by Scott Mehl

Maria Pavlovna of Russia was the wife of Grand Duke Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. She was born at Pavlovsk Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on February 16, 1786, the daughter of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and his second wife, Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.

Maria had nine siblings:

After the marriages of her two elder sisters, the focus turned to finding a suitable husband for Marie. By 1800, there were already discussions about a marriage to the Saxe-Weimar heir, Karl Friedrich. The two met in July 1803 when he came to St. Petersburg, and after getting acquainted and spending some time together, their engagement was announced.

Maria married Karl Friedrich, then the Hereditary Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, in St. Petersburg on August 3, 1804. In May of the following year, they made their return to Weimar, where they were greeted with great celebrations. The couple had four children:

Maria strongly supported and promoted the arts in Weimar, and her patronages included the noted composer Franz Liszt who was appointed to her court. She maintained lifelong correspondences with several prominent writers, poets, and musicians, including Vasily Zhukovsky, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Friedrich Schiller. She also focused much of her efforts on social welfare, establishing hospitals and homes for the poor and unwell. She also helped to establish the Falk Institute in Weimar.

Following her husband’s death in 1853, Maria retired from public life. Two years later, she returned to Russia for the last time, for the coronation of her nephew Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. The Dowager Grand Duchess died at Schloss Belvedere in Weimar, Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, now in the German state of Thuringia, on June 23, 1859. A new Russian Orthodox Chapel was built adjoining the Weimarer Fürstengruft in the Historical Cemetery in Weimar. In the early 1900s, the foundation wall between the two buildings was opened up, creating a passageway. Grand Duchess Maria’s tomb lies in this passageway, just next to her husband’s, each placed beneath their individual mausoleums.

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