Born into the
House of Nassau, Adolphe was a son of
William, Duke of Nassau (1792–1839) and
Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Duke of Nassau Adolphe became
Duke of Nassau in August 1839 at the age of 22, after the death of his father.
Wiesbaden had by this time become the capital of the Duchy, and Adolphe took up residence in the newly constructed
Stadtschloss in 1841. On 4 March 1848 he consented to the population of Nassau's nine "Demands of the Nassauers". A few years later, however, he revoked his liberal views and took a strongly conservative and reactionary course. In general, though, he was seen as a popular ruler. He supported the
Austrian Empire in the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866. After Austria's defeat, Nassau was annexed to the
Kingdom of Prussia and he lost his throne on 20 September 1866.
Grand Duke of Luxembourg In 1879, Adolphe's niece
Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the daughter of another of his half-sisters, married
William III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. In 1890, upon William's death without surviving male issue, their only daughter
Wilhelmina succeeded to the Dutch throne, but was excluded from the succession to Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy, which had been linked to the Netherlands in
personal union since 1815, passed to Adolphe in accordance with the
Nassau Family Pact. Adolphe was King-Grand Duke William III's 17th cousin once removed through a male-only line, but was also his 3rd cousin as they both descended from
William IV, Prince of Orange (he being the paternal great-grandson of William IV's eldest daughter
Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau). He had, in fact, taken over the regency of Luxembourg for a short time during William III's illness. Adolphe was already 73 years old by this time and knew little of Luxembourgish politics. He mostly abstained from day-to-day governing; Prime Minister
Paul Eyschen, in office since 1888, took care of the affairs of state. This established a convention that the monarch would remain absent from the politics of the day, despite being vested with considerable reserve powers on paper. In 1902 Adolphe appointed his son William as Lieutenant-Representative. He died in 1905 at his summer home,
Schloss Hohenburg in
Lenggries, and in 1953 was buried in the crypt of the church of
Schloss Weilburg.
Personal life On 31 January 1844, Adolphe married firstly in
St. Petersburg,
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, niece of
Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. She died less than a year afterwards giving birth to a stillborn daughter. Adolphe built the Russian Orthodox
Church of Saint Elizabeth 1847 to 1855 as her funeral church. On 23 April 1851, he remarried to
Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau. They had five children, of whom only two lived to the age of eighteen and became prince and princess of Luxembourg: •
William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1852–1912) • Prince Friedrich Paul Wilhelm of Nassau (
Biebrich, 23 September 1854 –
Biebrich, 23 October 1855) • Princess Marie Bathildis Wilhelmine Charlotte of Nassau (
Biebrich, 14 November 1857 –
Biebrich, 28 December 1857) • Prince Franz Joseph Wilhelm of Nassau (
Biebrich, 30 January 1859 –
Vienna, 2 April 1875) •
Princess Hilda Charlotte Wilhelmine (1864–1952), married
Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden. In 1892, Grand Duke Adolphe conferred the personal title of
Prince Bernadotte in the nobility of Luxembourg as well as the hereditary title of
Count of Wisborg on his Swedish nephew,
Oscar, who had lost his Swedish titles after marrying without his father's approval. Wisborg (also spelled
Visborg) is the ruins of an old castle in the city of
Visby within Oscar's former Dukedom of Gotland, but the title itself was created in the nobility of Luxembourg. ==Adelsverein==