Olga Feodorovna of Baden - Marriage

Marriage

Princess Cecilie was seventeen years old when her family arranged her marriage to Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaievich of Russia, the youngest son of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. The details of their courtship are not known, however, theirs was a love match. In 1856 her brother, Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden married Princess Louise of Prussia, a daughter of (then the crown prince) Wilhelm I of Prussia and therefore a first cousin of Grand Duke Michael.

When Olga came to Russia as Cecilie, her husband did not like her birth name and chose for her the name Olga Feodorovna which she took upon her conversion to the orthodox faith. The marriage took place on 28 August 1857 at the Chapel of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Grand Duke Mikhail loved his wife deeply all his life and was under her strong influence, they were like polar opposites and this only seemed to cement their alliance. Michael Nicholaievich was a kind, calm, rather dull man who would have been completely happy to devote himself only to the artillery and his family, and he did not shine with exceptional intellect. On the other hand, Olga Feodorovna was lively, sharp-tongued, witty society-lady, very fond of malicious tales and gossips – according to some of her contemporaries, gossip was her main raison d'être, or purpose for existing.

The couple remained close and theirs was a happy marriage. They lived in their own large residence in St Petersburg, the New Mikhailovski Palace, which was built for them in 1861. They also had a summer residence, Mikhailovskoe on the Baltic in Peterhorf, and Grushevska, a vast rural estate in southern Ukraine. The couple had seven children. Grand Duchess Olga, with a stronger personality than her husband, was the dominating force in the family. She raised her seven children with an iron hand.