Baroness Elisabeth and her twin sister Dorothée were born on 16 January 1912 in Tübingen, Württemberg to Baron Othmar von Wangenheim-Winterstein and his wife, Baroness Maud von Falkenstein. Her family lived in Thüringia at Behringen Castle. Her mother died in childbirth in 1913, leaving a son, Jobst. As a young girl Elisabeth began training as a pianist in Hanover but was forced to end her studies, as the death of their mother left her widowed father in need of help on the family estate. Her education left her with a lifetime love of music, particularly Mozart, as well as a fondness for literature, which helped sustain her through difficult times.
Princess Beatrice-Maria of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Duchess of Saxony, married in London on 9 December 1977 to Martin Charles Davidson, and has a daughter, Bettina Davison.
Because all titles have been banned in Germany since the German Revolution of 1918–19, Charles never succeeded his father as Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach; from the death of Charles's father in 1923, he and Elisabeth were known as the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess. Charles served as the head of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach until his death in 1988. Just before giving birth to their first child, the couple were forced to flee eastern Germany in the face of the approaching Soviet Red Army. They stayed with Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, at Weikersheim Castle, but lost most of their extensive property and possessions; all that remained of their former fortune was a small car and a small number of personal possessions. A small part of their fortune was eventually recovered, as they were allowed to reclaim the property they lost from the Soviet occupancy through family lawyers and the German government; none of the family ever returned to Thüringia, however.
Later life
Elisabeth and Charles eventually separated, but were never officially divorced. By this point, their children were all married and living away from home; consequently, Elisabeth was alone much of the time later in her life. She lived quietly in Munich for the last fourteen years of her life to be near her daughter Princess Elisabeth. Unlike her "more glamorous" children, Elisabeth largely stayed out of headlines during her lifetime. Though her son remarked that Elisabeth was "a fighter" after she recovered from an accident, the doctors gave her very little chance of survival; she died on 15 March 2010 at the age of 98 in Munich. Her remains were interred at Wartburg Castle, where, according to her son, she had always had a very emotional bond and wanted it to be her final resting place.
