Far more than just a beautiful young woman.
The Bohemian princess was far more than just a beautiful young woman from the high nobility. Charlotte zu Schaumburg-Lippe had a well-rounded education. She was interested in the humanities, art, theater, and opera, played the piano extremely well, and had a lovely voice. She also loved nature, hiking, and hunting, was athletic, and enjoyed riding.
The queen avoided public appearances.
In her first years in the public eye, Charlotte zu Schaumburg-Lippe acted rather shy and serious. She avoided public appearances. That's why many of the people of Württemberg initially thought that she, in contrast to Wilhelm II's first wife, Marie von Waldeck-Pyrmont, was unapproachable. The marriage for love between Wilhelm and the lovely Princess Marie had been romanticized by the young woman's tragic early death. Also, Queen Charlotte had no children, meaning there were no heirs for the kingdom.
The queen finds her role as the mother of her state.
Over the course of time, Queen Charlotte found her way into her role as the caring mother of her state. In the process, she combined strong dedication to social institutions with personal, human participation and helpfulness. All in all, the queen brought 32 philanthropic institutions under her aegis. During World War I, she herself worked as a nurse at a typhoid station in a military hospital. The royal couple also always became the godparents of every seventh child in a family.
Charlotte and her husband in Bebenhausen.
In the pastoral Bebenhausen, life was somewhat simpler for both the queen and the king; court ceremony and etiquette played less of a role. Queen Charlotte soon knew all the inhabitants, and with the passage of time, she became one of them. Together with her neighbors, she survived the nights of bombing in World War II in an air-raid shelter. During the war, she concerned herself particularly with the children, often brought baked goods or delicacies with her from the palace kitchen, and tried to calm everyone.
Queen Charlotte had her own apartment in Bebenhausen Palace.
