Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf


Countess Augusta Caroline Sophie Reuss-Ebersdorf , was by marriage the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She was born in Saalburg-Ebersdorf. She was the maternal grandmother of Queen Victoria and the paternal grandmother of Albert, Prince Consort.

Family

She was the second of seven children of Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf and his wife Countess Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg. Her birthplace, Ebersdorf, was a center of Pietism in Thuringia and Augusta's grandparents were ardent admirers of this religious movement. Augusta's great-aunt Countess Erdmuthe Dorothea of Reuss-Ebersdorf was married to Count Nicholas Louis von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf, leader of the revivalist Moravian Church. This background explains the deep religious feelings of Duchess Augusta in later years.

Marriage

Her father commissioned a portrait of Augusta as Artemisia by the painter Johann Heinrich Tischbein. Count Heinrich XXIV showed this painting during the Perpetual Diet so potential marriage candidates were aware of his beautiful daughter.
In Ebersdorf on 13 June 1777 Augusta married Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Duke Francis previously acquired the Artemisia painting for four times the original price because he was deeply in love with Augusta, but he had to marry a relative, Princess Sophie of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Princess Sophie died seven months after the wedding, so the duke was free to pursue the hand of his beloved.
During her marriage, Augusta bore her husband ten children; some of them played important roles in European history: Victoria, Duchess of Kent, and King Leopold I of Belgium.

Issue

Notable descendants

Countess Augusta is the grandmother of many notable monarchs of Europe, including both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband, Prince Albert, King Consort of Portugal Ferdinand II, and also Empress Carlota of Mexico and her brother Leopold II of Belgium.

Titles and styles