Princess Mary of Hesse. Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich and Princess Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt. Natalya Alekseevna: hostage of political struggle

The future Russian Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of the Emperor, was born on July 27 (old style) 1824 in Darmstadt. Her parents were Duke Ludwig II of Hesse and Grand Duchess Maria Wilhelmina of Baden. The girl was given the long name Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria of Hesse and the Rhine.

Rumors spread at court that the daughter was born from an extramarital affair between her mother and Baron Augustus Senarklen de Grancy. But to prevent rumors, the Duke of Hesse recognized the illegitimate girl Maria and the boy Alexander as his heirs and gave them his surname. The children settled with their mother in the palace in Heiligenberg.

Maria was raised by the priest of the Protestant Church Zimmerman, since her parent died when the girl was only 12 years old. Of her relatives, Maria only has her own brother left. The nominal father did not visit the small semi-desert castle and was not interested in children. The adolescent years spent in solitude explain the calm and unsociable character of the princess. She did not like lush balls and crowded social society, both in her youth and in adulthood.

Personal life

At the age of 14, Princess Mary's biography changed forever. On one of her visits to the local opera house, she was met by the Russian Tsarevich Alexander, who was passing through Darmstadt. Despite the fact that the Princess of Hesse was not on the list of European brides for the Russian heir, he was imbued with a sincere feeling for her. Maria reciprocated his feelings. For a long time, his parents were against the candidacy of the princess because of her origin. But the son was adamant.

Alexander’s mother even came to Germany for a personal meeting with Maria. The future mother-in-law unexpectedly liked the sweet, serious girl, and she agreed to the marriage. It was decided to postpone the wedding for two years due to the young age of the bride. At this time, she managed to get comfortable in Russia. The German princess converted to Orthodoxy, changing her real name to Russian - Maria Alexandrovna, after which she immediately became engaged to the crown prince. In the spring of 1841, Maria and Alexander were married in the Cathedral Church of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace.

Her Imperial Majesty

In 1856, at the age of 32, Maria Alexandrovna, together with her husband, ascended the throne. The coronation took place in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the Moscow Kremlin. But even after her accession to the throne, the new empress of the Romanov family avoided noisy events. She preferred the company of those close to her, and also communicated a lot with the clergy.

Many representatives of high society reacted controversially to her rule. Some condemned Maria Alexandrovna for her small participation in the imperial affairs of foreign and domestic policy. But many contemporaries rightfully appreciated her role in the development of Russian society. According to the close maid of honor of the Empress Anna Tyutcheva, Maria Alexandrovna bore the heavy cross of serving the Russian people.

Achievements of the Empress

The results of the activities of Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna and, above all, her role in the development of the charitable medical organization Red Cross, which began extensive activities during the Russian-Turkish War, cannot be underestimated.

The Empress, saving on trips to Europe and on the number of outfits, invested the royal family's funds in favor of the construction of hospitals to treat soldiers, as well as to support orphans and widows. On her instructions, a large number of doctors were sent to the Balkans to help their Slavic brothers during the Turkish invasion. Under her management, new almshouses and shelters were opened throughout the country.

Maria Alexandrovna played a major role in carrying out the education reform. Under her, 2 higher educational institutions, about 40 gymnasiums, and more than 150 lower-level educational institutions opened their doors. The queen contributed to a new round in the organization of women's education, which was mainly financed by charity.

Under her patronage, the scientist K.D. Ushinsky developed a number of pedagogical methods, which were followed by all gymnasiums of that period. The compulsory primary education program began to include subjects of the Law of God, the Russian language, geography, history, penmanship, arithmetic, and gymnastics. Girls were additionally taught handicrafts and housekeeping. At the highest level, the basics of physics, algebra and geometry were added.

The empress also patronized high art. During her reign, the building of the now world-famous Mariinsky Theater was built, whose troupe has always maintained a high professional level and worthily represented Russia on the international stage. A ballet school was founded at the theater, headed by the legendary ballerina Agrippina Vaganova a few years later. These establishments were maintained with Maria Alexandrovna’s personal money.

The queen made a great contribution to the liberation of the peasants, strongly supporting her husband's reforms.

Family

The empress's most important achievement was that she gave Russia a large number of heirs. In her marriage to Alexander II, Maria Alexandrovna gave birth to six sons and two daughters. At the very beginning of their marriage, the imperial family experienced a serious tragedy - at the age of 7, their eldest daughter Alexandra died of meningitis. The young couple mourned their loss for a long time.

Another blow for the mother was the death of her beloved son Nicholas, who was being groomed to become the heir to the throne. In 1865, at the age of 22, the Tsarevich died from tuberculosis of the spine. It happened suddenly, and after his funeral Maria Alexandrovna lost interest in life forever. The second son Alexander was hastily prepared for the throne, and ultimately managed to become one of the wisest and most peaceful rulers on the Russian throne.

His penultimate son Sergei, who at one time married Princess Elizaveta Feodorovna, distinguished himself as Governor-General of Moscow. Subsequently, they fell at the hands of the Bolsheviks: Sergei in 1905, and Elizabeth in 1918. The princess also belonged to the Darmstadt court, and her sister became the wife of the last king of the Romanov dynasty. Three more sons of Maria Alexandrovna, Vladimir, Alexey and Pavel, held high military positions. Daughter Mary married the Prince of Edinburgh, the son of Queen Victoria, thereby somewhat strengthening Russian-British relations.

Religion

Maria Alexandrovna was a pious person. She combined the best features of Protestant service to people and the depths of the Orthodox faith. The Empress studied the works of the holy fathers and the lives of saints. She venerated Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Seraphim of Sorov. Maria Alexandrovna was introduced to the biography of the Russian ascetic by her maid of honor Anna Tyutcheva.

Soon, the half-mantle of the righteous appeared in the royal family, which Maria Alexandrovna’s relatives carefully preserved among other shrines of the family. The queen conducted theological conversations with Parthenius of Kyiv, Philaret of Moscow, and Vasily of Pavlovo-Posad. After her death, in memory of their mother, the sons built the Church of Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem, in which the relics of Elizabeth Feodorovna now rest.

Death

The last years of Maria Alexandrovna's life were overshadowed by illness, the death of her beloved son, as well as numerous infidelities of her loving husband. The queen never outwardly showed her dissatisfaction with her husband’s behavior and did not reproach him for anything.

It is known that the main favorite of Alexander II, Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova, lived with her illegitimate children on the floor above the chambers of the crowned empress. This was largely done for security reasons: 7 attempts were made on the life of the reformer Tsar, the last of which turned out to be fatal.

The queen had a hard time with all the terrorist attacks, and each time her condition worsened. Maria Alexandrovna’s personal doctor, Sergei Petrovich Botkin, taking care of her well-being, recommended that she periodically live in Crimea. But Maria Alexandrovna spent the last six months of her life, contrary to doctor’s orders, in St. Petersburg, which negatively affected her health.

The Empress died in the early summer of 1880 due to complications from tuberculosis. The queen's tomb is located in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Memory

The memory of Empress Maria Alexandrovna is immortalized by descendants by the names of cities, streets and educational institutions. A bust of the queen with a memorial plaque was recently installed at the Mariinsky Theater. Mariinsky Church today is the main cathedral of the convent in Gethsemane.

In newsreels, the name of Maria Alexandrovna is captured in documentaries and feature films. The roles of the wife of Alexander II were once played by such actresses as Tatyana Korsak and Anna Isaykina. She achieved a particularly strong visual resemblance to the empress, which can be seen in the photo of the film frames with the participation of the Russian actress.

The films “The Emperor's Romance”, “The Emperor's Love” and the series “Poor Nastya” enjoy the audience’s love. The film “Matilda,” which is dedicated to the era of the decline of the House of Romanov, starred Russian actors and foreign stars of feature films -,.

Maria Alexandrovna(27 July (8 August) 1824, Darmstadt - 22 May (3 June) 1880, St. Petersburg) - princess of the House of Hesse, Russian empress, wife of Emperor Alexander II and mother of Emperor Alexander III.

Princess born Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria of Hesse and the Rhine(German: Maximiliane Wilhelmine Auguste Sophie Marie von Hessen und bei Rhein, 1824-1840), after accepting Orthodoxy on December 5 (17), 1840 - Maria Alexandrovna, after betrothal on December 6 (18), 1840 - Grand Duchess with the title of Imperial Highness, after the marriage on April 16 (28), 1841 - the Tsarevna and Grand Duchess, after the accession of her husband to the Russian throne - the Empress (March 2, 1855 - June 3, 1880).

Biography

Youth. Marriage

Princess Mary was born on July 27 (August 8), 1824 in the family of Duke Ludwig II of Hesse. Biographers of the mother of Princess Maria Wilhelmina of Baden, Grand Duchess of Hesse, are convinced that her younger children were born from a relationship with Baron Augustus of Senarklen de Grancy. Wilhelmina's husband, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse, to avoid scandal and thanks to the intervention of Wilhelmina's high-ranking siblings, officially recognized Mary and her brother Alexander as his children. Despite the recognition, they continued to live separately in Heiligenberg while Ludwig II occupied the Grand Ducal Palace in Darmstadt.

In March 1839, while traveling around Europe, the heir to the Russian throne, the son of Emperor Nicholas I, Alexander, while in Darmstadt, fell in love with 14-year-old Maria. The first meeting of the Tsarevich and the princess took place in the opera house, where the Vestal Virgin was being staged. Previously, one of the princesses of Hesse-Darmstadt had already married a Russian crown prince, she was Natalya Alekseevna, the first wife of Paul I; in addition, the bride's maternal aunt was the Russian Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna (wife of Alexander I). Arriving in Russia, Alexander Nikolaevich decided to marry Maria; the girl’s scandalous origin did not bother him; he wrote to his mother in a letter: “Dear Mother, what do I care about the secrets of Princess Maria! I love her, and I would rather give up the throne than give up her. I will only marry her, that’s my decision!”

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was embarrassed by the origins of her future daughter-in-law and she refused to bless her son’s marriage. Nevertheless, after the persuasion of Alexander and Nicholas I, the empress herself went to Darmstadt to meet Maria, which had never happened during the Romanov dynasty. Consent to the marriage was obtained. The attitude of the emperor and empress towards his daughter-in-law became very warm over time.

“Marie won the hearts of all those Russians who could meet her. Sasha [Alexander II] became more and more attached to her every day, feeling that his choice fell on a God-given one. Their mutual trust grew as they got to know each other. Pope [Nicholas I] always began his letters to her with the words: “Blessed be Thy Name, Mary.”<…>Dad watched with joy the manifestation of the strength of this young character and admired Marie's ability to control herself. This, in his opinion, balanced out the lack of energy in Sasha, which constantly worried him.”

Olga Nikolaevna. Dream of youth. Memoirs of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna

In September 1840, the princess arrived in Russia. She shared her impressions of St. Petersburg in a letter to her family: “Petersburg is much more beautiful than I thought; The Neva contributes a lot to this; this is a wonderful river; I think it is difficult to find a more majestic city: at the same time it is lively; The view from the Winter Palace to the Neva is exceptionally good.”

On December 5 (17), 1840, the princess converted to Orthodoxy with the name “Maria Alexandrovna.” “The next day, December 6, was the betrothal of the Tsarevich to Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. The main exit was with the same solemnity and luxury. The betrothal took place in the presence of the entire royal family, the entire court, the entire Russian nobility and many distinguished foreign guests and representatives of foreign states.”

Maria Alexandrovna (July 27 (August 8) 1824, Darmstadt - May 22 (June 3) 1880, St. Petersburg) - princess Hessian at home, Russian Empress, wife of Russian Emperor Alexander II and mother of Emperor Alexander III.

Born Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria Hessian (German: Maximiliane Wilhelmine Auguste Sophie Marie von Hessen und bei Rhein, 1824-1840), after accepting Orthodoxy on December 5 (17), 1840 - Maria Alexandrovna, after betrothal on December 6 (18), 1840 - Grand Duchess with the title of Imperial Highness, after the marriage on April 16 (28), 1841 - the crown princess and grand duchess, after the accession of her husband to the Russian throne - the empress (March 2, 1855 - June 3, 1880).

Youth. Marriage

Princess Mary was born on July 27 (August 8), 1824 in the family of the Duke Ludwig II of Hesse . Biographers of the princess's mother Maria Wilhelmina of Baden, Grand Duchess of Hesse, are convinced that her youngest children were born from a relationship with Baron Augustus of Senarklen de Grancy. Wilhelmina's husband, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse, to avoid scandal and thanks to the intervention of Wilhelmina's high-ranking siblings, officially recognized Mary and her brother Alexander as his children. Despite the recognition, they continued to live separately in Heiligenberg while Ludwig II occupied the Grand Ducal Palace in Darmstadt.

Named after Maria Alexandrovna

Mariinsky Posad (Chuvashia). Until 1856 - the village of Sundyr. On June 18, 1856, Emperor Alexander II renamed the village to the city of Mariinsky Posad in honor of his wife. On August 9, 2013, on Naberezhnaya Street in Mariinsky Posad, in the presence of the Head of Chuvashia, Mikhail Ignatiev, a monument to Empress Maria Alexandrovna was unveiled. Photo of the monument.
Mariinsk (Kemerovo region). Renamed in 1857 (former name - Kiyskoe). In 2007, a monument to Maria Alexandrovna by Tomsk sculptor Leonty Usov was unveiled here. The Empress sits on a bench and holds a dove in her hand - a traditional symbol of peace and the Holy Spirit. At the same time, there is a special place left on the bench for those who want to take a photo with her.
Mariehamn (Maarianhamn) is the main city of the Åland Islands, an autonomous territory within Finland. Founded in 1861. On November 2, 2011, a monument to the Empress on a round granite pedestal, the work of sculptor Andrei Kovalchuk, was inaugurated here. The Empress is depicted in full height.

Named in honor of Maria Alexandrovna[edit | edit wiki text]
Mariinsky Theater (St. Petersburg)
Mariinsky Palace (Kyiv)
Odessa Mariinsky Gymnasium
Mariinskaya street in Riga (Marijas iela)

In Jerusalem, in memory of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene was built and consecrated in 1888.

In addition, in March 2010, a bronze bust of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, donated by the authorities of St. Petersburg, was unveiled in San Remo, Italy. The monument was erected on the embankment, named after her “Boulevard of the Empress” (Corso Imperatrice).

Maria Fedorovna (wife of Alexander III)

Maria Fedorovna (Feodorovna) (born Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar (Dagmara), dated Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar; November 14 (26), 1847, Copenhagen, Denmark - October 13, 1928, Videre Castle near Klampenborg, Denmark) - Russian empress, wife of Alexander III (from October 28, 1866), mother of Emperor Nicholas II.

Daughter of Christian, Prince of Glücksburg, later Christian IX, King of Denmark . Her sister is Alexandra of Denmark, wife of the British King Edward VII, whose son George V bore a portrait resemblance to Nicholas II.

Alexandra Fedorovna (wife of Nicholas II)

Alexandra Feodorovna (Feodorovna, née Princess Victoria Alice Elena Louise Beatrice Hesse-Darmstadt, German Victoria Alix Helena Louise Beatrice von Hessen und bei Rhein, Nicholas II also called her Alix - a derivative of Alice and Alexandra; June 6, 1872, Darmstadt - July 17, 1918, Yekaterinburg) - Russian Empress, wife of Nicholas II (since 1894). Fourth daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and Rhine and Duchess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England

Victoria Fedorovna with her husband Kirill. Niece of Alexander III

Victoria Feodorovna, née Victoria Melita (November 25, 1876, Valletta, Malta - March 2, 1936, Amorbach, Germany) - née Princess of Great Britain, Ireland and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Hesse, since 1907 Grand Duchess with the title of Imperial Highness ; according to the Kirillovites, since 1918 de facto and since 1924 de jure - an empress with the title of Imperial Majesty (the title is disputed by opponents of the Kirillovites).

Victoria Melita was the third child and second daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna

Maria Alexandrovna (Grand Duchess) sister of Alexander III

Maria Alexandrovna with her husband Prince Alfred and first-born son Alfred

Maria Alexandrovna was born in Tsarskoe Selo. She was the second daughter of Emperor Alexander II (assassinated on March 1, 1881) and his wife, the Empress Maria Alexandrovna, who was the daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse. Maria Alexandrovna was the sister of Emperor Alexander III. Among her other brothers, the following stood out: Vladimir Alexandrovich - philanthropist, collector, president of the Academy of Arts, Sergei Alexandrovich, who was the Moscow governor and died as a result of a terrorist attack, and Alexey Alexandrovich, with the rank of admiral general, who led the Russian fleet in the Russo-Japanese War. Maria Alexandrovna was also the aunt of Emperor Nicholas II.

On 23 January 1874, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Grand Duchess Mary married HRH Prince Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria. Her father gave her a dowry of £100,000, unheard of at the time, and on top of that an annual allowance of £20,000.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh arrived in London on 12 March. The marriage was unhappy, and London society considered the bride too arrogant. Emperor Alexander II insisted that his daughter be addressed as "Your Imperial Highness" and that she take precedence over the Princess of Wales. These statements simply infuriated Queen Victoria. The Queen stated that the title "Her Royal Highness", adopted by Maria Alexandrovna after her wedding, should replace the title "Her Imperial Highness", which belonged to her by birth. For her part, the newly made Duchess of Edinburgh was offended that the Princess of Wales, the daughter of the Danish king Christian IX, preceded her, the daughter of the Russian emperor. After her marriage, Mary was styled "Her Royal Highness", "Her Royal and Imperial Highness", and "Her Imperial and Royal Highness". Queen Victoria gave her first place after the Princess of Wales.

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha[edit | edit wiki text]

After Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha died on August 22, 1893, the free Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha passed to his youngest nephew, Maria Alexandrovna's husband, Prince Alfred, since his older brother, the Prince of Wales, abdicated the throne. He (apparently Alfred) refused the British allowance of 15,000 pounds a year, and seats in the House of Lords and the Home Consul, but retained the 10,000 pounds received from his marriage for the maintenance of his London estate, Clarence House. After Maria Alexandrovna's husband ascended the ducal throne, she began to be called the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, while retaining the title of Duchess of Edinburgh. Technically, as the consort of the reigning Duke of Germany, she was superior to all her sisters-in-law at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

Their son, Crown Prince Alfred, was caught having an extramarital affair and attempted to shoot himself in January 1899, during his parents' 25th wedding anniversary. He survived, and his parents sent him to Merano, where the heir died two weeks later on February 6.

The Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha died of throat cancer on July 30, 1900 at Roseno Castle in Coburg. The ducal throne passed to his nephew, Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany. The Dowager Duchess Maria remained to reside in Coburg.

Irena of Hesse, sister of the wife of Nicholas II of Holstein-Gottorp

On 24 May 1888, Irena married her cousin Prince Henry of Prussia, son of Frederick III and Victoria of Great Britain, younger brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Elizaveta Fedorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich

Elizaveta Fedorovna (born Elizaveta Alexandra Louise Alice Hesse-Darmstadt, German . Elisabeth Alexandra Luise Alice von Hessen-Darmstadt und bei Rhein, her family name was Ella, officially in Russia - Elisaveta Feodorovna; November 1, 1864, Darmstadt - July 18, 1918, Perm province) - Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt; in marriage (to the Russian Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich) the Grand Duchess of the reigning house of Romanov.

Second daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse-Darmstadt and Princess Alice, granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. Her younger sister Alice later, in November 1894, she became the Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, marrying the Russian Emperor Nicholas II.

On June 3 (15), 1884, in the Court Cathedral of the Winter Palace, she married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, brother of the Russian Emperor Alexander III

Alexandra of Denmark, aunt of Nicholas II of Holstein-Gottorp

Her husband Albert Edward (diminutive Bertie), eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

First from left: Alexander III of Holstein-Gottorp with Elston alive in 1871. All of Paris is in the hands of the Reds.

In plain text: Russia, captured by Prussian troops, is under the German-Jewish Red Army occupation gray slave war crimes of Elston-Sumarokov. Before the Jewish era, as before 1903.

1824 1777 - 1848 1788 – 1836

1624 1681 1880

1823 – 1880

1839

1839

The Fourth Empress of All Russia from the House of Romanov with such a great Christian name Maria - Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria was born on July 27 (August 9) 1824 years in the German sovereign House of Hesse in the August family of Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse ( 1777 - 1848 gg.) from his marriage to Princess Wilhelmina Louise of Baden ( 1788 – 1836 gg.), the August sister of the Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna - the sovereign wife of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander I the Blessed.

The princess was born almost 200 years after September 19 (October 2) 1624 year, the Sacred Sacrament of marriage of the founder of the House of Romanov, Tsar Mikhail I Feodorovich, took place with his first August wife, Princess Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova. It is also providential that, like Tsarina Maria Vladimirovna, the future Empress Maria Alexandrovna died before her husband, which remained the only example in the history of the Imperial House, for no one else from the All-Russian Empresses since her death on October 14 (27) 1681 year of Queen Agafya Semyonovna, the first August wife of Tsar Theodore III Alekseevich, did not leave the crowned spouses, having died before his time. Just over 200 years would pass before the first Thursday in June 1880 year (May 22, US) the heartbeat of the Russian Empress, so beloved by the entire Royal Family, will be interrupted...

The august mother of the princess left the world when she was 13 years old and she, together with her sovereign brother Prince Alexander ( 1823 – 1880 gg.), was raised by a governess for several years, living in the country castle of Jugenheim near Darmstadt.

At the time of her birth, the princess’s august mother had not lived with her sovereign husband for a long time. Everyone had their own love, and according to conversations, the princess was born from Baron de Grancy, a Swiss of French origin, who was the Grand Duke's master of horse. It seemed that nothing any longer foreshadowed a glorious future for the princess. However, by the will of the All-Good Arbiter of Fates, in March 1839 year, the only daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig II met in Darmstadt with Tsarevich Alexander II Nikolaevich, the future Autocrat of All-Russia Alexander II the Liberator, traveling in Western Europe.

From a letter from the heir to Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich to his August father, Sovereign Emperor Nicholas I the Heroic-loving, March 25 (April 7) on Annunciation Day 1839 year: “Here, in Darmstadt, I met the daughter of the Reigning Grand Duke, Princess Mary. I liked her greatly, from the very first moment I saw her... And, if you allow, dear dad, after my visit to England, I will return again to Darmstadt."

However, the august parents of the Tsarevich and the Grand Duke, Emperor Nicholas I the Heroic-loving and Empress Alexandra I Feodorovna, did not immediately give consent to the marriage.

From the secret correspondence of Emperor Nicholas I Pavlovich and Count A. N. Orlov, the heir’s trustee:

“Doubts about the legitimacy of her descent are more valid than you think. It is known that because of this she is barely tolerated at the Court and in the family (Wilhelmina had three older August brothers - approx. A.R.), but she is officially recognized as a daughter her crowned father and bears his surname, therefore no one can say anything against her in this sense.” (Letters and documents are quoted from the book by E. P. Tolmachev “Alexander the Second and His Time,” vol. 1, p. 94.)

“Do not think, Sovereign, that I hid these facts regarding the origin of Princess Mary from the Grand Duke. He learned about them on the very day of his arrival in Darmstadt, but he reacted exactly like you... He thinks that, of course, it would have been better otherwise, however she bears the name of her father, therefore, from the point of view of the law, no one can reproach her."

Meanwhile, the heir to the All-Russian throne had the strongest feelings for the princess. From a letter from the heir of Tsarevich Alexander, the August Mother to the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, May 1839 of the year. Darmstadt:

“Dear Mother, what do I care about the secrets of Princess Mary! I love her, and I would rather give up the throne than her. I will marry only her, that’s my decision!”

In September 1840 year, the princess entered the Russian land, and in December of the same year she accepted Orthodoxy with the name Maria Alexandrovna, becoming the fourth chosen one of the Russian Sovereigns from the House of Romanov with the name of the Most Holy Theotokos.

At the end of Bright Week on April 19 (29) 1841 year, the heir Tsarevich and Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna got married.

The lady-in-waiting of the Court, A.F. Tyutchev, who knew the Empress closely, left us many detailed memories of Princess Mary:

"Raised in seclusion and even some neglect in the small castle of Ugedheim, where she rarely even saw her father, she was more frightened than blinded when she was suddenly transported to the Court, the most magnificent, the most brilliant and the most secular of all the European Dvolrs. She She told me that many times, after long efforts to overcome shyness and embarrassment, she at night in the privacy of her bedroom indulged in tears and long-held sobs...

When I first saw the Grand Duchess, she was 28 years old. However, she looked very young. She maintained this youthful appearance all her life, so that at the age of 40 she could be mistaken for a woman of about thirty. Despite her tall stature and slenderness, she was so thin and fragile that at first glance she did not give the impression of beauty; but she was unusually graceful, with that very special grace that can be found in old German paintings, in the Madonnas of Albrecht Durer...

In no one have I ever observed to a greater extent than in the Tsesarevna this spiritual grace of ideal abstraction. Her features were not correct. Her wonderful hair was beautiful, her delicate complexion, her large blue, slightly protruding eyes, looking meek and soulful. Her profile was not beautiful, since her nose was not regular, and her chin receded somewhat back. The mouth was thin, with compressed lips, which indicated restraint, without the slightest signs of the ability to inspire or impulse, and a barely noticeable ironic smile made a strange contrast to the expression of her eyes... I have rarely seen a person whose face and appearance better expressed the shades and contrasts of his inner extremely complex self. The Tsarevna's mind was similar to her soul: subtle, elegant, insightful, very ironic, but devoid of fervor, breadth and initiative...

She was cautious to the extreme, and this caution made her weak in life...

She possessed to an exceptional degree the prestige of the Empress and the charm of a woman and knew how to wield these means with great intelligence and skill.”

According to her contemporaries, and the same maid of honor Tyutcheva: “She was judged and condemned by many, often not without reason, for the lack of initiative, interest and activity in all areas where she could bring life and movement.” Everyone expected from the Empress the activity characteristic of her August namesake, Empress Maria I Feodorovna, who, after the tragic death of her August husband, Emperor Paul I Petrovich, founded many charitable societies, actively intervened in the politics of the sovereign son of Emperor Alexander I Pavlovich, had a brilliant Court, and so on.

At first, not many knew that the future Empress Maria Alexandrovna, by the will of God born on the day of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon, was incurably ill with her heart and lungs, bearing her heavy Cross all her life. But even so, she performed many charitable deeds, continuing the glorious traditions of the All-Russian Empresses.

Let’s also not forget that not a single Empress was subjected to such horrific terror in Russia. Survive six attempts on the life of the August spouse, live in anxiety for the Tsar and the crowned children for 14 long years, from the moment of the first shot by D.V. Karakozov on April 4 (17) until the explosion in the dining room of the Winter Palace in February 1880 year that claimed 11 lives - only a few are destined to survive this. According to the lady-in-waiting Countess A.A. Tolstoy, “the poor health of the Empress finally deteriorated after the assassination attempt on April 2 1879 year, (Arranged by the populist A.K. Solovyov - approx. A.R.). She never recovered after that. Just like now, I see her on that day - with feverishly shining eyes, broken, desperate. “There’s no point in living anymore,” she told me, “I feel like this is killing me.”

Empress Maria Alexandrovna accomplished the most important feat of her life - she strengthened the throne of the dynasty with numerous heirs.

She gave birth to the Tsar Alexander II Nikolaevich, whom she adored, eight crowned children, two crowned daughters and six sons. The Lord destined her to outlive two of them - the August daughter Alexandra and the heir to Tsarevich Nicholas in 1849 And 1865 years.

Upon death in 1860 In the year of the August mother-in-law of the Empress Alexandra I Feodorovna, she headed the huge charitable Department of the Mariinsky gymnasiums and educational institutions.

She was destined to open the first Red Cross department in Russia and a number of the largest military hospitals during the Russian-Turkish War 1877 – 1878 gg.

With the support of the progressive public and the active personal assistance of K. D. Ushinsky, she prepared several notes on the reform of primary and female education in Russia for Emperor Alexander II Nikolaevich.

The Empress founded countless shelters, almshouses and boarding houses.

She marked the beginning of a new period of women's education in Russia, with the establishment of open all-class women's educational institutions (gymnasiums), which, according to the regulations 1860 g., it was decided to open in all cities where it would be possible to ensure their existence.

Under her, women's gymnasiums in Russia were supported almost exclusively by public and private funds. From now on, it was not only the Highest patronage, but social forces that largely determined the fate of women's education in Russia. Teaching subjects were divided into compulsory and optional. Compulsory classes in three-year gymnasiums included: the Law of God, the Russian language, Russian history and geography, arithmetic, penmanship, and handicrafts. In the course of women's gymnasiums, in addition to the above subjects, the basics of geometry, geography, history, as well as “the most important concepts in natural history and physics with the addition of information related to household management and hygiene,” penmanship, needlework, and gymnastics were required.

Girls who were awarded gold or silver medals at the end of the gymnasium course of general studies, and who, in addition, attended a special special course of an additional class, acquired the title of home tutors. Those who did not receive medals received a “certificate of approval” for completing a full general course in a gymnasium and attended a special course in an additional class, and enjoyed the rights of home teachers.

The transformative activities of Empress Maria Alexandrovna also affected her education in institutions.

On the personal initiative of the Empress, measures were taken not only to protect the health and physical strength of children, by eliminating from their range of activities everything that has a purely mechanical, unproductive nature (drawing and copying notes that replaced printed manuals, etc.), but also to bringing pupils closer to their family and to the environment surrounding the parental home, for which they were allowed to go to the homes of their parents and immediate relatives during vacations and holidays.

At the thought and initiative of the Empress, women's diocesan schools began to emerge for the first time in Russia.

In the field of charity, the Empress’s most important merit is the organization of the Red Cross, to expand the activities of which during the Russian-Turkish War she put a lot of work and expense, refusing even to sew new dresses for herself, giving all her savings to the benefit of widows, orphans, the wounded and the sick.

The “restoration of Christianity in the Caucasus”, “distribution of spiritual and moral books”, “Russian missionary”, “brotherly loving in Moscow” and many other charitable institutions owe their development and success to the patronage of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

And finally, the Empress, with the full support of her August husband, founded the largest theater and ballet school in St. Petersburg and all of Russia, which was later headed by Agrippina Vaganova. At the same time, both the school and the famous theater were entirely supported by the funds of the Imperial Family, the Empress personally, and, at the insistence of her August husband, Emperor Alexander II, bore her name. The theater still bears the sovereign name. A bust of Empress Maria Alexandrovna was recently installed in the foyer of the theater.

From the first hour of the sovereign service of the Hessian Princess Mary on Russian soil, her burden was so voluminous and all-encompassing that the Empress spent countless amounts of energy to keep up everywhere, not to be late, to give gifts, to smile, to console, to encourage, to pray, to instruct, to answer, caress and: sing a lullaby. She burned like a candle in the wind!

To her maid of honor and teacher, confidant, Anna Tyutcheva, the Tsesarevna, and later the Empress of All Russia, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, admitted with a tired smile more than once that she lived most of her life as a “volunteer” - that is, a voluntary soldier!

Not a moment of rest or peace, moral or physical.

Only an ardent feeling of reverent, selfless love for her husband, the Emperor, and an equally strong feeling of true faith, which at times delighted even people of primordially Orthodox faith, including: the confessor of the Imperial Family V. Ya Bazhanov and the famous Holy Hierarch of Moscow, Metropolitan Philaret Drozdov, supported the rapidly depleted fragile forces of the Empress.

The Moscow saint left several evidence of his gratitude to the Empress, often addressing her with speeches and conversations given here.

It is known that the Empress was extremely God-loving and generous, humble and meek. In her sovereign position, she was the only Empress in the Russian state for almost 20 years.

She was kept on earth only by constant good spirits and that “unsolved mystery of living charm”, which the observant diplomat and poet Tyutchev so subtly noted in her. The powerful charm of her personality spread to everyone who loved and knew her, but over the years there were fewer and fewer of them!

But the trials, on the contrary, did not diminish in the life of the High Royal Person, surrounded by the close attention of hundreds of picky eyes. One of these difficult trials for Her Majesty Empress Maria was the presence in the Empress’s personal retinue of a young, charming lady-in-waiting, Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukaya, with whom her much-adored husband, the ruler of the Empire, desperately, dizzyingly and quickly fell in love.

Empress Maria Alexandrovna knew everything, because she was too smart and impressionable to deceive herself, but she could not do anything... Or did she not want to? She suffered all fourteen years of this scandalous relationship - silently, patiently, without lifting an eyebrow, without making a sign. This had its own pride and its own aching pain. Not everyone understood or accepted this. Especially the grown-up August children and sons, who literally idolized their mother!

I dare to urgently ask Your Imperial Majesty not to return for the winter to St. Petersburg and, in general, to central Russia. As a last resort - Crimea.

For your exhausted lungs and heart, weakened from stress, the climate of St. Petersburg is destructive, I dare to assure you! Your villa in Florence has long been ready and is waiting for you.

And the new Palace in the vicinity of Livadia is all at the service of your Imperial...:

Tell me, Sergei Petrovich,” the Empress suddenly interrupted Botkin’s lifeguard, “has the Emperor asked you to keep me here, away from Russia?” He doesn't want me to come back? - thin, emaciated fingers nervously drummed on the sill of the high Italian window of the villa, which looked directly onto the sea coast. The sea behind the glass floated in the morning haze and was still sleepy and serene. It seemed to be swaying right at my feet:

No one would dare to keep Your Imperial Majesty here in Nice against Your August will. But the Sovereign, only tirelessly worrying about the invaluable health of Your Majesty, would urgently ask you:

Stop all these curtsies, Sergei Petrovich! There are only tiny drops left of my priceless health, and only humility before God’s permission remains from the Most August Will! - the emaciated profile of the Empress was still abnormally beautiful with some unusual, painful subtlety, it was not there before, but even on his profile, it seemed, the imperious shadow of death had already fallen.

I dare to argue with Your Majesty about the last statement!

So - sir, rapid pulse, wet palms... You should lie down, Your Imperial Majesty, I’ll call the nurse now. We must follow the regime!

I’ll rest in the next world, Sergei Petrovich, I don’t have long to wait. Tell me to get ready, tomorrow morning I need to be in Cannes, from there to St. Petersburg, that’s enough, I stayed too long by the sea. I want to die at home, in my bed.

I dare to respectfully insist that Your August Majesty remain here without fail! - Botkin answered Tsarina with the soft firmness of a doctor.

The entire course of procedures has not yet been completed, and I don’t want to resort to oxygen pillows, like on my last visit to the capital! Your Majesty, I beg you! I received a letter from Their Highnesses, Tsarevich Alexander and Tsarevna Maria Feodorovna, they also find that it is extremely undesirable for you to be in the capital and sour in the stuffy Winter Palace. Autumn this year in St. Petersburg, as always, is not a smooth one! - the life doctor smiled slightly, the Empress immediately picked up this weak smile:

I know, dear doctor, I know, but that’s not the reason! You are simply afraid of how the presence in the Palace, over my poor head, of a famous person, Sacred to the Sovereign Emperor, will affect my health! - The Empress chuckled slightly. Don't be afraid, I will no longer drop combs or break cups at the sound of children's steps. (An allusion to Princess Catherine Dolgorukaya and her children from Emperor Alexander. There were three of them. They all lived in the Winter Palace and occupied apartments directly above the Empress’s head! This was dictated, as historians write, by considerations of the safety of the Princess and children. At that time, attempts became more frequent attempts on the life of the Sovereign. But is it only this?.. - author's note).

As always, I will find a natural explanation for such natural noise, so as not to confuse the young maids! - The Empress tried to smile, but her face was distorted by a painful grimace. She lowered her head, trying to suppress a coughing fit, and pressed a handkerchief to her lips. He was instantly soaked in blood.

Your Imperial Majesty, I beg you, no need! - the excited Botkin sharply squeezed Maria Alexandrovna’s hand in his palms.

I understand, I shouldn't! I understand everything, I just want you to know: I never blamed him for anything and never do! He has given me so much happiness over all these years and so often proved his immense respect for me that this would be more than enough for ten ordinary women!

It’s not his fault that he is Caesar, and I am Caesar’s wife! You will object now that he insulted the Empress in me, and you will be right, dear doctor, of course you are right, but let God judge him!

I don't have the right to do this. Heaven has long known and known my resentment and bitterness. Alexander too.

And my true misfortune is that life takes on full meaning and multicolored colors for me only next to him, it doesn’t matter whether his heart belongs to me or to someone else, younger and more beautiful... It’s not his fault, which means more to me than anything else , I'm just so weird.

And I'm happy that I can leave before him. Fear for his life greatly tormented me! These six attempts!

Crazy Russia! She always needs something stunning foundations and foundations, disastrous shocks... And maybe the heartfelt personal weaknesses of the Autocrat will only benefit her, who knows? “He’s just like us, a weak mortal, and an adulterer at that! Trample him, kill him, kill him!” - they shout, forgetting themselves.

Perhaps, with my prayer, There, at the Throne of the Heavenly Father, I will ask for a quiet death for him, in return for the martyr's crown of the sufferer, driven into a corner by the raging mob, foaming at the mouth, forever dissatisfied.

Maria Alexandrovna sighed wearily and bowed her head on her folded palms. Her strength had completely left her.

Your Imperial Majesty, you are tired, take a rest, why tear your soul apart with gloomy thoughts! - the life doctor muttered helplessly, trying to hide the confusion and excitement that gripped him.

Sergei Petrovich, tell us to get ready! - The Empress whispered tiredly. - While I have the strength, I want to return and die next to him and the children, on my native land, under my native clouds.

You know, nowhere is there such a high sky as in Russia, and such warm and soft clouds! - the shadow of a dreamy smile touched the Empress’s bloodless lips.

Haven't you noticed? Tell His Majesty that I bequeath to be buried in a simple white dress, without a crown on my head or other Royal regalia. There, under the warm and soft clouds, we are all equal before the King of Heaven; in Eternity there are no differences of rank. You say, dear doctor?

Instead of answering, the life physician only respectfully pressed to his lips a small feverish palm with blue streaks of veins and a feverishly beating pulse. He, this pulse, was like a small bird, greedily rushing upward under the warm and high, native clouds... So greedily that there was no point in keeping it on Earth any longer!

Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress of All Russia, Maria Alexandrovna, died quietly in St. Petersburg, in the Winter Palace, in her own apartment, on the night of the second to third of June 1880 of the year. Death came to her in a dream. According to the will, like all the Empresses of the House of Romanov, she was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg six days later, on May 28 (June 10) 1880 of the year.

After her blessed death, a letter was found in the box addressed to her August husband, in which she thanked him for all the years spent together and for the gift he had given her so long ago, on April 28 1841 year (Date of marriage of the Royal couple - author.) - vita nuova - new life.

Darmstadt, the birthplace of the Landgraves, Electors, and then the Grand Dukes of Hesse and the Rhine, has long-standing dynastic ties to Russia. Four Hesse-Darmstadt princesses became part of Russian and German history - Natalya Alekseevna, the first wife of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, later Emperor Paul I, Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II and mother of Alexander III, Elizaveta Fedorovna, wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, and finally , Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas II.

Two of them were crowned, and Elizabeth Feodorovna, whose 150th anniversary was celebrated last year, was canonized by the Church as a martyr.

Why Darmstadt? Is this an accident or was there some pattern in the choice of this small city at the German “bride fair”? It seems that both are true, if, of course, we classify love at first sight, which underlay (at least) three of the four Hesse-Darmstadt marriages of the heirs of the Russian throne, as accidents. But there were also more fundamental considerations. Since the time of Peter I, who put an end to the “blood isolation” of the Romanovs, motives of political expediency prevailed in the choice of a bride for the heir to the throne. If Peter married his son Alexei to Sophia-Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the sister of the future German Emperor Charles VI, then he looked for suitors for his daughters and nieces in the North German principalities, continuing the policy of mastering the Baltic coast, begun by the Northern War.

Catherine II departed from Peter's tradition of using dynastic marriages as a means of increasing Russian influence along the Baltic coast. The vector of her policy was aimed south - towards the Black Sea, Crimea, the Balkans, and Constantinople. Perhaps that is why both wives of her son Pavel Petrovich, as well as the wives of her grandchildren - Alexander and Konstantin, were chosen by Catherine in the principalities of Central and Southern Germany - Darmstadt, Württemberg, Baden and Saxe-Coburg. The relationship between the empress and the royal houses of Prussia, Denmark and Sweden also played a role.

From left to right: Grand Duchess Natalya Alekseevna, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna

Natalya Alekseevna: hostage of political struggle

Catherine entrusted the choice of a bride for Pavel Petrovich, who turned 19 years old in 1773 (“Russian coming of age”) to the Danish diplomat in the Russian service, Baron Asseburg. The task is not easy. And not only because the empress’s relationship with her son, who believed that his mother had usurped the throne that rightfully belonged to him, was never distinguished by mutual trust. The point is different: 1773 was perhaps the most difficult year in the 34-year reign of the Great Empress. The first partition of Poland, the Pugachev uprising, the war with Turkey that lasted for the fifth year, the conclusion of peace with which depended on relations with Prussia and Austria, which jealously followed Russia’s military successes. Of the German princesses suitable in age for the Grand Duke, Catherine's attention focused on Louise of Saxe-Coburg, but she refused to change her religion from Lutheran to Orthodox. Princess Sophia Dorothea of ​​Württemberg, who later became Paul's second wife, was still a child - she was barely 13 years old. So the turn came to the daughters of Landgrave Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt. The Landgrave, who served in the Austrian army, was a zealous Protestant, but his wife, Caroline Louise, nicknamed the Great Landgrave for her outstanding qualities, perfectly understood the benefits of a Russian marriage. The Prussian king Frederick II, whose nephew, Crown Prince of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm, was married to the Landgrave's eldest daughter, Frederica, also desired a marriage union between Hesse-Darmstadt and St. Petersburg.

In mid-June 1773, Caroline and her three daughters - Amalia, Wilhelmina and Louise - arrived in St. Petersburg. The wedding of the heir to the throne with his second daughter, named Natalya Alekseevna upon conversion to Orthodoxy, took place in September of the same year. The wedding was attended by Denis Diderot and Friedrich-Melchior Grimm, who had been in long-term correspondence with Semiramis of the North.

Catherine II

Catherine also associated far-reaching dynastic plans with the Darmstadt marriage. It was about creating a family pact between the sovereigns of Northern Europe - Russia, Prussia, Denmark and Sweden through the marriage of the daughters of the Landgrave of Hesse with the Danish king Christian VII and the brother of the Swedish king, Duke Karl of Südermandland. Under Catherine, the plan for a family pact, however, failed to be implemented.

The fate of Natalia Alekseevna was tragic. Taking to heart the humiliating position of her husband, who was not allowed by Catherine to participate in state affairs, she found herself closely involved in the struggle of political factions that unfolded at the foot of the Russian throne. Her reputation was ruined by Andrei Razumovsky, the son of the last hetman of Ukraine, who became so close to the grand ducal couple that he lived in their half in the Winter Palace. On April 15, 1776, Natalya Alekseevna died in childbirth. After her death, Catherine showed her son the intercepted intimate correspondence between Razumovsky and the Grand Duchess...

Maria Alexandrovna: wife of the liberator

Maria Alexandrovna was both in character and in relation to politics the complete opposite of the first wife of Paul I. Alexander II, while still heir to the throne, fell passionately in love with her when in 1838 he visited Darmstadt during a European trip. The Hesse-Darmstadt princess was not even on the list of brides approved by his father, Nicholas I. Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Nicholas I, took the ambiguous circumstances of her birth so close to her heart (since 1820, Maria Alexandrovna’s mother, Princess Wilhelmina of Baden, lived separately from her husband Ludwig II, her father was considered the Alsatian Baron Augustus de Grancy) that she herself went to Darmstadt to meet the bride. The wedding took place on April 16, 1841. Maria Alexandrovna gave birth to 8 children, 5 of them sons, solving the problem of succession to the throne for a long time.

Being the wife of a reforming king is not an easy cross. Having lived for 15 years in Nicholas Russia before her coronation, Maria Alexandrovna deeply felt the need for change and sympathized with the liberation of the peasants that followed on February 19, 1861. Having a wide circle of friends not only in court circles, but also among the intellectual elite of Russia (K. Ushinsky, A. Tyutcheva , P. Kropotkin), she knew how not to advertise her undoubted influence on her husband. Her maid of honor, Anna Tyutcheva, the daughter of the great poet, close to the Slavophiles, in vain sought from her in the tragic days of the end of the Crimean War at least an indirect condemnation of the Nicholas order, which led Russia to a military catastrophe. “She is either holy or wooden,” Tyutcheva wrote in despair in her diary. In fact, Maria Alexandrovna, like Elizaveta Feodorovna later, had the irreplaceable quality of being invisible, completely dissolving in her husband, and doing good in silence.

Wedding ruble for the wedding of the heir Alexander Nikolaevich and Maria Alexandrovna. 1841

The name of Maria Alexandrovna in Russia is closely connected with the history of noble charity, the roots of which are directly related to the traditions of Darmstadt. In the formation of the spiritual appearance of Maria Alexandrovna, like other Darmstadt princesses, a special role was played by two remarkable women who lived in Hesse in the 12th–13th centuries - Hildegard of Bingen, abbess of the monastery in Rupertsberg, who saw in the Christian church a place where “the people are healed”, and St. Elisabeth of Thuringia, who founded the first hospital in Marburg. Maria Alexandrovna’s charitable activities combined the social service of Protestantism and the deep spirituality of Orthodoxy. The first chairman of the Russian Red Cross Society, founded by Alexander II after the Crimean War, she personally established 5 hospitals, 8 almshouses, 36 shelters, 38 gymnasiums, 156 vocational schools in Russia.

Maria Alexandrovna behaved with exceptional dignity in the difficult, sometimes critical circumstances of the last years of the reign of Alexander II. After the birth of his eighth child, the emperor started a second family. Ekaterina Dolgorukova, who bore him four children, lived in the Winter Palace on the floor above Maria Alexandrovna. Three months after the death of the empress in 1880, she obtained from the emperor the official registration of the marriage. Only the death of Alexander II from a terrorist bomb on March 1, 1881 prevented the implementation of the plan for the coronation of His Serene Highness Princess Yuryevskaya.

After the death of Maria Alexandrovna, her sons, including Emperor Alexander III, built the Church of St. in memory of her. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane in Jerusalem. Now there is a Russian convent there, preserving the memory of two Darmstadt princesses - Maria Alexandrovna and Elizaveta Feodorovna, whose remains rest near the right choir. Maria Alexandrovna, who embraced Orthodoxy with all her heart, is not canonized, but the sisters pray to her along with Elizaveta Fedorovna. They believe that Maria Alexandrovna begged her husband from six attempts on his life, the seventh, which occurred after her death, became fatal for him.

Alexandra and Elizabeth: on the eve of disaster

The marriages of the last two Darmstadt princesses, Ella and Alice (the future Elizaveta Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna), with the son and grandson of Maria Alexandrovna, were overshadowed by the inner nobility of this extraordinary woman. The wedding of Elizabeth Feodorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich took place in April 1884, 10 years before the marriage of her younger sister to Tsarevich Nicholas, the future Emperor Nicholas II. But the acquaintances of both grand dukes with the Darmstadt princesses were, as it were, written off from the first meeting of their father and grandfather with Maria Alexandrovna in Darmstadt. Nikolai met Alexandra Fedorovna at the wedding of her older sister Ella. Alexandra Feodorovna gave her consent to the marriage at the wedding of her older brother Ernst-Ludwig and Victoria-Melita in April 1884 in Coburg. Maria Alexandrovna became the guardian angel of their marriages, each of which was happy in its own way.

Nicholas II with his family in Hesse-Darmstadt with relatives

Elizaveta Feodorovna and Alexandra Fedorovna, deeply attached to each other, lived very similar, but at the same time very different lives. Both tried to the best of their ability to support and strengthen their Husbands. But if Sergei Alexandrovich was a convinced anti-liberal conservative, then Nicholas II was more a victim of historical circumstances than a monarch capable of directing the course of history in an era of deep crisis.