ROYAL FAMILY VISITS EMPRESS`S NATIVE LAND In the summer

RUSSIA — GERMANY
FORGOTTEN PAGES OF COMMON HISTORY
ROYAL FAMILY
VISITS EMPRESS’S
NATIVE LAND
In
the summer of 1910 Emperor Nicholas
II with his wife and children went
for rest to Germany, the native land of the
empress. In the Friedberg castle owned by
the brother of Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand
Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hessen, the Royal family
spent nearly two months – from late August
to late October.
N
umerous photos of the trip of the Royal
family to Germany are kept in three ar-
chives: the city archive of Friedberg, the State
Archive of Hesse in Darmstadt, and in the Russian State Archive in Moscow which boasts a rich
Friedberg Castle today.
collection of personal items of the last emperor
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and his family members. Photos from the archive
of the Culture Fund was invited by the brother-
in Moscow are mostly amateur pictures shot by
hood to study the materials in the archives of
the tsar, his wife and elder daughters which have
Friedberg and Darmstadt and discovered, in par-
never been published and therefore are un-
ticular, that Germany had no photos available in
known in Germany. Numerous photos from
the Moscow archive and vice versa. The Russian
Friedberg and Darmstadt are also unknown in
Culture Fund networked Hessen archives with the
Russia as only a few of them were published in
State Archive in Moscow and organized an elec-
German monographs.
tronic exchange of photo documents. It was a very
Materials from the German and Russian ar-
fruitful idea as German experts specified numer-
chives were for the first time brought together
ous details thanks to the photos from Russia which
only a hundred years after the trip of the Royal
also complemented an exhibition from German
family due to cooperation between the Russian
archives organized in Friedberg in 2011.
Culture Fund and the St. Count Vladimir Brother-
The display of the personal royal photos
hood in Germany. The brotherhood owns a cathe-
from the Russian State Archive was a genuine sen-
dral in Bad Nauheim which the Royal family visited.
sation in Germany: the local press headlined the
On the eve of the centenary of the event the staff
reports as «Eine Weltsensation».
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Automobile trip. Emperor Nicholas the Second, Grand Duchess Tatyana,
Royal court physician Yevgeny Botkin. 1910 photo © Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt
The Russian Culture Fund proposed to pub-
dral), Munzenberg, and other towns and castles,
lish German and Russian archive photos together.
and also climbed the Taunus mountain range and
The Russian and Hessen archives offered their
often strolled in the surrounding fields. The path
unique photo exhibits for the publication and the
there led to the neighboring village of Schwal-
booklet Photo Archive of the Voyage of the Rus-
heim which is famous for its curative springs and
sian Imperial Family to Friedberg and Bad Nauheim
the water wheel. Practically nothing has changed
(Hessen, Germany) in 1910 has recently come
there in a hundred years: today you can walk the
out. The Russian Culture Fund handed over a part
same way, see the same wheel, and drink water
of the circulation to the St. Count Vladimir Brother-
from the same spring…
hood for the benefit of the Russian Orthodox Ca-
The Royal family often visited the resort town
thedral in Bad Nauheim which remains a spiritual
of Bad Nauheim four kilometers from Friedberg. Al-
Russian oasis in Germany like it was a hundred
exandra Feodorovna took baths there while the tsar
years ago.
and grand duchesses strolled in the park and played
я
tennis… On Sundays and holidays the Royal family
The Royal family leisure did not lock up in
went to the Russian church there. The Church of St.
the castle: the brother and sister-in-law of the
Innokenty of Irkutsk and St. Seraphim Sarovsky has
empress organized a major program for the rela-
preserved to our days and keeps the precious his-
tives – they travelled in car to Bad Homburg,
toric iconostasis from the Sarov Monastery. Rever-
Hessen, Frankfurt (Nicholas II bought a new car
end Seraphim prayed before the iconostasis in the
there while children visited the Zoo), Limburg
Zosimo-Savvatievsk Cathedral of the monastery.
(the Royal family album has a photo of its cathe-
However in early XX century the cathedral in Sarov
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was expanded and the iconostasis became too
ple as he was a charming and heartwarming boy.
small for it. It was presented to the church in Bad
He was only six years old, but looked as if he were
Nauheim and delivered to Germany
three years before the royal visit.
In 1910 upon an invitation of the
Grand Duke of Hessen three of his sisters with families stayed in Friedberg –
Emperor Nicholas the Second and fellow
travelers view the water wheel in Schwalheim.
From left to right: Adjutant General
Alexander Drenteln,
Princess Irene of Prussia,
Grand Duchess Maria,
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna,
Prince Heinrich of Prussia,
Emperor Nicholas II,
court physician Yevgeny Botkin.
1910 photo © Hessisches Staatsarchiv,
Darmstadt
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Alexandra Feodorovna and her elder sisters Victoria
eight. He always wore a middy and a sailor hat
(with
and
which properly fit his young, but reflective face.
Greek princesses) and Irena (with sons, husband,
Local kids always waited for the sailor boy at the
and Prince Heinrich of Prussia, a brother of German
castle gate and sealed him off. Today their grand-
Emperor Wilhelm).
children, grand grandchildren and residents of
children,
son-in-law,
grandchildren,
Out of the whole visiting family the heir to
Friedberg need no translation to understand the
the Russian throne, Alexy, enjoyed most attention
Russian word Zarewitsch (but put the emphasis on
from castle residents and ordinary Friedberg peo-
the first syllable).
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Princes Ludwig and Georg Donatus of Hessen, Zarewitsch Alexey, waiting ladies and lifeguard Derevenko leave for a walk. .
© Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt
Looking at the photos you cannot but think about the fate of the children. Hereditary Prince of Hessen
Georg Donatus was killed with the
mother, wife and children in an air
crash in 1937. They were going for the
wedding of his brother Ludwig who
lived a long life, but had no children
and his death cut short the direct generic branch of Hessen dukes.
Zarewitsch
Alexy
shared
the
tragic fate of his family: on July 17,
The same water wheel a hundred years later. 2010 photo.
1918 he was executed by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg.
Nothing could predict such a
The archive photos mostly show the Zarewitsch in the company of cousins, the sons of his
turn of developments at the time when the pictures were shot…
uncle – 4-year old hereditary Prince of Hessen
By Irina Yuryeva
Georg Donatus and small Prince Ludwig. They run
The editorial board expresses gratitude to Hes-
in the garden, the Zarewitsch tries to catch a dog,
sen State Archive in Darmstadt (Hessisches Staatsarchiv)
the three boys sit on a bench with Alexy holding the
and
dog in his hands, the troika and the dog leave for a
Friedberg/Hessen) for the courtesy and permission to
walk with lifeguard Derevenko and waiting-ladies…
publish 1910 photos they keep.
the
City
Archive
of
Friedberg
(Stadtarchiv
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