Nikolaus Wilhelm
Prince of Nassau
Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau (20 September 1832 – 17 September 1905), was the only son of William, Duke of Nassau by his second wife Princess Pauline of Württemberg. He married morganatically in London on 1 July 1868 with Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina (Saint Petersburg, 4 June 1836 – Cannes, 23 March 1913). She was the youngest child of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin and his wife, Natalia Nikolayevna Goncharova, and a descendant of Abram Petrovich Gannibal and Petro Doroshenko, Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks, in turn grandson of Mykhailo Doroshenko. She was divorced from Russian General Mikhail Leontievich von Dubelt, by whom she had a daughter. In 1868, Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm's sister Princess Helena of Nassau's husband George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont granted Natalia the title Countess von Merenberg. Prince Adolphus favoured the marriage of his younger brother. Even after assuming the Grand Ducal throne in Luxembourg, he still received Countess Merenberg and her children, and often visited them. The family lived in Wiesbaden, the couple rarely travelled to Russia.
The Grand Ducal Gendarmerie (French: Gendarmerie Grand-Ducale; Luxembourgish: Groussherzoglech Gendarmerie) was the national Gendarmerie force of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, carrying both civil and military duties. The Grand Ducal Gendarmerie was formed on 3 February 1733, "to fight the plague of the vagrants and people without consent". Luxembourg was incorporated into France as the Département des Forêts from 1795 to 1813 and the "Gendarmerie Nationale" system was applied. The law of the "28 Germinal, Year VI", was to remain the basis of the Luxembourgish Gendarmerie. In 1805, the name of the "National Gendarmerie" was changed to "Imperial Gendarmerie". Transitionally, after Napoleon's defeat at Leipzig in 1813, Luxembourg became part of the province of Middle-Rhine, administered by Prussia. The Gendarmerie being in complete disarray, the ordinance of 18 February 1814 replaced it with a government militia, with 3 officers and 106 sub-officers and soldiers. From 1815 to 1830, Luxembourg was ruled by the King of the Netherlands, as was Belgium. The law of 1814, creating a Corps de Maréchaussée (Constabulary Corps) in Belgium on the model of the French Gendarmerie, was extended to Luxembourg. After the Belgian Revolution in October 1830, Luxembourg was divided into two parts: the larger part formed the Belgian Province de Luxembourg; the other became the present-day Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, still ruled by the Netherlands. Until 1839, it was controlled by the Dutch Constabulary. Luxembourg was made an independent state (still ruled by the Dutch King in personal union) by the Treaty of London of 19 April, and the creation of a local police force was necessary. The Ordinance of 29 January 1840 created the "Grand Duchy Royal
Gendarmerie". On 1842, it lost its autonomy and was incorporated into the federal contingent (of the German Confederation). Until 1877, the commandant of the Gendarmerie was under the authority of the commander of the contingent. The Royal-Grand Ducal decree of 25 August 1863 changed the name into the 'Company of the Grand Duchy Royal Gendarmerie' (German: Königlich Grossherzogliche Gendarmerie Kompagnie), and increased its size to 108 men. In 1877, the Gendarmerie was separated from the contingent. The law of 16 February 1881 created a "Force Armée", consisting of a company of gendarmes and a company of volunteers, under the command of a major. In 1902, a criminal brigade was created in the Gendarmerie, in order to help the judicial authorities in dealing with crimes and misdemeanours.
The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806. On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the principalities of Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Weilburg both joined the Confederation of the Rhine. Under pressure from Napoleon, both principalities merged to become the Duchy of Nassau on 30 August 1806, under the joint rule of Prince Frederick August of Nassau-Usingen and his younger cousin, Prince Frederick William of Nassau-Weilburg. As Frederick August had no heirs, he agreed that Frederick William should become the sole ruler after his death. However, Frederick William died from a fall on the stairs at Schloss Weilburg on 9 January 1816 and it was his son William who later became duke of a unified Nassau. The sovereigns of this house afterwards governed the Duchy of Nassau until 1866. Since 1890, they have reigned over the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Standard of the Grand Duke. An orange flag with the middle coat of arms of the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke's standard was adopted in 1897.
Awards: Sash and star of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (Ordre du Lion d'Or de la Maison de Nassau), star of the Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau (French: Ordre de Mérite civil et militaire d’Adolphe de Nassau).
