All About Royal Families

Usually beautiful castles or palaces are located in or near a town. However there are some exceptions, inter alia the Jagdschloss Grunewald.  This hunting lodge, near the Grunewaldsee in Dahlem, Berlin, Germany  really is a royal surprise. It also has a very nice history. Some royal history At the beginning of the 16th. century, Elector Joachim II Hector started to order the building of some hunting lodges in the Margraviate of Brandenburg in the wooded and wild area around Alt-Berlin and Cölln. For the construction of a hunting lodge in the forest area of the Teltower Heide today's Grunewald, Elector Joachim II acquired from the noble  family of Spi(e)l a plot of land.  During the reign of Joachim II, Renaissance architecture also found its way into the Margraviate of Brandenburg. He received inspiration for  the design of his buildings from his cousin the Saxon Elector Johann Friederich I. The actual master builder o

Recently, I read the splendid royal history book: Marie José, the last Queen of Italy in Dutch (laatste koningin van Italië).  It was written by Agnes Adriaensen who also wrote other interesting books. Marie José was born on 4 August 1906 as the youngest child of King  Albert I of Belgium and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (born Duchess  Elisabeth in Bavaria). She had two brothers: - the later King Leopold III of Belgium - Prince Charles, Regent of Belgium. On 8 January 1930 Marie José married in Rome to Crown Prince  Umberto of Italy. In those days this sociality and royal wedding was widely bespoken in the press. In 1946, Marie José became Queen of Italy for one month. She had to exile the country on 13 June 1946.  Her life (she died on 27 January 2001) had lots of dramas, personal  things as political ones as well. It was an interesting book to read as  Marie José, Princess of Belgium and the last Queen of Italy really was a fascin

21 September 1371 marks the birth of Frederick I, who became Elector of Brandenburg. Frederick was born in the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg. Family His parents were Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg and Elisabeth of Meissen. His maternal grandmother was Mathilde of Bavaria. Frederick was the brother-in-law of Albert III, Duke of Austria. Frederick I belonged to the noble house of Hohenzollern. Love and Marriage On 18 September 1401, Frederick married to Elisabeth of Bavaria- Landshut. This royal couple would have 10 children together. 9 of them married to other noble/royal families from mostly Germany. Duty In 1395, Frederick fought under King Sigismund I of Hungary against the Ottomans. In 1410, after the death of Rupert, King  of the Germans, the throne was vacant. Frederick allied to Sigismund to obtain this position. This took place in 1411. For his good service King Sigismund offered to Frederick the titles: Oberster Hauptmann and

Saudi Arabia always is a country which often makes the headlines of the news often due due to oil prices. Most people know that Saudi Arabia has a monarchy with a King as the head of the State. Nowadays the country is ruled by Salman bin Abdulaziz. However Saudi Arabia really has a nice royal history. Some royal history Between 1446 and 1447 the earliest recorded ancestor of the Al Saud family was Mani' Ibn Rabiah Al-Muraydi. He and his clan settled in Diriyah. His clan was called the Mrudah. In 1744, the First Saudi State was founded. This period was marked by the conquest of neighboring areas. At its height the First Saudi State included most of the territory of modern-day Saudi Arabia and raids by Al Saud's allies reached into Yemen, Oman, Syria and Iraq. Leadership of the Al Saud during the time of their first state passed from father to son. The first imam, Muhammad ibn Saud was succeeded by his eldest son Abdulaziz in 1765. In 1802 this Abdulazi