Queen Sofia
Princess Sofia of Nassau was married on 6th June 1857 to
the then Duke of Östergötland, Prince Oscar. They became
King and Queen of Sweden and Norway following the death
of Karl XV in 1872.
Sofia was born at the place of Biebrich, near Bona in southwest Germany, the youngest of seven children. Her father,
Duke Wilhelm of Nassau, died when she was only 3 years old.
Her mother died when Sofia was 20, whereupon she went to
live with her elder sister Maria, Princess of Wied. There, at
the castle of Monrepos, in the summer of 1856, Sofia met her
future husband, Prince Oscar of Sweden.
Queen Sofia (1836–1913), with her two eldest
sons, Gustaf and Oscar.
Entering Stockholm on 19th June 1857 at Prince Oscar’s side,
watched by crowds of jubilant onlookers, Princess Sofia wore a
blue gown with swan’s down, which earned her the sobriquet
of “the Blue Duchess”. By then she had already read up on the
history of her new country and learned to The ducal couple,
Sofia and Oscar, moved into the Palace of the Heir Apparent
in Gustav Adolfs Torg, Stockholm, where four sons were born
to them; Prince Gustaf in 1858, Prince Oscar in 1859, Prince
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Two boys’ dresses worn by Sofia’s
sons in the 1860s: a Scottish-type
costume with a pleated tartan kilt
beneath a black jacket, and a
bluish­-mauve velvet dress consist­
ing­ of a long jacket and knee
breech­es, reminiscent of Russian
folk costume.
Two hats and a jacket. The grey
cap with pansies was made by Stina Löf, the yellow one by Hilma
Malmström, two fashion designers active in Stockholm in about
1900. Queen Sofia’s brown plush
jacket, edged with swan’s down,
was made in the August Lundin
kungliga slottet , slottsbacken
3, 111 30 stockholm
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atelier during the 1870s. After
Queen Sofia died, these three gar­
ments passed to her Lady-in-wait­
ing, Miss Augusta Wennberg.
She put them up for auction in
June 1914, and they were then
acquired for the Royal Armoury.
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Carl in 1861 and Prince Eugen in 1865. Children’s
clothes for these princes are now in the Royal Armoury. Sofia has been described as “practical, clear
of intellect, strong-willed and an unusually percipi­
ent judge of character.” From early years she had
been a voracious reader of books and newspapers
in order to keep up with social and political affairs.
She was especially interested in conditions in Britain. From there she received the revivalist preacher
Lord Radstock, who made her interested in a new
religious movement and in Florence Nightingale’s
new method of nursing. Sofia devoted a lot of her
time to helping the poor and sick.
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In the 1880s she succeeded in founding Sophiahemmet in Stockholm, which – in the teeth of opposition from male physicians – provided training
for nurses. In Kristiania, the capital of Norway, she
helped to found Sophies Minde, to provide care and
employment for the disabled. She saw how, in the
Nordic counties just as elsewhere in Europe, rearmament was gathering speed. Sooner or later this
would mean war, and large numbers of wounded
soldiers, and so in 1890 she helped to form the
Queen Sofia Association for the support of medical
care in the army and navy (DSF).
Fro the 1870s onwards Queen Sofia was often ill
herself and unequal to the merry goings-on at the
Royal Palace. Her marriage creaked at the joints.
King and Queen remained on good terms, but
during the summer months they lived separately.
While Oscar II sailed off to Marstrand on board his
ship the Drott, Sofia made for Norway, which she
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found especially congenial. When the Norwegians
wanted to secede from the union with Sweden, she
appealed for peace and reconciliation. The union
was peacefully dissolved in 1905, very much thanks
to the advice given by the Queen to King Oscar
and to their son, Crown Prince Gustaf.
As Queen Dowager, Sofia outlived her husband,
Oscar II, by six years, dying on 30th December
1913. The education of the Sophia Sisters (nurses)
remained one of her prime concerns to the very end
of her days. The last official occasion she attended
was their graduation on 3rd December. The Queen
being confined to bed, the ceremony was held at the
Royal Palace. Dressed in a white gown with pearls
and a miniature portrait of the King, she presented
insignia and portraits to eight nurses who had completed 25 years’ service, and brooches and bibles to
15 newly qualified Sophia Sisters.
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Sofia Association insignia of silvergilt and blue
enamel, with the initials DSF surmounted by a
royal crown. This badge was given to everyone donating 20 crowns and recruiting 10 new members.
By the beginning of the 20th century the Association had 500 active and 12,000 passive members,
plus about 250 nurses ready to serve in the field in
the event of war. DSF paid for 11 ambulances and
a hundred or more stretchers for use during land or
sea battles. The Association merged with the Red
Cross in 1913.
This fact sheet can be downloaded from our website: www.livrustkammaren.se