Russian-German Connection Goes Deep; Dynastic Links With Hessian House
A historical exhibition devoted to dynastic connections between Russia and Germany opened at the Icon Museum in Frankfurt am Main. 300 unique exhibits shed light on lives of four Hessian princesses who became great duchesses and empresses of the Russian state.
Olga Meshcheryakova reports on their role in developing relations between the two countries.
The Grand Church of the Teutonic Order. This is the place where Teutonic knights showed their courage. Several hundred people listen attentively and understand the point even without the translation. When you look at these faded letters and photos, you suddenly realize on a genetic level that there is still something unifying.
A unique collection: portraits of four Hessian princesses drawn when they were alive. Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse), Elizabeth Feodorovna of Hesse, Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse), Natalia Alexeievna (Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt). However, Elizabeth of Hungary opens the exhibition because she is the founder of a dynasty. Here you can see her statue. And her great-grandmother Efrosinia of Moscow was a granddaughter of Vladimir Monomakh.
In the gallery of grand portraits, there are some paintings from Russia. But Elizabeth of Hungary is the local object of worship.
Heinrich of Hesse:"We really do have the same roots, and there are many of them. It is very important to continue the legacy that our predecessors and we built together." Portraits of Natalia Alexeievna, nee Wilhelmina, who was the daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and the wife of Paul I, Emperor of Russia. This family album with black-and-white photos is a real heirloom. Empress Maria Alexandrovna, nee Princess of Hesse, and also the wife of Alexander II visits her relatives in Darmstadt in 1864.
Lyudmila Shumskaya, exhibition curator: "She had 7 children and in such a way she consolidated grip. And all our dynastic connections when we mention paternal names like Vladimirovich, Alekseevich, etc., all of them were her children. Her son Sergey Aleksandrovich married Elizabeth Feodorovna".
Marfo-Mariinsky Convent was founded by Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, who was the wife of Grand Duke and Governor General of Moscow, Sergei Alexandrovich. Elizabeth Feodorovna, just like her sister, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas II were canonized.
This exhibition has 300 exhibits from the biggest Russian-German collections. It will allow scientific communities of both countries to discover new information from the history of Russian-German dynasty connections. Scientists have already started to study centuries-old documents.
Olga Meshcheryakova, Viktor Kazakov, Vesti, Frankfurt am Main