Princess Hermine of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym

Princess Hermine
Archduchess of Austria
Palatina of Hungary
Lithograph by Blasius Höfel after Carl Ludwig Hummel (c. 1810s)
Born(1797-12-02)2 December 1797
Hoym
Died14 September 1817(1817-09-14) (aged 19)
Budapest
Spouse
IssueArchduchess Hermine Amalie Marie
Archduke Stephen, Palatine of Hungary
Names
German: Hermine Amalie Marie
HouseAscania
FatherVictor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym
MotherAmelia of Nassau-Weilburg

Princess Hermine of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym (German: Prinzessin Hermine Amalie Marie von Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym; 2 December 1797 – 14 September 1817) was by birth a princess of the House of Ascania and by marriage an Archduchess of Austria.

Family

Born into the Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym line of the House of Ascania, she was the eldest daughter of Victor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, and his wife, Princess Amelia of Nassau-Weilburg. Princess Hermine had three younger sisters: Adelheid, Emma, and Ida.

Marriage

She was married 30 August 1815 at Schaumburg Castle. The princess was just 17 years old when she married the 39-year-old archduke. Archduke Joseph had no male heirs, since his first wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia, died giving birth to a stillborn daughter.

On 24 August 1819, two years after her death, her husband married for a third time to her first cousin, Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg.

Issue

Death

Princess Hermine also died in childbirth at the age of 19, after giving birth to fraternal twins. She is buried in the crypt of the Royal Palais, Budapest, Hungary. The details surrounding the Archduchess's death are recorded as follows:[1]

"The reports from Buda (Vienna) filled His Majesty's court and the entire city of Buda with bitter sorrow. According to these sad reports, the beloved Palatine of the Hungarian Republic, the dear life partner of the Emperor's wife, Hermine, died on the night of the 14th of this month, in the terrible pains of a very painful double birth, after which a female child and then a male child were removed from her by the tools of the midwife's profession. On the day following that night, at half past two in the afternoon, she died... K. doctor András Pfiszterer, surgeon, chief obstetrician and midwife Dr. Birly, and midwife Mrs. Schlick appeared immediately upon the approaching signs of childbirth, and according to their great knowledge and extensive experience, they did everything that can be expected from human assistance."

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ "A nádori kripta". mek.oszk.hu. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  • C. Arnold McNaughton: The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy, in 3 volumes (London, U.K.: Garnstone Press, 1973), volume 1, page 388. Hereinafter cited as The Book of Kings.
  • Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd: Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume 1: Europe & Latin America (London, U.K.: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1977), page 22. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume 1.