Princess Marie Elisabeth was born on 23 September 1853 in
Potsdam. She was the third child and only daughter of
Georg, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Meiningen, by his first wife,
Princess Charlotte of Prussia, and had one surviving brother,
Hereditary Prince Bernhard. Her parents' marriage was very happy, as it was the rare instance of a love match rather than a
marriage of state. In 1855, tragedy struck with the death of their younger infant brother; Charlotte died three months later of complications after childbirth of a baby son, two months earlier. This youngest brother died, one day old. Georg was inconsolable, but remarried several years later to
Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg in order to provide a mother for his remaining young children. Marie Elisabeth's father succeeded as Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen in 1866. His second marriage was unhappy; it produced three younger brothers (
Ernst,
Friedrich, and Viktor) for Marie Elisabeth before Feodora's death in 1872. Marie Elisabeth's father participated in the
Franco-Prussian War, where he fought in nearly every battle. After the war, Georg II devoted himself to the stage, and his court became famous for its brilliance and culture. A year after Feodora's death, Georg II married for a third and last time to
Ellen Franz, a stage actress. A happy marriage, together they founded the
Meiningen Ensemble, which became the centre for dramatic art in Germany. ==Music==