Station: [10] The Jewelry of the Prussian Queens

In the two display cases in the center of the room, you can see jewelry sets that once belonged to Prussian queens and German empresses.

On the far left is the sapphire parure of the last German empress, Auguste Viktoria. It is the most recent piece of jewelry in this collection. A parure is a coordinated set of jewelry. It usually includes a tiara, a necklace, a brooch, earrings, and a bracelet. Such sets were important status symbols for a lady of high standing.

Auguste Viktoria received this parure from her husband, Emperor Wilhelm II. It was likely a gift for their silver wedding anniversary in 1906. On that occasion, the Emperor also gave his wife the shamrock tiara, which you can also see here. It is made of platinum and gold and set with brilliant-cut diamonds. It was crafted according to the Emperor’s own designs. The cloverleaf symbolizes good luck. The coat of arms of Schleswig-Holstein, surrounded by oak leaves, refers to Auguste Viktoria’s origins. She was a princess of Schleswig-Holstein.

The ruby set to the right of it is significantly older. It belonged to Queen Elisabeth of Prussia, the wife of King Frederick William IV, the builder of today’s castle. As a princess of Bavaria, Elisabeth was the godmother and namesake of the famous Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sisi. The parts of this set that are missing today were either set aside as early as the 19th century or were lost during World War II. The jewelry was part of Elisabeth’s dowry and was a gift from her father, King Maximilian I of Bavaria. Through Elisabeth’s testamentary disposition, the set later became part of the Prussian Crown Jewels.

In the second display case to the right, you can see the large breast ornament of Queen and Empress Augusta, known as a corsage. This piece of jewelry was crafted for Augusta’s coronation as Queen of Prussia in 1861 in Königsberg. It was assembled from items in the Crown Treasury. Among the pieces used were the House of Orange pearls and items from the estate of Queen Friederike Luise of Prussia, who died in 1805. Later, Empress Auguste Viktoria was particularly fond of wearing this corsage. She wore it at formal receptions and important ceremonial occasions, paired with a grand gown.

Also on display is Crown Princess Cecilie’s Meander Tiara. The platinum diamond tiara was a wedding gift from the Crown Prince to his wife. To this day, Prussian princesses wear this tiara on their wedding day. It is then removed from the exhibition for a few days. Princess Sophie of Prussia, the wife of the current head of the House of Hohenzollern, also wore the Meander Tiara on the evening of her wedding in 2011.