Anna Leopoldovna, her son Ioann VI and other children

[Russian Art Lover]

Anna Leopoldovna was born in Rostock on 7 October 1718. She was the daughter of Duke Carl Leopold of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Ekaterina Ioannovna, elder sister of Empress Anna Ioannovna and niece of Peter the Great. In 1722, Ekaterina ran away from her tyrannical husband to Russia, taking her daughter with her.

Empress Anna Ioannovna decided to bring her niece up herself. On 12 May 1733, at the age of fourteen, the girl converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name of Anna in honour of her aunt.

As Anna Ioannovna did not have any children of her own, she decided to marry her niece in an attempt to produce a male heir for the Russian throne. Her choice fell on Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Anton was the nephew of the Austrian empress and the son of Tsarevich Alexei’s sister-in-law, making him a cousin of Peter II.

Prince Anton Ulrich was summoned to St Petersburg in 1733, where he did not create a favourable impression on either the empress or his future bride. By then, however, the offer had already been made. The prince entered the Russian army as a lieutenant colonel of the Cuirassier Guards Regiment. A contemporary described him as “an extremely good chap, but that was all; he had a kind heart, but no brains or energy.”

While her future husband was away at war, fighting Turkey, Anna Leopoldovna fell in love with Carl Moritz Linar, the "handsome and swashbuckling" Saxon ambassador. In 1735, her aunt learnt of their love affair and asked the Saxon government to recall the ambassador. Linar was sent home in 1736 and the empress kept a close watch on her niece.

Distraught at being forced to part with her lover, Anna Leopoldovna became withdrawn and unsociable, spending her days reading French and German novels. When the empress’s favourite Biron attempted to marry her to his own son Peter, a drunken boor, Anna rejected this offer with unconcealed horror.

Anna Ioannovna did not give up her attempts to marry her niece and produce a male heir for the Russian throne. In June 1739, on behalf of Prince Anton Ulrich, the Austrian ambassador formally asked the empress for the princess’s hand. They were married in St Petersburg on 3 July 1739, in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, on the site of the future Kazan Cathedral. Witnesses reported that the groom looked “like a human sacrifice,” while the bride’s eyes were red from crying. Anna spent her wedding night walking alone in the Summer Garden. When the empress learnt of this the next morning, she angrily slapped her niece across the face.

When Empress Anna Ioannovna died in October 1740, the throne passed to their two-month-old son Ioann with Biron as regent. On the night of 9 November 1740, Biron was overthrown and exiled to Pely in Siberia. The new regent was Anna. One of Anna’s first acts as regent was to restore her lover, Linar, to St Petersburg, where he was given a position at the court. Uninterested in affairs of state, she left the government of the country to Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann, while she herself spent her time in bed or playing cards.

Anna died on 7 March 1747 of post-natal fever. She was buried alongside her grandmother, Praskovia Fedorovna, in the St Alexander Nevsky Monastery.

[Marc]

In the article it was mentioned that during the exile Anton Ulrich had two illegitimate children...

Here is a portrait of Anna Leopoldovna's lover Count Carl Mozritz zu Lynar:

http://www.artvalue.com/auctionresult--graff-anton-van-dyck-de-l-alle-portr-t-des-moritz-carl-graf-z-1629113.htm

[Vasaborg]

Do you know if  the two natural children of Anton Ulrich reached adulthood? and have children?.

[windemere]

There were princes and princesses told that they were separated from their whole Russian team (except the priest and two singers), a decision was taken by the Dowager Queen Juliane Marie and not by the Empress Catherine. It came as a Hoerdt blow for the four collaterals, it was the people they had known for many years and who could speak Russian, their only language, also had two of the girls their halvsoestre, children of Anton Ulrich, born after his wife's death. The two halvsoestre was sent back to Cholmogory where they might be the rest of their lives, they get a lifelong pension.

Meanwhile, in Horsens bought two goerde with gardens on the church square, and the architect CF Harsdorf converted them into a long story mansion for the Russian court. There were two floors with over 50 vaorelser in the main building as well as in house domestik rooms, stables and outbuildings. North side turned towards the square, along the west side was the entrance to the building's only entrance, which were guarded by a porter, a schweitser and a guard of a corporal and 6 riders. Planlaesningen was special, Prince of the room was far away from the entrance, and access to the main staircase was besvaerliggjort by boarded up door in addition to.

Harsdorf also stood for furnishing and suggested including the purchase of a throne (for 4 people?), 4 and 8 herskabssenge best citizen beds besides domestiksenge, each for two people. From Frijsenborg got a pool and two hospitalized rosentraesspilleborde. Furniture, linens, silverware and paintings came by ship from the court's store in Copenhagen, while locally purchased utensils and fruit trees, shrubs and bulbs to the garden where there were two gazebos, one made by a Turkish tent, and a pergola of 24 subjects .; who was hired a knowledgeable garden lackey. The wagons were 3 coaches, a phaeton, a hunting trailer and a kabriolet, served 12 horses, and joined a team of local service staff of 30 people besides hofchef, hofmesterinde and maids, etc. A large supply of food and wine purchased and taken delivery contracts for firewood, fodder for
horses, etc. Even a Greek-orthodox chapel was room for Harsdorf had seen a Russian church in Rome and decorated it then, but when popen arrived, he was more than unhappy and demanded costly changes. Total cost the palace and its interior 60,000 Rdl. That the Danish government put out. It was suggested Empress Catherine an installment agreement, but she immediately paid the entire sum.

The Russian company spent three days in Aalborg to rest after the voyage and stayed in several places on the road to Jaipur, where they arrived on 13 October. The first time was not easy, every night barricaded the four collaterals their doors for fear of being assassinated, like their brother.

After they had been in Horsens in a month, came the Queen Dowager Juliane Maries son, Crown Prince Frederik of visits. It was not a fruitful meeting, the princesses were not healthy, and the princes closest afraid of their cousin. Yet it was the first relatives that had ever appeared, so they received him with kisses, tears and embraces. Hereditary Prince became aware of language difficulties, so there was employed a Russian-language expert master who would teach them German. The princesses were very laerevillige while the princes, especially Peter, did not care much about having to sit on skolebaenken. Better was that there were three horses from the royal stables. For winter use built builder Kruse a riding house, which was leased to the court. There was established a "Carousel with Tridser, Bridles and accessories" to the delight of princes. Mrs. Russia was brought a very beautiful sleigh equipment that was used extensively during the winter.



Marc,
Thank you for the post above. In the first paragraph, you mention that the 4 Russian princes and princesses were accompanied by their two half-sisters (halvsoestre), born to Anton Ulrich after the death of his wife, and who were eventually sent back to Khomolgory. Do you have a source, or any further information, on these 2  natural children of Anton Ulrich ?  They aren't mentioned in any source I've come across, and it would be interesting to know more about them. Thanks for any information that you can provide.

[Marc]

Here are some even bigger links about them and with pictures and plans of their palace in Danish,so if anyone has time and wants to read using google translate or any other online translator,here it is:

http://www.horsensklostersogn.dk/historie/russ-hist.html

http://www.horsensklostersogn.dk/historie/russ-hist2.html

http://www.horsensklostersogn.dk/historie/russ-hist3.html

http://www.horsensklostersogn.dk/historie/russ-hist4.html

Here I posted links that were my source for everything that I wrote here...

[Marc]

Who understands Russian, there is a blog about Horsens palace and children of Anna Leopoldovna:

https://www.florapassionis.com/russisk-hof-horsens-denmark/

Unfortunately, I don't understand Russian, but to some who do, here is a link :-)