... This is the story of two sisters,
so similar as to seem almost twins,
as well as so similar their tragic fate was ...
so similar as to seem almost twins,
as well as so similar their tragic fate was ...
I want to tell you today the story of two enchanting girls, two fairytale princesses, whose lives ended up turning out to be anything but a fairytale, but which at their beginning they had all the prerequisites for being considered such.
Elisabeth and Alix von Hessen und bei Rhein were two wonderful princesses born into a noble and wealthy German family, daughters of the third born - but second as female - of the British royal couple, Queen Alexandrina Victoria and her husband, Prince Consort Albert von Saxen-Coburg Gotha, I'm talking about Her Royal Highness Alice Maude Mary of the United Kingdom.
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (Alice Maud Mary, daughter of Queen Victoria).
Camille Silvy (1835–1910) - Royal Collection RCIN 2900531
When her father, Prince Albert, was diagnosed with typhoid fever in December 1861, Alice took care of him until the time of his death, which occurred on December 14 of that same year. After his death, Queen Victoria entered a period of intense mourning that it wouldn't abandon her for the rest of her life, and Alice spent the next six months at her side as an unofficial secretary and above all as a figure of moral support that wanted to help her in overcoming the tragedy of such an early, sudden and serious loss. On July 1st, 1862, while the court was still at the height of this mourning, Alice married Louis IV, heir to the Grand Duchy of Hesse becoming thus Princess Louis von Hessen-Darmstadt and Grand Duchess von Hessen und bei Rhein. The ceremony, conducted privately and with obscure sadness at Osborne House, was described by the Queen as having its own atmosphere "more than a funeral than a marriage". And, alas, the princess's life, began sadly, sadly went on in Darmstadt because of the gradual impoverishment, of family tragedies and the worsening of the relationships both with her husband and her mother.
But let's come to her children who were her only joy,
and to these girls who are the protagonists of this story of ours: Princess Elisabeth, second-born, born after Irene (November 1st, 1864), and Princess Alix, fifth-born and penultimate daughter of the Grand Dukes von Hessen und bei Rhein, born just before Princess Mary (June 6th, 1872).
Their fate led both of them to Russia for love, in that Russia still so backward, not yet reached by the industrial revolution and thus still without a middle class, socially and economically governed by agriculture.
At that time Russia was still divided in two social classes, the wealthy, which were far wealthy and the poor, which were amongst the poorest in the whole Europe.
Needless to say that it was deeply strident the hiatus between the destitute and the aristocracy, who lived in a world of its own, made of opulence and pomp: theater, ballets, operas, concerts, sporting events, and afternoon teas were the only concerns of the most affluent people and marked a calendar so intense and arduous to follow that no time left them to think about the poor ...
Their fate led both of them to Russia for love, in that Russia still so backward, not yet reached by the industrial revolution and thus still without a middle class, socially and economically governed by agriculture.
At that time Russia was still divided in two social classes, the wealthy, which were far wealthy and the poor, which were amongst the poorest in the whole Europe.
Needless to say that it was deeply strident the hiatus between the destitute and the aristocracy, who lived in a world of its own, made of opulence and pomp: theater, ballets, operas, concerts, sporting events, and afternoon teas were the only concerns of the most affluent people and marked a calendar so intense and arduous to follow that no time left them to think about the poor ...
Performance at the Bolshoi Theater by Mihály Zichy (?)
Ball in Honour of Alexander II by Mihály Zichy, 1864
In fact, well-to-do people lived in a state of total ignorance of the miserable conditions in which the lower class, the peasants, lived: they lived at the end of their strength to obtain a plate of soup, exploited by the aristocrats and landowners and owners of nothing ...
Ninety-five per cent of the peasants owned nothing, had no land and no money given the high fees that they had to pay to their landowners for the lands that they worked for them and lived in mud-roofed huts, for which they also paid a rent ...
Peasant Children by Vladimir Yegorovich Makovsky, 1880
Busy Time for the Mowers by Grigoriy Myasoyedov, 1887
༺♡༻ PRINCESS ELISABETH VON HESSEN-DARMSTADT UND BEI RHEIN ༺♡༻
Named lovingly Ella in the bosom of her family, she was named after St.Elisabeth, the patron of Hungary, and as a young girl lived a modest life compared to the real standards of the time, even though her father came from one of the oldest and noblest houses in Germany and her mother was the daughter of Queen Victoria.
She swept the floors, cleaned her room and even accompanied her mother to take care of the soldiers at a nearby hospital when the war between Austria and Prussia broke out.
And once she became a woman she grew charming and kind and considered one of the most beautiful princesses all around the Europe.
Courted by her cousin, the future Kaiser Wilhelm II, a marriage which her grandmother would have seen favorably, she gave her heart to the Grand Duke Sergej Alexandrovich of Russia who married in June 1884 thus assumimg the name of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova.
Everyone fell in love with her when she reached Russia after leaving her beloved Darmstadt and it was at the aforementioned wedding that Alix, her younger sister, met her future husband, the sixteen-year-old Nicholas, the future Tsar Nicholas II, a union that she supported, but that once again clashed with the farsightedness of Grandma Victoria, perhaps because she presaged the tragedies that it would have brought to her family ...
The happiness of Ella, who lived with her beloved in one of the Kremlin palaces, was finally broken when, on a cold February morning of the year 1905, Sergej was assassinated inside his palace by a socialist-revolutionary who, in doing so, avenged 20,000 Jews whom he had gathered to drive them out of their homes without any reason and without warning them, a few days before.
Although she changed her belief from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy, she remained devoutly religious, and feared that God's wrath would be unleashed on her family; consumed by sadness and guilt, she gave herself to monasticism, sold her possessions in 1909 and worked tirelessly to help the poor and sick in Moscow, often finding herself in the worst neighborhoods.
Everyone fell in love with her when she reached Russia after leaving her beloved Darmstadt and it was at the aforementioned wedding that Alix, her younger sister, met her future husband, the sixteen-year-old Nicholas, the future Tsar Nicholas II, a union that she supported, but that once again clashed with the farsightedness of Grandma Victoria, perhaps because she presaged the tragedies that it would have brought to her family ...
The happiness of Ella, who lived with her beloved in one of the Kremlin palaces, was finally broken when, on a cold February morning of the year 1905, Sergej was assassinated inside his palace by a socialist-revolutionary who, in doing so, avenged 20,000 Jews whom he had gathered to drive them out of their homes without any reason and without warning them, a few days before.
Although she changed her belief from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy, she remained devoutly religious, and feared that God's wrath would be unleashed on her family; consumed by sadness and guilt, she gave herself to monasticism, sold her possessions in 1909 and worked tirelessly to help the poor and sick in Moscow, often finding herself in the worst neighborhoods.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova as a nun after her husband’s death, 1918
In July of 1918 Lenin ordered the arrest of Ella: she spent a few days with other prisoners belonging to Russian noble families before being transported with them to a small village with an abandoned coal mine 66 feet deep.
She was taken as first, beaten and thrown into one of the mine pits - but remained unharmed after the fall - and was followed by all the others; then a mine was thrown into the well but only one man died; then the assassins threw a second grenade which was completely lethal and the poor Ella perished singing a sacred hymn, according to the testimonies.
It was July 18th.
She was taken as first, beaten and thrown into one of the mine pits - but remained unharmed after the fall - and was followed by all the others; then a mine was thrown into the well but only one man died; then the assassins threw a second grenade which was completely lethal and the poor Ella perished singing a sacred hymn, according to the testimonies.
It was July 18th.
༺♡༻ PRINCESS ALIX VON HESSEN-DARMSTADT UND BEI RHEIN ༺♡༻
![]( "A beautiful portrait of Alix in her youth - My little old world")
![]( "Official portrait of the engagement between Nicholas and Alix - My little old world")
![]( "Zarina Aleksandra Fyodorovna Romanova nee Alix von Hessen -Darmstadt, 1908 - My little old world")
Nicknamed "Sunny" by her mother and "Alicky" by her British relatives because she could be distinguished from her aunt, Princess Alexandra of Denmark who would become Queen of England as a consort of King Edward VII, Alix became a charming girl with her bright blue-eyed, gold-red hair, and among all she was Queen Victoria's favorite nephew, who had in mind for her a marriage that would, in the future, view her on the English throne as the bride of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale.
A beautiful portrait of Alix in her youth
But as we've already seen, Alix fell in love with Nicholas in 1889 and Nicholas couldn't wait for the girl to accept his hand - at first the young woman was reluctant to convert to Orthodoxy, but, reassured by her sister, finally agreed to get engaged with the Russian Prince who had already won her heart.
Official portrait of the engagement between Nicholas and Alix
When in 1894 Tsar Alexander III died Nicholas became Emperor of all the Russias under the name of Nicholas II and Alix got married and was crowned Tsarina on the same day, May 26th, 1896 (since then she assumed the name of Aleksandra Feodorovna Romanova)!
Zarina Aleksandra Feodorovna Romanova nee Alix von Hessen-Darmstadt, 1908
Although she gave birth to five beautiful daughters, the Tsarina never managed to establish a communicative relationship with the Russian people, partly because of her shy and reserved character, partly because the population reproached her for not loving the Russian culture and not having given birth to an heir to the imperial throne, this until in August 12th, 1904 when her little 'ray of sunshine', Prince Alexei, was born.
![]( "Prince Alexei in 1904 - My little old world")
From that day she lived definitively isolated with her child in the palaces seat of the power, retiring completely to private life, which further reduced the scarce sympathy that the people already had for her; all this, added to the dangerous financial weakening that Russia had to endure after the Great War, which caused hunger to millions of people who couldn't bear the heavy taxation enforced by the government, finally ignited the fuse that triggered the revolt against the central power: in March 1917 the revolution broke out and the Romanovs were taken prisoner in their palace, with no intention of eliminating them, but with the hope that their foreign relatives intervened to help them to expatriate, but neither France nor Britain moved, and the next move came to the Bolsheviks who seized power and abducted the entire imperial family on August 17th, 1917, to lead them to Tobolsk in Siberia.
The taking of power by the Bolshevists in November 1917 was the first step taken by fate towards their death; in the Spring of the following year they were moved and taken to Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, where they finally came, suddenly, executed.
It was the morning of July 17th, Alix died exactly one day before the same fate touched the poor Ella ... the wind of progress had taken the lives of both of them ... almost at the same time ...
History often leads us to reflect, to think that not much has changed over time, and perhaps not much will change as long as there will be feelings of hostility to separate us from one another ...
See you soon 💕
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From that day she lived definitively isolated with her child in the palaces seat of the power, retiring completely to private life, which further reduced the scarce sympathy that the people already had for her; all this, added to the dangerous financial weakening that Russia had to endure after the Great War, which caused hunger to millions of people who couldn't bear the heavy taxation enforced by the government, finally ignited the fuse that triggered the revolt against the central power: in March 1917 the revolution broke out and the Romanovs were taken prisoner in their palace, with no intention of eliminating them, but with the hope that their foreign relatives intervened to help them to expatriate, but neither France nor Britain moved, and the next move came to the Bolsheviks who seized power and abducted the entire imperial family on August 17th, 1917, to lead them to Tobolsk in Siberia.
The taking of power by the Bolshevists in November 1917 was the first step taken by fate towards their death; in the Spring of the following year they were moved and taken to Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, where they finally came, suddenly, executed.
It was the morning of July 17th, Alix died exactly one day before the same fate touched the poor Ella ... the wind of progress had taken the lives of both of them ... almost at the same time ...
History often leads us to reflect, to think that not much has changed over time, and perhaps not much will change as long as there will be feelings of hostility to separate us from one another ...
Thanks as always for your attention and support,
I hug you heartily
See you soon 💕
... E' questa la storia di due sorelle,
tanto simili da sembrare quasi gemelle,
così come tanto simile fu il loro tragico destino ...
così come tanto simile fu il loro tragico destino ...
- immagine 1 - Elisabeth e Alix von Hessen-Darmstadt und bei Rhein
Voglio raccontarvi quest'oggi la storia di due fanciulle incantevoli, due principesse da favola, le cui vite finirono con il rivelarsi tutt'altro che una favola, ma che dapprincipio avevano tutti i presupposti per poterlo essere.
Erano Elisabeth ed Alix von Hessen und bei Rhein due meravigliose principesse nate in seno ad una nobile e facoltosa famiglia tedesca, figlie della terza nata, ma seconda come femmina, della coppia reale inglese, data dalla regina Alexandrina Victoria e dal suo consorte Principe Albert von Saxen-Coburg Gotha, ovvero Sua Altezza Reale Alice Maude Mary of the United Kingdom.
- immagine 2 - Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (Alice Maud Mary, daughter of Queen Victoria). Camille Silvy (1835–1910) - Royal Collection RCIN 2900531
- immagine 2 - Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (Alice Maud Mary, daughter of Queen Victoria). Camille Silvy (1835–1910) - Royal Collection RCIN 2900531
Quando a suo padre, il Principe Albert, fu diagnosticata la febbre tifoide nel dicembre del 1861, Alice se ne prese cura fino al momento del suo decesso, occorso il 14 dicembre di quello stesso anno. Dopo la sua morte, la regina Victoria entrò in un periodo di intenso lutto che non avrebbe abbandonato per il resto della sua vita, Alice trascorse i successivi sei mesi al suo fianco in qualità di segretaria non ufficiale e soprattutto come figura di sostegno morale che avrebbe dovuto aiutarla nel superare la tragedia di una così precoce improvvisa e grave perdita. Il 1° luglio del 1862, mentre la corte era ancora al culmine del lutto, Alice sposò Louis IV, erede del Granducato di Hesse, divenendo così Principessa Louis e Granduchessa von Hessen-Darmstadt und bei Rhein. La cerimonia, condotta privatamente e con oscura tristezza a Osborne House, fu descritta dalla Regina come avente l'atmosfera propria "più di un funerale che di un matrimonio". E purtroppo, cominciata tristemente, la vita della principessa a Darmstadt fu infelice a causa del graduale impoverimento, di tragedie familiari e del peggioramento delle relazioni sia con il marito che con la madre.
Ma veniamo ai suoi figli, che furono la sua unica gioia,
- immagine 3 - Alice circondata dai suoi sei figli
- immagine 3 - Alice circondata dai suoi sei figli
e a queste fanciulle che di questa nostra storia sono le vere protagoniste: la Principessa Elisabeth, secondogenita, nata dopo Irene (1 novembre 1864), e la Principessa Alix, quintogenita e penultima figlia della coppia dei Granduchi von Hessen und bei Rhein, nata subito prima della Principessa Mary (6 giugno 1872).
Il loro destino le condusse entrambe in Russia per amore, in quella Russia al tempo non ancora raggiunta dalla rivoluzione industriale e perciò priva di una classe media, la cui economia ancora si reggeva sull'agricoltura.
A quel tempo la Russia era ancora divisa in due classi sociali, quella dei benestanti, che erano davvero molto ricchi, e quella dei non abbienti, che erano tra i più poveri dell'intera Europa.
Inutile dire che profondamente stridente era lo iato tra gli indigenti e l'aristocrazia, che viveva in un mondo tutto suo, fatto di opulenza e di sfarzo: il teatro, i balletti, l'opera, i concerti, gli eventi sportivi, ed i tè pomeridiani erano le uniche preoccupazioni dei più abbienti e scandivano un calendario talmente intenso ed arduo da seguire che nessun tempo lasciava loro per pensare alla gente più misera ...
A quel tempo la Russia era ancora divisa in due classi sociali, quella dei benestanti, che erano davvero molto ricchi, e quella dei non abbienti, che erano tra i più poveri dell'intera Europa.
Inutile dire che profondamente stridente era lo iato tra gli indigenti e l'aristocrazia, che viveva in un mondo tutto suo, fatto di opulenza e di sfarzo: il teatro, i balletti, l'opera, i concerti, gli eventi sportivi, ed i tè pomeridiani erano le uniche preoccupazioni dei più abbienti e scandivano un calendario talmente intenso ed arduo da seguire che nessun tempo lasciava loro per pensare alla gente più misera ...
- immagine 4 - Performance at the Bolshoi Theater by Mihály Zichy (?)
- immagine 5 - Ball in Honour of Alexander II by Mihály Zichy, 1864
Vivevano infatti i ricchi in uno stato di totale ignoranza delle miserrime condizioni in cui invece versava il ceto più basso, quello dei contadini, che vivevano allo stremo delle forze per procurarsi un piatto di minestra, sfruttati dagli aristocratici e padroni di nulla ...
Il novantacinque per cento dei contadini erano nullatenenti, non avevano terra e tanto meno possedevano denaro date le elevate rette che dovevano pagare ai proprietari terrieri per le terre che per loro lavoravano e vivevano in capanne dal tetto fatto in fango, per cui anche pagavano l'affitto ...
- immagine 6 - Peasant Children by Vladimir Yegorovich Makovsky, 1880
- immagine 7 - Busy Time for the Mowers by Grigoriy Myasoyedov, 1887
- immagine 6 - Peasant Children by Vladimir Yegorovich Makovsky, 1880
- immagine 7 - Busy Time for the Mowers by Grigoriy Myasoyedov, 1887
༺♡༻ ELISABETH VON HESSEN-DARMSTADT UND BEI RHEIN ༺♡༻
Nominata amorevolmente Ella in seno alla famiglia, ella mutuò il proprio nome da St.Elisabetta patrona d'Ungheria e già da fanciulla visse una vita modesta paragonata agli standards reali del tempo, anche se suo padre proveniva da una delle case più antiche e nobili della Germania e sua madre era la figlia della Regina Victoria.
Ella Spazzava i pavimenti, puliva la sua stanza e persino accompagnava la madre a prendersi cura dei soldati in un vicino ospedale quando scoppiò la guerra tra Austria e Prussia.
Ed una volta fattasi donna divenne affascinante e gentile e considerata una delle più belle principesse dell'intera Europa.
- immagine 8 e immagine 9 - 2 ritratti della giovane Elisabeth
- immagine 8 e immagine 9 - 2 ritratti della giovane Elisabeth
Corteggiata dal cugino futuro Kaiser Wilhelm II, matrimonio che la nonna avrebbe visto di buon occhio, Ella si lasciò conquistare dal Granduca Sergej Alexandrovich di Russia che sposò nel giugno del 1884 assumendo così il nome di Granduchessa Elizabeth Feodorovna.
Tutti si innamorarono di lei quando raggiunse la Russia dopo aver lasciato l'amata Darmstadt e fu proprio alle suddette nozze che Alix, la sorella minore, incontrò il suo futuro sposo, il sedicenne Nicholas, il futuro Zar Nicola II, unione che Ella appoggiò, ma che ancora una volta si scontrava con la lungimiranza della nonna Victoria, forse perché presaga delle tragedie che avrebbe portato con sé ...
La felicità di Ella, che viveva con il suo amato in uno dei palazzi del Cremlino, fu definitivamente spezzata quando, in un freddo mattino di febbraio del 1905, Sergej fu assassinato all'interno del palazzo da un socialista-rivoluzionario il quale, così facendo, intendeva vendicare i 20.000 ebrei che questi aveva radunati per cacciarli dalle loro case senza motivo e senza preavviso alcuni giorni prima.
Nonostante avesse mutato il proprio credo passando dal luteranesimo all'ortodossia, Ella era rimasta devotamente religiosa, e temeva che l'ira di Dio si sarebbe scatenata sulla sua famiglia; consumata dalla tristezza e dal senso di colpa, si diede al monachesimo, vendette i suoi possedimenti nel 1909 e lavorò senza tregua per aiutare i poveri e gli ammalati a Mosca, trovandosi spesso a percorrere le strade dei peggiori quartieri.
- immagine 10 - Ella in abito da monaca fotografata dopo la morte del marito
- immagine 10 - Ella in abito da monaca fotografata dopo la morte del marito
Nel luglio dell'anno 1918 Lenin ordinò l'arresto di Ella: costei trascorse alcuni giorni con altri prigionieri appartenenti ad altre famiglie nobili russe prima di essere trasportata con loro in un piccolo villaggio con una miniera abbandonata a 66 piedi di profondità.
Ella fu presa per prima, fu percossa e gettata in uno dei pozzi della miniera - ma rimase illesa dopo la caduta - e fu seguita da tutti gli altri; nel pozzo venne quindi gettata una mina ma solo un uomo morì; quindi gli assassini gettarono una seconda granata la quale fu del tutto letale e la povera Ella perì cantando un inno sacro, stando alle testimonianze.
Era il 18 luglio.
Quando nel 1894, lo zar Alessandro III morì Nicholas divenne Imperatore di tutte le Russie con il nome di Nicholas II ed Alix si sposò e venne incoronata zarina il medesimo giorno, ovvero il 26 maggio del 1896 (da allora assunse il nome di Aleksandra Feodorovna Romanova) !
Era la mattina del 17 luglio, Alix morì esattamente un giorno prima che la medesima sorte toccasse anche alla povera Ella ... il vento del progresso aveva tolto la vita ad entrambe ... quasi al contempo ...
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༺♡༻ ALIX VON HESSEN-DARMSTADT UND BEI RHEIN ༺♡༻
Soprannominata "Sunny" da sua madre e "Alicky" dai suoi parenti britannici poiché potesse essere distinta dalla zia, la Principessa Alexandra di Danimarca che sarebbe diventata Regina d'Inghilterra in qualità di consorte del Re Edward VII, Alix divenne una bellissima fanciulla dai vivaci occhi blu e dai capelli rossi dorati e tra tutte era la nipote preferita della Regina Victoria la quale aveva in mente per lei un matrimonio che l'avrebbe, in futuro, vista a sua volta sul trono inglese quale sposa del figlio maggiore del Principe di Galles, il Principe Albert Victor, Duca di Clarence and Avondale.
- immagine 11 - Una bellissima Alix fotografata nel fiore degli anni
Ma come abbiamo già visto Alix si innamorò di Nicholas nel 1889 e Nicholas non vedeva l'ora che la fanciulla accettasse la sua mano - dapprincipio la giovane era riluttante circa la conversione all'ortodossia, ma, rassicurata dalla sorella, accettò infine di fidanzarsi con il principe russo che aveva già conquistato il suo cuore.
- immagine 12 - Foto ufficiale del fidanzamento di Nicholas ed Alix
- immagine 13 - La Zarina Aleksandra Feodorovna Romanova nata Alix von Hessen-Darmstadt, fotografata nel 1908
Nonostante mise al mondo cinque bellissime figlie, la zarina non riuscì mai a stabilire un rapporto di comunicatività con il popolo russo, un po' per il proprio carattere timido e riservato, un po' perché la popolazione le rinfacciava il fatto di non amare la cultura russa e di non aver dato alla luce un erede al trono imperiale, fino a che il 12 agosto del 1904 nacque il suo piccolo 'raggio di sole', il Principe Alexei.
- immagine 14 - Il Principe Alexei fotografato nel 1904
- immagine 14 - Il Principe Alexei fotografato nel 1904
Da allora ella si isolò definitivamente con il suo piccolo nei palazzi sede del potere, ritirandosi completamente a vita privata, cosa che ridusse ulteriormente le già scarse simpatie che già il popolo nutriva per lei; tutto ciò, sommato al pericoloso indebolimento finanziario che la Russia dovette sopportare dopo la Grande Guerra, che indusse alla fame milioni di popolani che non riuscirono a sostenere i pesanti oneri che si videro affibbiare dal governo, accese definitivamente la miccia che scatenò la rivolta contro il potere centrale: nel marzo del 1917 scoppiò la rivoluzione ed i Romanov vennero fatti prigionieri nei loro palazzo, senza alcuna intenzione di eliminarli, ma con la speranza che i loro parenti stranieri intervenissero per farli espatriare, ma né la Francia né la Gran Bretagna si mossero, per cui la mossa successiva toccò ai Bolscevichi che rapirono l'intera famiglia imperiale il 17 agosto del 1917 per condurli a Tobolsk in Siberia.
La definitiva presa del potere da parte dei Bolschevichi nel novembre del 1917 fu il primo passo compiuto dal destino verso la loro morte; nella primavera dell'anno successivo furono spostati e condotti presso Ipatiev House ad Yekaterinburg dove vennero alfine, improvvisamente giustiziati.
Spesso la Storia ci porta a riflettere, a pensare che non molto è cambiato nel corso del tempo, e forse non molto potrà mutare finché esisteranno sentimenti di ostilità a separarci gli uni dagli altri ...
Grazie come sempre per la vostra attenzione,
vi abbraccio con il cuore
a presto 💕