Princess Marie of Battenberg

Princess Marie Caroline of Battenberg (German: Prinzessin Marie Karoline von Battenberg; 15 February 1852 – 20 June 1923) was a Princess of Battenberg and, by marriage, The Princess of Erbach-Schönberg. She worked as a writer and translator.

Early life

Marie was the eldest child and only daughter of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine (1823–1888), founder of the House of Battenberg and his morganatic wife, the Countess Julia Hauke (1825–1895), daughter of the Polish Count John Maurice Hauke. As a result of a morganatic marriage, Marie and her siblings were excluded from the succession of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and bore the title Princes of Battenberg. Marie was conceived six months before her parents married, which she always told people that her birthday was the 15 July and not in February. She was born the 15 February in Strasbourg and not the 15 July in Geneva.

Works as translator

Marie's brother, Alexander since 1879 was Prince of Bulgaria. Her memoir of a visit to him, My Trip to Bulgaria, was published in 1884.

Marie translated The Gate of Paradise and An Easter Dream of Edith Jacob, and A Trip to Siberia by Kate Marsden. She also published her memoirs, which plays her relationship with her mentally-unstable son Maximilian in an essential role.

Marriage and family

The Princess married on 19 April 1871 in Darmstadt, Count Gustav Ernst of Erbach-Schönberg (1840–1908), who was elevated to the rank of Prince (German: Fürst) in 1903 because of family ties with the British Royal Family and the Russian Imperial Family.

They had four children, six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, eighteen great-great-grandchildren and eighteen great-great-great-grandchildren:

• Alexander, Prince of Erbach-Schönberg (12 September 1872 – 18 October 1944) he married Princess Elisabeth of Waldeck and Pyrmont on 3 May 1900. They have four children. four grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.
• Count Maximilian of Erbach-Schönberg (17 March 1878 – 25 March 1892)
• Prince Victor of Erbach-Schönberg (26 September 1880 – 27 April 1967) he married Countess Elisabeth Széchényi de Sarvar et Felsö-Vidék in 1909.
• Princess Marie Elisabeth of Erbach-Schönberg (7 July 1883–12 Mar 1966) she married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Stolberg-Wernigerode (Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode is his paternal grandfather) on 19 January 1910. They have two children, four grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren and eleven great-great-grandchildren:
  • Prince Ludwig-Christian Otto Gustav Alexander Romanus of Stolberg-Wernigerode (30 December 1910-12 April 1945) he married Countess Anna of Schlitz tangent von Gortz on 5 April 1937. They have four children, fourteen grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren:
    • Count Wilhelm of Stolberg-Wernigerode (6 April 1938) he married Baroness Marie-Agnes von Seebach on 20 March 1967. They have three children and four grandchildren:
      • Countess Donata Anna Uta of Stolberg-Wernigerode (5 October 1967) she married Alexander Eichstaedt on 27 May 1995. They have four children:
        • Luise Eichstaedt
        • Caroline Eichstaedt
        • Frederik Eichstaedt
        • Emilia Eichstaedt
      • Countess Annabel Katharina of Stolberg-Wernigerode (30 April 1969)
      • Count Christoph Wilhelm of Stolberg-Wernigerode (26 January 1974)
    • Countess Ulrike of Stolberg-Wernigerode (13 February 1940) she married Count Friedrich of Solms-Laubach on 28 August 1963 and they were divorced in 1972. They have three children and seven grandchildren. She remarried Baron Kurt-Joachim Riedesal of Eisenbach on 9 January 1976. They have two children.
      • Countess Katharina Elisabeth of Solms-Laubach (11 February 1964) she married Count Rupert Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz in 1997. They have three children:
        • Countess Johanna Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche and Camminetz (26 October 1998)
        • Countess Alexa Anna Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche and Camminetz (2001)
        • Count Oscar Hans Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche and Camminetz (2004)
      • Count Ludwig Christian of Solms-Laubach (6 July 1965) he married Brit Menge on 24 July 1999. They have four children:
        • Countess Pia of Solms-Laubach (15 February 1999)
        • Count Conrad of Solms-Laubach (28 July 2000)
        • Count Emil of Solms-Laubach (3 January 2003)
        • Count Anton of Solms-Laubach (2 October 2007)
      • Count Georg Friedrich of Solms-Laubach (12 August 1971)
      • Baroness Sophie Anna of Eisenbach (5 August 1976)
      • Boron Hermann Conrad of Eisenbach (7 May 1979) he married Johanna Esser in 2010.
    • Count Gilbert of Stolberg-Wernigerode (2 May 1942) he married Princess Feodora Reuss of Köstritz (only daughter of Prince Heinrich I Reuss of Köstritz) on 28 August 1967. They have two sons:
      • Count Constantin of Stolberg-Wernigerode (6 May 1969)
      • Count Friedrich of Stolberg-Wernigerode (5 June 1972)
    • Countess Hermann of Stolberg-Wernigerode (12 August 1943) he married Countess Angelina von Oeynhausen on 20 May 1977. They have four children:
      • Count Moritz Caspar of Stolberg-Wernigerode (16 May 1978) he married Felizitas Maroucha Christine von Brandenstein on 21 May 2011.
      • Countess Marie Victoria Anna Ramona of Stolberg-Wernigerode (17 July 1979)
      • Count Ludwig Christian Leopold Emil of Stolberg-Wernigerode (10 May 1982)
      • Count Caspar Heinrich Damon of Stolberg-Wernigerode (8 October 1986)
  • Princess Anna of Stolberg-Wernigerode (18 September 1912-29 December 1914)

Titles and styles

• 15 July 1852 – 26 December 1858: Her Illustrious Highness Countess Marie of Battenberg
• 26 December 1858 – 19 April 1871: Her Serene Highness Princess Marie of Battenberg
• 19 April 1871 – 18 August 1903: Her Serene Highness Princess Marie, Countess Gustav of Erbach-Schönberg
• 18 August 1903 – 20 June 1923 : Her Serene Highness The Princess of Erbach-Schönberg