About the Children of Anton Ulrich

Letter from the Gorzens professor Olof Worm to Mr. Gjorvel, librarian of the Swedish king in Stockholm, June 18, 1807.

Stockholm.

With great pleasure, I read your last letter dated June 5: you wish to have news about that noble family which lived for some time in Gorzens and whose last offspring recently disappeared — I am ready to fulfill your request.

Here in Gorzens were two sons and two daughters of Anton Ulrich {Ivan Alekseevich and Peter Alekseevich jointly ascended the Russian throne in 1682; but in 1689 Ivan, a weak ruler, abdicated the burden of governance: he died in 1696 — Peter remained alone on the throne. Tsar Ivan had two daughters: Catherine, married to Duke Charles Leopold of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; Anna, wife of Frederick William, Duke of Courland, who later became Empress of Russia. Peter, having taken the title of emperor, excluded Ivan’s descendants from the inheritance and named his wife Catherine I as heir to the throne. After Catherine’s death, Peter II, son of Alexei Petrovich born from Peter the Great’s first wife Yevdokia, reigned. Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Peter I and Catherine I, was by right the natural heir to the Russian throne after Peter II’s death — but it passed to Duchess Anna of Courland, daughter of Tsar Ivan and niece of Peter. Having no heirs but wishing to secure her family’s hold on the throne, she called to Russia Princess Catherine Elizabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of her sister Catherine, who, having adopted the Greek confession, took the name Anna. From her husband Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel she had a son Ivan, born August 23, 1740, and proclaimed emperor in October after Anna’s death. The guardian of the minor was appointed Duke Ernst of Courland, the famous Biron, Anna’s favorite; in November Duchess Anna, having removed Biron, took upon herself the title of ruler, which she lost a month later, for Princess Elizabeth, supported by the power of popular affection, ascended the throne of Peter the Great, which belonged to her by right of inheritance. Ivan with his mother and father was imprisoned in Shlisselburg, where he died in August 1765; the ruler Anna, Prince Anton Ulrich, and the minor Princess Catherine were transferred to Kholmogory. Here were born their last children: Princes Peter and Alexei, and Princess Elizabeth. Their mother died in 1746, and their father in 1776. Empress Catherine II, at the intercession of the Berlin, Copenhagen, and Brunswick courts, allowed the children to leave Russia; they settled (1786) in Gorzens (a small town located in Denmark), where their aunt Juliana Maria, the dowager queen, was still alive. With Princess Catherine disappeared the last offspring of Tsar Ivan.

Princess Catherine, born in St. Petersburg on July 26, 1741, and died April 21, 1807; Princess Elizabeth, born January 7, 1743, and died in Gorzens August 20, 1782; Prince Peter, born March 30, 1745, and died in Gorzens January 13, 1798; Prince Alexei, born March 1746 and died in Gorzens October 20, 1787. They arrived together in this town on October 13, 1780 from Kholmogory — a small town near Arkhangelsk, which served as their place of residence — having passed the North Cape, Bergen, and Fladstrand, they landed at Aalborg, from where they were transported overland to Gorzens.

They were of the Greek confession and very devout: they had a house church where a Russian priest conducted services daily. Their life passed very peacefully and uniformly. Receiving a good pension from the Russian court, they could enjoy all the pleasures of life combined with independence and wealth; they had a spacious and well-kept house located on the large town square, and all necessary service. Their court consisted of: one chamberlain, a steward, two ladies-in-waiting, a doctor, two valets, and a sufficient number of lower servants. In the town, everyone generally loved them: they had excellent qualities. Especially Princess Catherine was worthy of respect for her noble mindset, tender, compassionate heart, and rare piety — her face bore the marks of tranquility and inner, spiritual peace. Perfect harmony prevailed among the brothers and sisters: they spoke Russian and some German; they read only sacred books — having lost their mother very early, who died in Kholmogory giving birth to Prince Alexei, they were raised by their father Anton Ulrich, their sole teacher.

Princess Catherine, who was the heir of her sister and brothers, named as her heirs the Danish royal princes Christian Frederick and Frederick Ferdinand: this inheritance, as far as is known, is nothing other than the economic sum saved by the princes and princesses from the annual pension granted to them by the Russian court. The amount allocated for their maintenance was never reduced: Princess Catherine, having lost both her sister and brothers, received alone as much as she previously received together with them. Over their grave lies a black marble stone with the following inscription:

Inscription

Mausoleum Sacrum est

Duobus Principibus.

Sororibusque totidem

Domus ferenissimae

Brunsvico Luneburgensis

Bonitate

CATHARINAE II

Et cura

Christiani VII

et

Julianae Mariae.

Vitam traduxerunt

Нас in urbe

Ouietam.

i.e.

This monument is dedicated to two princes and two princesses of the high Brunswick-Lüneburg house by the generosity of Catherine II and the care of Christian VII and Juliana Maria. They peacefully spent their lives in this town.

Gjorvel, royal librarian.

Source:

Worm O.: About the children of Anton Ulrich [Peter, Alexei, Catherine, and Elizabeth] / Letter of the Gorzens professor Olof Worm to Mr. Gjorvel, librarian of the Swedish king in Stockholm, June 18, 1807; [Published by] Gjorvel, royal librarian; (Translation from Swedish by A.T. [Turgenev])