Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Hereditary Princess of Württemberg
Spouse	Frederick of Württemberg
Issue
William I of Württemberg Catherine, Queen of Westphalia Princess Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg Prince Paul of Württemberg
Full name
Augusta Caroline Friederika Louise
House	House of Brunswick-Bevern (by birth) House of Württemberg (by marriage)
Father	Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
Mother	Augusta of Great Britain
Born	3 December 1764(1764-12-03) Brunswick
Died	27 September 1788(1788-09-27) (aged 23) Lohde

Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Augusta Caroline Friederika Luise; Brunswick, 3 December 1764 – 27 September 1788 in Koluvere castle, Governorate of Estonia)^[1] was a German princess, and first wife of Frederick of Württemberg. In the family, she was generally called "Zelmira".

Augusta was the eldest child of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick and Princess Augusta of Great Britain. She was also the sister of Caroline of Brunswick, wife of George IV of the United Kingdom.

Marriage and children

On 15 October 1780 in Brunswick, at the age of 15, she married Frederick of Württemberg. He was the eldest son of Frederick Eugene, youngest brother of Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, and heir presumptive to the duchy (neither of his uncles having any sons).

There were four children of this marriage:

• William (1781–1864), who succeeded his father as King William I of Württemberg;
• Catherine (1783–1835); who married Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia;
• Sophia Dorothea (1783–1784)
• Paul (1785–1852).

Life during marriage

Frederick's sister Sophie was married to Tsesarevich Paul, future Emperor of Russia.

In 1782, Frederick followed Sophie to Russia, where Empress Catherine II appointed him governor of eastern Finland.

The marriage was not a happy one. Frederick may have been bisexual, and had a coterie of young noblemen. He was also reportedly violent towards his wife. As he was at 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) tall and weighed about 200 kg (440 lb), this would have been terrifying.

During a visit to Saint Petersburg in December 1786, Augusta fled to the apartments of Empress Catherine to ask for protection. Catherine offered Augusta asylum and ordered Frederick to leave Russia. When Sophie protested at the treatment of her brother, Catherine replied curtly "It is not I who cover the Prince of Württemberg with opprobrium: on the contrary, it is I who try to bury abominations and it is my duty to suppress any further ones."

Augusta's father was less sympathetic, and refused his daughter's plea for divorce. In response, Catherine offered Augusta the use of one of her Imperial estates: Lohde castle,^[2] in Lohde (now Koluvere) in Kullamaa Parish to the south-west of Tallinn, Estonia.^[3] She was put in the custody of former huntmaster Wilhelm von Pohlmann (9 April 1727–22 January 1796), who took advantage of his office and began a sexual relationship with her; it is unknown whether she was willing or was forced. She soon became pregnant by him.^[4]

On 27 September 1788, at the age of 23, Augusta went into premature labour with a stillborn child, followed by hemorrhaging. Fearful of both the illegitimate birth and his relationship to her being found out, von Pohlmann refused to send for a doctor or any other medical help, and Augusta died of blood loss. She was hurriedly buried in an unmarked grave in the church at Koluvere, and her death was announced to Catherine and her parents in a brief missive with the cause given as the breaking of a blood vessel. Sightings of her were reported for several years, but none proved to be true. The facts of her death only came to light many years later, when her eldest son had the matter investigated and her body was exhumed.^[5] The castle and lands of Koluvere were afterwards granted to Count Frederik Vilhelm Buxhoevden.

Ancestry

References

1. ^ "Genealogy Index: Welf 6". http://genealogy.euweb.cz/welf/welf6.html. Retrieved 2007-09-16. 
2. ^ Lohde castle
3. ^ Rounding, Virginia (2007). Catherine the Great. London: Arrow. pp. 419–421. ISBN 9780099462347. 
4. ^ Thomsen, Sabine. Die württembergischen Königinnen. Charlotte Mathilde, Katharina, Pauline, Olga, Charlotte – ihr Leben und Wirken (The Queens of Wuerttemberg: Charlotte Matilde, Katharina, Pauline, Olga, Charlotte – Their Lives and Legacies). Silberburg-Verlag, 2006.
5. ^ Thomsen, ibid.

Elisabeth E. Kwan und Anna E. Röhring, Frauen vom Hof der Welfen, 2. Auflage, München, 2008

See also

• Image of the grave stone in the Church of Kullamaa (Goldenbeck), Lääne County, Estonia (in Estonian)

Persondata
Name	Augusta Of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 December 1764
Place of birth	Brunswick
Date of death	27 September 1788
Place of death	Lohde