Sunday, September 1, 2013

From Limburg via Wiesbaden and Weilburg to Nassau

Photo: Guy Jallay / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
Last Friday marked the first day of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume's and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie's three-day visit to Germany. The first stop on their tour through the former Duchy of Nassau was Limburg an der Lahn, a picturesque town with a full set of nearly unscathed medieval buildings. Due to historic reasons, the Hereditary Grand Duke is also the heir to the lordship of Limburg.

In Limburg, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie visited the town's most famous building, its Catholic cathedral. After viewing the diocesan museum and the cathedral's treasury, the Domschatz, the couple listened to a concert given by the Limburger Domsingerknaben, the cathedral's boys choir. The Hereditary Grand Duke, the Hereditary Grand Duchess and their entourage including bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst and mayor Martin Richard rounded off their visit by strolling the old town.
Photo: Getty Images / Daylife
The second day led the Hereditary Grand Ducal Couple to Wiesbaden, the old capital of the Duchy of Nassau and now capital of the state of Hesse. In Wiesbaden they were welcomed by Minister-President Volker Bouffier and his wife. After signing the golden book at the Stadtschloss, the couple got a tour of the city and visited buildings connected to their Nassau heritage.

One stop of their tour was the Russian Orthodox church of Saint Elizabeth on Neroberg, which was built by (Grand) Duke Adolph for his first wife, née Grand Duchess Elisabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, who died shortly after the birth of their first child. (For more information, have a look at our 101 post about the chapel.) Another halt on their tour of Wiesbaden was the Nassauisches Landesdenkmal, a monument dedicated to "the Nassau dynasty with love and devotion, the grateful people" featuring a statue of (Grand) Duke Adolph. Apparently (though no pictures seem to be available), they also visited Schloss Biebrich, former residence of the Dukes of Nassau.
Photo: Getty Images / Daylife
For the rest of the second day Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie made their way to Weilburg, a small town north-west of Frankfurt and name giver of their branch of the House of Nassau. Weilburg, or rather their Bürgergarde, was the main reason for the couple's trip to Germany as they celebrated their 200th anniversary under the patronage of no other than Grand Duke Henri himself.

After the arrival and reception in the afternoon - check out our first-hand report in case you haven't done so yet - the Hereditary Grand Ducal Couple and their entourage took a private tour of Schloss Weilburg. At 5pm, an invitation-only ceremonial act took place in the castle church in the crypt of which Grand Duke Adolph and Grand Duke Wilhelm IV as well as other members of the (Grand) Ducal Family are laid to rest.

At around 9pm, the day was rounded off with a Zapfenstreich, the German version of a military tattoo, by the Bürgergarde and was attended by the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess. After its end, the couple mingled with the people of Weilburg
Photo: Guy Jallay / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume's and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie's three-day tour ended with a visit to the origin of it all, the town of Nassau. While it only has slightly more than 5,000 inhabitants today, this small town in Rhineland-Palatinate is the name giver for all the other Nassaus in the world (save for one in Saxony) as well as the House of Nassau and the Duchy of Nassau. After signing the golden book in front of a rather impressive Nassau family tree, the couple toured the city to see where it all started.


Video about their time in Weilburg can be found at Mittelhessen.de and on Youtube via Weilburg TV.

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