Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia – Queen of Württemberg
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia was born on 11th September 1822, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
She was the third child and second daughter of Tsar Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra of Russia.
Olga was raised within a close family of seven brothers and sisters, including the future Tsar Alexander II.
Olga grew up to be very beautiful, intelligent and cultured.
She spoke several languages, and was fond of music and painting.
She was considered one of the most eligible princesses in Europe.
On 13th July 1846, Olga married Karl, Crown Prince of Württemberg, in a lavish wedding ceremony.
The marriage seems to have been congenial, but they would have no children – not because of Karl’s homosexuality, which he lived openly in his later age, but of his other health problems.
The crown prince and later king, would become the object of scandal several times due to his affairs with various men.
In 1863, a year before the couple ascended the throne, they adopted Vera Konstantinovna, the nine-year old younger daughter of Olga’s bother Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich.
Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinovna was a very troubled child, prone to violent fits of anger, and her parents had eventually been quite unable to manage her.
In spite of the difficulties, Olga was fully committed to the care of her niece.
For Vera, her aunt Olga eventually assumed the place of her mother.
The next several years were very difficult, but with the Olga’s perseverance, Vera grew into a cultured, intellectual, stable adult, married and had children of her own.
On 25th June 1864, after the death of his father, Karl acceded to the throne, and became the third King of Württemberg, making Olga the fourth Queen of Württemberg.
As crown princess and queen, Olga dedicated her public and private life to social causes.
She was especially interested in the education of girls, also supporting wounded veterans and the handicapped.
Various charitable organizations and hospitals were opened in her name.
She was also keenly interested in agriculture and the natural sciences, and was an amateur mineralogist and collector.
Karl died on 6th October 1891, after forty-five years of marriage.
Olga died one year later, on 30th October 1892, aged 70.
She was buried in the crypt of the Altes Schloss in Stuttgart.
