Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein
| Augusta Victoria | |
|---|---|
1913 portrait
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German Empress Queen consort of Prussia |
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| Tenure | 15 June 1888 – 9 November 1918 |
| Born |
22 October 1858 Dolzig Palace, Brandenburg, Prussia (now Lubsko, Poland) |
| Died | 11 April 1921 (aged 62) Huis Doorn, Netherlands |
| Burial | 19 April 1921 Antique Temple, Potsdam, Germany |
| Spouse |
Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany (m. 1881–1921; her death) |
| Issue |
Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany Prince Eitel Friedrich Prince Adalbert Prince August Wilhelm Prince Oskar Prince Joachim Princess Victoria Louise, Dowager Duchess of Brunswick |
| House | Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg |
| Father | Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein |
| Mother | Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg |
Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (Auguste Viktoria Friederike Luise Feodora Jenny; 22 October 1858 – 11 April 1921) was the last German empress and queen of Prussia as the first wife of Wilhelm II, German Emperor.
Augusta Victoria was the eldest daughter of Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. On 27 February 1881, Augusta married her second cousin Prince Wilhelm of Prussia. Augusta's maternal grandmother Princess Feodora of Leiningen was the half-sister of Queen Victoria, who was Wilhelm's maternal grandmother.
Wilhelm had earlier proposed to his first cousin, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (known in the family as "Ella"), a daughter of his mother's own sister, but she declined. He did not react well, and was adamant that he would soon marry another princess.
Wilhelm's family was originally against the marriage with Augusta Viktoria, whose father was not even a sovereign. However, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was a strong proponent of the marriage, believing that it would end the dispute between the Prussian government and Augusta's father. In the end, Wilhelm's intransigence, the support of Bismarck, and a determination to move beyond the rejection of his proposal to Ella, led the reluctant imperial family to give official consent.
Augusta was known as "Dona" within the family. She enjoyed a somewhat lukewarm relationship with her mother-in-law, Victoria, who had hoped that Dona would help to heal the rift between herself and Wilhelm; this was not to be the case. The Empress was also annoyed that the title of head of the Red Cross went to Dona, who had no nursing or charity experience or inclination (though in her memoirs, Princess Viktoria Luise paints a different picture, stating that her mother loved charity work).
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