Princess Marie of Battenberg

Princess Marie Caroline of Battenberg
Princess of Erbach-Schönberg
Marie of Battenberg, Princess of Erbach-Schönberg
Spouse	Gustav, Prince of Erbach-Schönberg
Issue
Alexander, Prince of Erbach-Schönberg Count Maximilian of Erbach-Schönberg Prince Victor of Erbach-Schönberg Princess Marie of Erbach-Schönberg
Full name
Marie Caroline
House	House of Battenberg House of Erbach-Schönberg
Father	Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine
Mother	Countess Julia Hauke
Born	15 July 1852(1852-07-15) Geneva, Switzerland
Died	20 June 1923(1923-06-20) (aged 70) Schönberg, Weimar Republic

Princess Marie Caroline of Battenberg (German: Prinzessin Marie Karoline von Battenberg; 15 July 1852 – 20 June 1923) was a Princess of Battenberg and, by marriage, The Princess of Erbach-Schönberg. She worked as a writer and translator.

Early life

Marie was the eldest child and only daughter of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine (1823–1888), founder of the House of Battenberg and his morganatic wife, the Countess Julia Hauke (1825–1895), daughter of the Polish Count John Maurice Hauke. As a result of a morganatic marriage, Marie and her siblings were excluded from the succession of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and bore the title Princes of Battenberg. Marie was conceived six months before her parents married, which she always told people that her birthday was the 15 July and not in February.

Works as translator

Marie's brother, Alexander since 1879 was Prince of Bulgaria. Her memoir of a visit to him, My Trip to Bulgaria, was published in 1884.

Marie translated The Gate of Paradise and An Easter Dream of Edith Jacob, and A Trip to Siberia by Kate Marsden. She also published her memoirs, which plays her relationship with her mentally-unstable son Maximilian in an essential role.

Marriage and family

The Princess married on 19 April 1871 in Darmstadt, Count Gustav Ernst of Erbach-Schönberg (1840–1908), who was elevated to the rank of Prince (German: Fürst) in 1903 because of family ties with the British Royal Family and the Russian Imperial Family. They had four children:

• Count Alexander (later 2nd Prince) of Erbach-Schönberg (12 September 1872 – 18 October 1944)
• Count Maximilian of Erbach-Schönberg (17 March 1878 – 25 March 1892)
• Count (later Prince) Victor of Erbach-Schönberg (26 September 1880 – 27 Apr 1967)
• Countess (later Princess) Marie of Erbach-Schönberg (7 July 1883 – 12 Mar 1966)

Titles and styles

• 15 July 1852 – 26 December 1858: Her Illustrious Highness Countess Marie of Battenberg
• 26 December 1858 – 19 April 1871: Her Serene Highness Princess Marie of Battenberg
• 19 April 1871 – 18 August 1903: Her Serene Highness Countess Gustav of Erbach-Schönberg, Princess of Battenberg
• 18 August 1903 – 20 June 1923 : Her Serene Highness The Princess of Erbach-Schönberg

Ancestry

Notes and sources

• Marie of Erbach-Schönberg: Memoirs of Princess Marie of Erbach-Schönberg, Princess of Battenberg, 1852–1923, nd V. 1958 ISBN 3-9227817-5-6
• Marie von Erbach-Schönberg: Meine Reise nach Bulgarien im Jahre 1884 , Heller, 1916 Marie of Erbach-Schoenberg: My trip to Bulgaria in 1884, Heller, 1916
• Sophie Pataky: Lexikon deutscher Frauen der Feder , Bd. 1. Sophie Pataky: Encyclopedia of German women of the pen, 1st Bd Berlin, 1898., S. 194. Berlin, 1898., P. 194

Persondata
Name	Marie Of Battenberg, Princess
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	15 July 1852
Place of birth	Geneva, Switzerland
Date of death	20 June 1923
Place of death	Schönberg, Weimar Republic