Duke Charles Michael of Mecklenburg

Infobox Prince
name = Charles Michael, Duke of Mecklenburg


full name =Carl Michael Wilhelm August Alexander
royal house =Mecklenburg
father =Duke George August of Mecklenburg
mother =Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia
date of birth =OldStyleDate|17 June|1863|5 June
place of birth = Oranienbaum, Russia
date of death =death date and age|1934|12|6|1863|6|17
place of death = Remplin, Germany|

Charles Michael, Duke of Mecklenburg ( _de. Carl Michael Herzog zu Mecklenburg; OldStyleDate|17 June|1863|5 June ndash 6 December 1934) was an officer in the Imperial Russian Army, heir presumptive to the throne of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and from 1918 head of the Grand Ducal House.

Life in Russia

He was born in Oranienbaum, Russia, a grandson of Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz via his second son Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg (1824-1876) and his wife Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia. Charles Michael studied at the University of Strasbourg and gained a PhD. [cite book |title=Almanach de Gotha |year=1891 |pages=55 ] As he was born into the Russian branch of the Grand Ducal house of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Charles Michael and his older brother Duke George Alexander, both served in the Russian Imperial Army with Charles Michael achieving the rank of Lieutenant General. [cite book |title=Almanach de Gotha |year=1910 |pages=61 ] When his brother died in 1909 Charles Michael was appointed the guardian of his children Katharina, Marie, Natalia and Georg by Adolf Friedrich V. [cite book |title=Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Beiträge zur Geschichte einer Region |pages=187 ] On 24 June 1914 two weeks after the death of his cousin Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich V, Charles Michael wrote to the new Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich VI informing him that he wished to renounce his rights to the throne of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. On 7 August shortly after the outbreak of the First World War he became a naturalised Russian citizen.cite book |title= L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome VI : Bade-Mecklembourg |pages=232]

In March, 1917 Charles Michael was arrested and made to appear before the Russian parliament the Duma. [cite news | title =Czar and Czarina are under arrest| publisher =New York Times| date =1917-03-22| url =http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F03E2DC143AE433A25751C2A9659C946696D6CF| accessdate = 2007-10-28 ] He later fled to Caucasus region.cite book |title=Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Beiträge zur Geschichte einer Region |pages=188 ]

Heir to Strelitz

The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Friedrich Franz IV wrote to Charles Michael informing him that his cousin Adolf Friedrich VI had died on 23 February 1918 and that as he was first in the line of succession he was being called to the throne. A petition to accept the throne was also sent to Charles Michael by the citizens of Mecklenburg-Strelitz as they wanted to maintain their independence and not be united with Mecklenburg-Schwerin. However Charles Michael never received it so he wrote a private letter confirming his desire to renounce his rights to reign in Mecklenburg-Strelitz although the letter did not reach Friedrich Franz IV, who was acting as regent for Mecklenburg-Strelitz, until January 1919 after the fall of the German monarchies. As a result the succession issue could not be resolved in time and the two Mecklenburg grand duchies became separate free states in the Weimar Republic.

Charles Michael eventually left Russia with his family arriving first in France before going into exile in Denmark. While there he served as Chairman of the Mutual Charitable Society for Russian Officers in Denmark. [cite book |title=Once A Grand Duchess |last=van der Kiste |first=John |coauthors=Coryne Hall |year=2004 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |isbn=0750935219 |pages=177 ] In 1921 he was paid five million marks by the Mecklenburg government in return for renouncing his claim to the Strelitz throne. [cite news | title =Ex-Grand Duke's Record| publisher =The Guardian| date =1926-01-13| ] In April, 1930 he returned to Germany and took up residence at his estate, Remplin castle. [Citation| title =Schloss Remplin| newspaper =Fitchburg Sentinel| pages =12| year =1930| date =11 April, 1930]

Charles Michael adopted his nephew Georg, Count of Carlow who was the morganatic son of his brother Duke George Alexander of Mecklenburg (1859-1909) on 11 September 1928 and confirmed in the courts of Malchin on 5 October 1928. [cite book |title= L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome VI : Bade-Mecklembourg |pages=235] Charles Michael died unmarried in Remplin, Germany and was succeeded as head of the Grand Ducal house by his nephew and adopted son the former Count of Carlow, Duke Georg of Mecklenburg. [cite book |title=Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Beiträge zur Geschichte einer Region |pages=188-189 |quote=....Herzog Carl Michael verstarb am 6. Dezember 1934 in Remplin. Neues Oberhaupt des Strelitzer Fürstenhaus wurde sein neffe Herzog Georg.... ]

Ancestry

ahnentafel top|Ancestors of Charles Michael, Duke of Mecklenburg|width=100%ahnentafel-compact5
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1= Charles Michael, Duke of Mecklenburg
2= Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg
3= Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia
4= Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
5= Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
6= Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia
7= Princess Charlotte of Württemberg
8= Grand Duke Charles II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
9= Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt
10= Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
11= Princess Caroline Polyxene of Nassau-Usingen
12= Emperor Paul I of Russia
13= Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg
14= Prince Paul of Württemberg
15= Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen
16= Duke Charles of Mecklenburg
17= Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen
18= Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt
19= Countess Maria Luise of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg
20= Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
21= Princess Mary of Great Britain
22= Karl Wilhelm, Prince of Nassau-Usingen
23= Countess Karoline Felicitas of Leiningen-Langsberg-Heidesheim
24= Emperor Peter III of Russia
25= Empress Catherine II of Russia
26= Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg
27= Princess Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt
28= King Friedrich I of Württemberg
29= Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
30= Friedrich I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
31= Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburgahnentafel bottom

References

* cite book | last = Erstling | first = Frank | coauthors = Frank Saß, Eberhard Schulze, Harald Witzke | title = Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Beiträge zur Geschichte einer Region | year = 2001 | month = April | publisher = Steffen | location = Friedland
language = German | isbn = 3980753204 | chapter = Das Fürstenhaus von Mecklenburg-Strelitz
*cite book |last= Huberty |first= Michel |coauthors= Alain Giraud, F. et B. Magdelaine |title= L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome VI : Bade-Mecklembourg |isbn= 9782901138068