Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1844–1894)

Karl August Wilhelm Nicolaus Alexander Michael Bernhard Heinrich Frederick Stefan, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (31 July 1844 – 20 November 1894), was a German prince and Hereditary Grand Duke (Erbgroßherzog) of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Biography

Born in Weimar, he was the only son of Karl Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Princess Sophie of the Netherlands.

Because his mother was a daughter of King William II of the Netherlands and his older uncles, except King William III, died childless, Karl August was next in line in the succession to the throne of the Netherlands. He was preceded only by the young Queen Wilhelmina. This was the reason for him learning to write and speak fluent Dutch, due to the possibility of Karl August becoming king if Wilhelmina died childless.

Karl August died at Cap Martin, France, six years before his father; because of this, his eldest son Wilhelm Ernst succeeded his grandfather as Grand Duke.

Family and children

In Friedrichshafen on 26 August 1873 Karl August married with Princess Pauline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. They were second cousins, as she was the paternal granddaughter of Prince Bernhard, younger brother of the Grand Duke Karl Frederick of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the grandfather of Karl August. Her maternal grandparents were William I of Württemberg and his third wife Pauline Therese.

Karl August and Pauline had two sons:

1. Wilhelm Ernst Karl Alexander Friedrich Heinrich Bernhard Albert Georg Hermann, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. Weimar, 10 June 1876 – d. Heinrichau, 24 April 1923).
2. Bernhard Karl Alexander Hermann Heinrich Wilhelm Oscar Friedrich Franz Peter (b. Weimar, 18 April 1878 – d. Weimar, 1 October 1900).

Ancestry