CHAP. PAGE I. THE COUNTS AND PRINCES OF WIED 1 II. THE PARENTS OF PRINCESS ELIZABETH 15 III. CHILDHOOD 22 IV. YOUTH 38 V. TRAVELS 65 VI. BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE 119 VII. ARRIVAL IN ROUMANIA 135 VIII. MATERNAL JOY AND SORROW 150 IX. QUIET LIFE 183 X. THE WAR AND ITS RESULTS 203 XI. WORK FOR THE COUNTRY 231 XII. CARMEN SYLVA 240 XIII. CONCLUSION 274 [Illustration] I. The Counts and Princes of Wied. “From high mountains floweth Bright Wied to the Rhine; On the banks of it rises Princely castle so fine: And the old hero-race-- Ne’er corrupted of ill-- Noble flames constant rise From the roots of it still.” --ERNST MORITZ ARNDT. For many generations we find in the family of the Counts, who later became Princes of Wied, distinguished men and women. For centuries we can find their trace, ever striving for what is noble and ideal, and thus overcoming the monotony of daily life. Leaders of armies, high prelates, and learned men have sprung from that family. Noble women have influenced the rising generation by their educational powers. Intellectual pre-eminence can almost be called a heritage in the princely House of Wied. In the year 1093 the Counts of Wied were already a mighty dynasty. Their possessions on the right and left banks of the Rhine extended to the heights of the Eifel and the Westerwald. The most ancient seat of the Counts of Wied was the Castle of Ober-Altwied, to which the Castle of Neider-Altwied was added later. We find the earliest mention of the Rhenic branch of the dynasty of the Counts of Wied in a document-of-foundation of the year 1093. Amongst the witnesses stands the name of MEFFRID, COUNT OF WIED. His consort Osterlindis was a near relative of Henry the Lion, and the mother of the ARCHBISHOP ARNOLD OF COLOGNE. This energetic and highly-gifted prince of the Church took a leading part in the election of a king at Frankfort after the death of Conrad III. It was he who accompanied Frederick Barbarossa to Aix and crowned him there. THEODORICK, COUNT OF WIED, lived early in the thirteenth century. He was renowned for his piety and wisdom as a statesman when he was Archbishop of Treves. The Liebfrauen Church at Treves, that beautiful monument of Gothic architecture, owes its origin to him.