Figure 1.--This is Duchess (Herzogin) Vera/Wera von Württemberg, a Romanov grandduchess, with her family--two grown-up twin daughters and their grandchildren. The oportrait was taken about 1910. Notice the great hats. And you can see how popular sailor suits were for the boys. Württemberg of course was far from the sea.

Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinovna Romanova was born in n St. Petersburg (1854). Her father was a daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich Romanov son of Tsar Nicholas I. Her mother was Grand Duchess Alexandra of Russia, a Princess of Saxe-Altenburg. It is interesting to note with the knowledge of World War I just how extensively the Russia, German, and British royal families were intertwined. She was one of six children. At the age of 9 years, her parents put her in the care of her Aunt Olga, queen of Württemberg (1863?). One source says that her parents were overwealmed with her care and education, but six children does not seem especially large for a Russian royal family who could afford help to care for the children. Vera seems to have been a difficult child to deal with. She was described as 'aggressive', not the way nice little Russian princesses should behave. King Karl (Charles) and Queen Olga were childless and wanted a child, so it seemed a way of dealing with Vera and providing her the attention she needed. We are not entirely sure how the parenting went. King Karl and Queen Olga subsequently adopted her (1871). We do not know why they waited so long to do this. She married Duke Eugene (1846-77) of Württemberg in Stuttgart (1874). Duke Eugene was the son of Duke Alexander Eugen Wilhelm Erdmann (1820-75) of Württemberg and Mathilde of Schaumburg-Lippe (1818-91). They had three children: Charles Eugene, who died as an infant, and the twin girls, Olga and Elsa. You can see the grown up twins here with their mother and children (figure 1). Her husband Duke Eugene died in Düsseldorf after they were married only 3 years. At the time it was announced that he had fallen from a horse. Actually he had been killed in a duel. His young wife and hos parents were grief stricken. Vera was only 22 years old at the time, but never remarried. The couple had lived in the Academy at the castle When the Queen, her Aunt Olga died, she moved into the Villa Berg. Vera was a very likeable and sociable young woman. She is decribed as 'talkative,' probably meaning that she knew all of the juicy gossip about everyone. She had another trait which was not as common among young royals. She was very active in charitable efforts, both social welfare and cultural activities. This made her very popular with the Württemberg public. This began apparently even before her marriage, but Duke Eugene support some of her efforts. She supported 30 different social and cultural institutions. While this was probably not a particularly large number for a Tsarina or Queen, it was for a minor royal of limited means. She bequeathed large sums to several of these charities. Some were at the time rather controversial. She founded a home for unwed mothers, named after her adopted parents--the Karl-Olga Hospital. We wonder how many homes for inwed mothers were sponsored by royals in Europe. And she founded a charity facility for the blind named after her grandfather--the Nicholas ??? fir the Blind. There was the Mariaberg Institution in Reutlingen, her husband's Lancers, and a Russian regiment. The military units of course were not charities, but they had aelfare aspect, the care of the wives and children of needy members of the regiments. She supported the building of the Russian Orthodox St. Nicholas Church in Stuttgart and founded the Church of the Redeemer, also in Stuttgart in gratitude. She converted late in life to the Lutheran church in Württemberg (1909). Vera suffered a stroke (1911) and died at the relatively young age of 58 in Stuttgart (1912). She was thus spared the tragedy of World War I which pitted her homeland and adopted country against each other. She was inbterned beside her husband in the Old Palace in Stuttgart.

Created: 2:00 AM 9/28/2011
Last updated: 2:00 AM 9/28/2011