#arenenberg

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Unknown artist of the French School, Salon of Hortense de Beauharnais at Arenenberg, undated, oil on canvas.

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Hortense and Louis Napoléon post the death of the Duke of Reichstadt.

A Self-portrait of Queen Hortense de Beauharnais at Arenenberg: Hortense in a midnight blue dress

Daughter to Napoleon; a biography of Hortense, Queen of Holland by Constance Wright Pages 382-383 ~ {On July 22, 1832, Napoléon's son, the Duke of Reichstadt, died at Schönbrunn, and his corpse, clad in the white uniform of an Austrian officer, was buried in the tomb of the Habsburg’s . Hortense's son Louis, wrote to his old friend and teacher, Abbé Bertrand, that his cousin had left him "the sword of the Emperor. It is a precious gift, of which I hope I will be worthy."

Louis did not need to tell the Abbé that the legacy was purely figurative. He had become heir apparent to a phantom throne. Because he was young and vigorous, he had taken precedence over those who had rights of seniority: his uncle, Joseph, and his father, Louis. Hortense tacitly recognized the new status of her child. Visitors to Arenenberg that summer noticed that the Prince was expected to lead the way into the dining room. There were many visitors to make up for the lonely winter months, when Hortense and Louis, each with a literary project in mind, were busy at their desks.

During August, Alexander Dumas, the beautiful Madame Récamier, and Chateaubriand, the grand old man of French romanticism, were at Wolfsberg, the pension presided over by Louise Cochelet and her husband, Captain Parquin. With the first frost of autumn, visitors vanished. In November, Louis went to London to see his uncle, Joseph Bonaparte. Joseph, as soon as he heard that the Duke of Reichstadt was dying, left America for Europe, to view at close range the Bonaparte position. Apparently Louis made a good impression on his uncle, for Joseph wrote Hortense that he found her son "gentle, tractable, and studious, a man of honor and delicate perceptions." Hortense hoped that Louis, with Joseph to guide him, would avoid the company of adventurers, male and female. While Louis was in London, he had an interview with General Lafayette, one of the last survivors of the group that tried-and failed to establish a constitutional monarchy in 1789. Lafayette felt that he had made a mistake in helping to put Louis Philippe on the throne of France. He also repented the stand he took in 1815, when he led the demand in the Chamber of Deputies for Napoleon's abdication. "Only your name," Lafayette told Louis, "has any popular significance."}

[kazu721010]

Fachstellenhaus / Staufer & Hasler Architekten

Photos © Roland Bernath

[napolebonasacc]

The bedroom of the young Louis Napolèon (future Napolèon III) at Château d’Arenenberg ,home of Hortense de Beauharnais in Salenstein, Thurgau, Switzerland

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Miniature Portrait by Hortense de Beauharnais of a Young boy alleged to be her son Louis-Napolèon in a Swiss regional costume

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The Salon of Hortense de Beauharnais at Arenenberg

by French School

“And yet there was a certain consolation in being surrounded by the furniture of olden days, every article of which was as a friend reminding her with mute eloquence of a glorious past. Arenenberg was a shrine of remembrance; every chair, every table had its history, a history that was closely connected with Napoleon, with Josephine, and with the proud days of the Empire. At Arenenberg the ex-Queen therefore at last found a new home. She lived there during the greater part of the year, but when winter came with its snow and storms, during which her slightly-built villa became too cold, she would go and spend a few months in Rome, whilst her son was attending the artillery-school at Thun.

Thus time passed on. Hortense's life was comparatively peaceful, although now and then interrupted by painful events. In the year 1821 the Emperor died on St Helena. In 1824 she lost her only brother, Eugène, who, after the fall of Napoleon, was known as the Duke of Leuchtenberg. Hortense had now no one left to love but her two sons, who were growing up into strong and energetic manhood, and of whom she was justly proud.”

Memoirs of Queen Hortense, mother of Napoleon III by Charles Bernard-Derosne

[napolebonasacc]

A sad letter from a dying Queen Hortense to her son Louis Napoléon

Louis Napoléon who had been in New York less than a month when he received the following sad letter from his mother, who was dying cancer. The letter was dated at Arenenberg, April 3, 1837:

"My dear son , -I am about to submit to an operation which has become absolutely necessary. If it is not successful, I send you by this letter my benediction. We shall meet again — shall we not? — in a better world, where may you come to join me as late as possible. In leaving this world, I have but one regret: It is to leave you and your affectionate tenderness, — the greatest charm of my existence here. It will be a consolation to you, my dear child, to reflect that by your attentions you have rendered your mother as happy as it was possible for her, in her eircumstances, to be.

Think that a loving and a watchful eye still rests on the dear ones we leave behind, and that we shall surely meet again. Cling to this sweet idea: it is too necessary not to be true. I press you to my heart, my dear son. I am very calm and resigned, and I hope still that we shall again meet in this world. will of God be done.~Your affectionate mother, "HORTENSE."

The history of Napoleon Ill, emperor of the French by JOHN S. C. ABBOTT, 127-128

Louis-Napoleon would return to Switzerland where he saw his mother Queen Hortense die a few months later in October.

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Arenenberg Castle; Louis Napoléon (Napoléon III) Childhood home.

Louis Napoléon Bonaparte spent his childhood in Thurgau, living at Arenenberg Castle near Lake Constance. Although he was born in Paris in 1808, he and his mother Hortense had to flee France when he was seven, after Napoléon’s downfall in 1815. They initially went to Constance, but the Allied powers denied them asylum, so they ended up settling in Switzerland.

The canopy dining room as a homage to Emperor Napoléon I.

In 1817, his mother, Queen Hortense, bought Arenenberg Castle—a scenic estate overlooking the lake—for the two of them. Though not technically a castle, Louis lovingly referred to it as their “château.” Hortense decorated the villa in a style inspired by Napoléon, including rooms that mimicked the grand tents he used during his military campaigns.

Although Louis Napoléon was closely connected to Arenenberg, he didn’t actually live in the main villa. Instead, he had his own private quarters in the west wing, known as the prince’s wing. He didn’t spend all of his youth in Thurgau either—he attended grammar school in Augsburg until 1823 and spent several winters in cities like Rome and Florence. In 1830, he enrolled in military school in Thun and became a captain in the artillery. Two years later, in 1832, he was granted honorary citizenship in the Canton of Thurgau.

Queen Hortense's bedroom and death chamber in Arenenberg Castle.

Determined to see her son follow in his uncle’s footsteps, Hortense raised Louis Napoléon with the goal of a political future in mind, firmly believing he was the rightful heir to the throne. In 1836, he made his first attempt to seize power in France, but the coup failed, and he was exiled to the United States. The following year, he returned to Arenenberg to be with his mother as she lay dying. Queen Hortense passed away from cancer on October 5, 1837, at the age of 54. Despite various failures along the way, he eventually succeeded—becoming President of France in 1848 and, by 1852, Emperor Napoléon III.

Shako and bonnet of Napoléon III.

Empress Eugénie 's salon in Arenenberg Castle.