⭐ 👍 Ce jour-là dans l'histoire : la naissance du prince Eugène d'Anhalt, ancien chef de la maison d'Anhalt

Duc Edouard d'Anhalt (1861-1918)

Princesse Louise de Saxe-Altenbourg (1873-1953)

Le 17 avril 1903, le prince Eugen Friedrich Ernst August Heinrich Adolf Aribert d'Anhalt, duc de Saxe, comte zu Askanien, est né à Dessau, capitale du duché d'Anhalt. Eugen était le cinquième enfant et le troisième fils du duc Eduard d'Anhalt (1861-1918) et de la princesse Luise de Saxe-Altenbourg (1873-1953). Eduard et Luise s'étaient mariés en 1895 à Altenburg ; le couple a eu six enfants, dont quatre ont survécu jusqu'à l'âge adulte : la princesse Friederike (née et décédée en 1896), le prince Léopold (1897-1898), la princesse Marie Auguste (1898-1983 ; mariée d'abord au prince Joachim de Prusse, puis au baron Johannes-Michael von Loën), le prince Joachim Ernst (1901-1947 ; duc d'Anhalt ; marié d'abord à Elisabeth Strickrodt, puis à Edda Marwitz), le prince Eugen (1903-1980), enfin, et le prince Wolfang (1912-1936). Le duc Édouard et la duchesse Louise d'Anhalt divorcèrent en 1918, avant la mort d'Édouard. Leur fils aîné survivant, Joachim Ernst, fut le dernier duc d'Anhalt régnant. Il perdit son trône en 1918 lorsque son oncle et régent, le prince Aribert, abdiqua en son nom. Aribert était l'ex-mari de la princesse Marie-Louise de Schleswig-Holstein, petite-fille de la reine Victoria ; le divorce du couple en 1901 déclencha un véritable scandale.

Princesse Marie Auguste d'Anhalt (1898-1983)

Duc Joachim Ernst d'Anhalt (1901-1947)

Prince Eugène d'Anhalt (1903-1980)

Prince Wolfgang d'Anhalt (1912-1936)

En janvier 1928, le prince Eugène et sa sœur, la princesse Marie-Auguste, baronne de Loën, poursuivirent leur frère aîné, le duc Joachim Ernst, devant le tribunal de Dessau. Les frères et sœurs demandèrent que Joachim Ernst, décrit comme un « connaisseur d’art et un producteur de théâtre », soit placé sous tutelle par le tribunal. Joachim Ernst contesta que sa sœur Marie-Auguste réclamait injustement des dommages et intérêts contre lui, après qu’il eut accepté (mais refusé) de lui verser une allocation mensuelle de 500 dollars. Le duc déclara en outre que son frère Eugène ne cherchait qu’à obtenir un gain monétaire supplémentaire, Joachim Ernst affirmant qu’Eugène avait déjà reçu certaines sommes d’argent du domaine d’Anhalt.

Le duc Joachim Ernst d'Anhalt et sa première épouse Elisabeth Strickrodt

At this time, Joachim Ernst was married to his first wife, Odile Elisabeth Strickrodt (1903-1971), a former actress. Elisabeth was granted the title Countess of Ascania upon her marriage. Joachim Ernst and Elisabeth divorced in 1929; later that same year, Joachim Ernst remarried to Editha “Edda” Charlotte Wilhelmine Marwitz (adopted daughter of Bertha von Stephani, whose surname Edda used afterwards). Five children were born during the course of the union of Joachim Ernst and Edda: Princess Marie Antoinette “Alexandra” (1930-1993), Princess Anna Luise (1933-2003), Prince Friedrich (1938-1963), Princess Edda (b.1940), and Prince Eduard (b.1941). Duke Joachim Ernst died on 18 February 1947 at Buchenwald as a Russian prisoner of war.

Duke Joachim Ernst of Anhalt

Duchess Edda of Anhalt

The Ducal Children: Alexandra, Anna Luise, Friedrich, Edda, and Eduard of Anhalt

Prince Eugen married Anastasia Marie Therese Karoline Jungmeier (25 July 1901-19 February 1970) on 2 October 1935 at Munich. Anastasia was the daughter of industrialist Max Jungmeier and his wife Anastasia Steiner. Eugen and Anastasia of Anhalt had one child: Princess Anastasia Luise Alexandra Elisabeth Jutta Sybille Marie-Auguste Henriette, who was born at Regensburg on 22 December 1940.

Prince Eugen of Anhalt and Anastasia Jungmeier on their wedding day

After it became known that his brother Joachim Ernst had died, Prince Eugen staked his claim as Head of the Ducal House of Anhalt. This occurred despite the fact that two sons were born during the marriage of Joachim Ernst and Edda Marwitz-von Stephani. However, some genealogists have raised doubts about the paternity of Friedrich, Edda, and Eduard of Anhalt, Eugen’s nephews and youngest niece. Princess Alexandra, Eugen’s niece and Eduard’s sister, went on the record in 1990 and claimed that her “half-brother” was actually the son of Heinrich Himmler; Eduard dismissed his sister’s words as being part of a smear campaign. The reasoning behind genealogists’ doubts about the paternity of Eduard (and his late brother) hold their grounding in the fact that Joachim Ernst, their legal father, was in a concentration camp beginning in 1938 and until his death in 1947: thus, he would not have been in a position to sire children with his wife during that time. Prince Eugen maintained his claim to the Headship of House Anhalt until his death.

Prince Eugen of Anhalt

Prince Eugen and Princess Anastasia of Anhalt were both able to witness the marriage of their daughter in 1962. Anastasia Luise civilly married Prince Maria Emanuel of Saxony (1926-2012) on 22 June 1962 at La Tour de Peilz, Switzerland. The couple’s religious wedding took place the following day. Maria Emanuel worked as a banker in Switzerland. He was also a painter of talent, and several exhibitions were held that displayed his work. In this vein, he shared a bond with his mother-in-law, Anastasia, who was also a noted painter. The princess signed most of her works as “Anastasia Young [Jung].”

Princess Anastasia Luise of Anhalt and Prince Maria Emanuel of Saxony after their civil wedding

Anastasia Luise and Maria Emanuel after their religious marriage

Upon the death of Prince Friedrich Christian of Saxony in 1968, his son Maria Emanuel succeeded as the Head of the Royal House of Saxony and assumed took the title Margrave of Meißen. Anastasia Luise and Maria Emanuel were married for fifty years when the Margrave of Meißen died on 23 July 2012. The couple did not have children. Maria Emanuel was succeeded as Head of House Saxony by his nephew and adopted son Prince Alexander, Margrave of Meißen, who is married to Princess Gisela of Bavaria. Princess Anastasia Luise, Dowager Margravine of Meißen, is quite close to her nephew and adopted son Alexander, as well as his family, who all embody the future of the Royal House of Saxony.

Prince Maria Emanuel and Princess Anastasia Luise, Margrave and Margravine of Meißen

Maria Emanuel and Anastasia Luise of Saxony with King Simeon and Queen Margarita of Bulgaria Photograph (c) Presse-Foto-Seeger

Meanwhile, Princess Anastasia of Anhalt died at Vevey on 20 February 1970, aged sixty-eight. The princess was an artist of some note, and her passing was mentioned in several international papers. Prince Eugen survived his wife by ten years: he died at La Tour de Peilz on 2 September 1980. Eugen of Anhalt was seventy-seven.