Countess Augusta Reuss Of Ebersdorf

Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf (German: Gräfin Augusta von Reuß zu Ebersdorf) was born on 19 January 1757 in Ebersdorf, Thuringia, and died on 16 November 1831. She was a member of the noble family of Reuss of Ebersdorf, the second child of Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf, and Countess Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg. Her birthplace, Ebersdorf, was recognized as a center of Pietism in Thuringia, and her grandparents supported this religious movement. Her grandaunt, Countess Erdmuthe Dorothea of Reuss-Ebersdorf, was married to Count Nicholas Louis von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf, a leader of the Moravian Church revival. These familial connections contributed to Augusta's later religious sentiments.

Her father commissioned a portrait of her as Artemisia, painted by Johann Heinrich Tischbein, which was displayed during the Perpetual Diet to present Augusta as a potential marriage candidate to other noble families.

Augusta married Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, on 13 June 1777 in Ebersdorf. Prior to their marriage, Francis had acquired a portrait of Augusta, which he purchased at four times its original price because of his affection for her. At the time of their union, he was obligated to marry Princess Sophie of Saxe-Hildburghausen; she had died of influenza on 28 October 1776, seven months after their marriage, which freed him to marry Augusta.

During her marriage, Augusta and Francis had ten children, of whom seven survived to adulthood. Among their children were Victoria, Duchess of Kent, and King Leopold I of Belgium, who played significant roles in European history.

Augusta's notable descendants include Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, through her daughter Victoria, Duchess of Kent; Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Victoria’s husband, through his father Ernst; King Ferdinand II of Portugal, through his father Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Empress Carlota of Mexico; and Leopold II of Belgium, through Leopold I, who was elected King of the Belgians on 26 June 1831.

References for Augusta's life include Gertraude Bachmann's lecture, titled "Natur und Kunst in den Reisetagebüchern der Herzogin Augusta Caroline Sophie von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld," delivered at the 175th anniversary of her death on 16 November 2006 at the Naturkunde-Museum Coburg.