then ruled inpersonal union by theRussian emperor. She was the daughter ofHans Moritz Hauke, a Polish general of German descent.[1][2] Her mother, Sophie, was the daughter of Polish military surgeonFranz Leopold Lafontaine.[3]
Her father fought inNapoleon'sPolish Legions in Austria, Italy, Germany, and thePeninsular War. After his service in the army of theDuchy of Warsaw from 1809 to 1814, he entered the ranks of the army ofCongress Poland, and was promoted togeneral in 1828. Recognizing his abilities, EmperorNicholas I appointed him Deputy Minister of War of Congress Poland and on 4 May 1829 made him a hereditaryCount vonHauke.[4] In theNovember Uprising of 1830, led by rebelling army cadets,Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, Poland's Russiangovernor, managed to escape, but Julia's father was shot dead by the cadets on aWarsaw street. Her mother died of shock shortly afterwards, and their children were made wards of the Emperor.[citation needed]
Hauke served aslady-in-waiting toMarie of Hesse, wife of the future EmperorAlexander II and a sister of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine. She met Prince Alexander while performing her duties at court inSaint Petersburg. The Emperor did not approve of a courtship between her and his son's brother-in-law, so the two arranged to leave Saint Petersburg. By the time Julia and Alexander were able to marry, she was six months pregnant with their first child, Marie. They were married on 28 October 1851 in Breslau in PrussianSilesia (now calledWrocław and inPoland).[citation needed]
Since she was not considered equal for royal marriage purposes, her children did not qualify for succession to the throne ofHesse and by Rhine. Her marriage was declared to bemorganatic after the birth of her first son.[citation needed] Her husband's brother,Grand Duke Louis III of Hesse-Darmstadt, made her Countess ofBattenberg in 1851, with the style ofIllustrious Highness (German:Erlaucht). In 1858, she was elevated to Princess of Battenberg, with the style ofSerene Highness (German:Durchlaucht).Battenberg became the name of a morganatic branch of the Grand Ducal House of Hesse.
Hauke converted toLutheranism on 12 May 1875.[citation needed] Prior to her conversion, she frequently visitedOrthodox andByzantine Catholic churches throughout Hesse, often traveling great distances. Her religion was openly criticized by members of her husband's family until her conversion. Her children were baptized Lutheran. She died atHeiligenberg Castle on 19 September 1895.[citation needed]
There were five children of the marriage, all princes and princesses of Battenberg:
Julia's eldest son, Louis, became aBritish subject, and duringWorld War I, due toanti-German sentiment prevalent at the time,anglicised his name toMountbatten (a literal translation of the GermanBattenberg), as did his nephews, the surviving sons of Prince Henry and Princess Beatrice. The members of this branch of the family also renounced all German titles and were grantedpeerages by their cousin KingGeorge V: Prince Louis became the 1stMarquess of Milford Haven, while Prince Alexander, Prince Henry's eldest son, became the 1stMarquess of Carisbrooke.
Grand Duchy of Hesse:[5]
Kingdom of Bavaria:[5]
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Battenberg/Mountbatten family | ||
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Generations are numbered by their descent fromPrince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine andJulia, Princess of Battenberg | ||
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*Not Mountbatten or Battenberg by birth. Adopted the surname Mountbatten from his maternal line on abandoning his patrilineal Greek and Danish princely titles. | ||
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