New Arrivals to Presidential Library's Collections: Memoirs from contemporaries describe life of last Russian Emperor's Wife

The attitude of contemporaries towards Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Russian empress, was complex. Some people saw her as overbearing and arrogant, while others viewed her as shy and quiet. They laughed at the fact that only girls were born in the imperial family instead of an expected heir. Some sympathized and pitied Alexandra, while others accused her of having too much influence over Nicholas II. Some admired the touching relationship between the two as crowned spouses, while others believed it was inappropriate. To truly understand Alexandra, it was necessary to see her in her home and family circle and in her study, according to Vladimir Shulenberg, who wrote about her in his memoirs recently published on the Presidential Library's portal.

Vladimir Shulenberg often communicated with Alexandra Fedorovna. Their conversations were not only about official matters, but also about various life situations. Shulenberg was a colonel of the Life Guards Uhlan Regiment and the head of a nursing home for disabled soldiers named after Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, which now houses the G.I. Turner Research Institute for Pediatric Traumatology and Orthopedics in Tsarskoye Selo. He also led a sanitary train named after Alexei Nikolaevich, the heir to the throne. After the revolution, Shulenberg emigrated to Switzerland and then to France.

Memoirs of Count V. E. Schulenberg on Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, published in 1928 in Paris by the Society for the Memory of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, focus on her charitable work. She created several new charitable and educational organizations in Russia, including those that focused on labor assistance, crafts, protecting motherhood and childhood, and caring for the sick and wounded during the war. During the conflict, she also provided support for disabled soldiers and their families.

During the First World War, the Empress organized and supervised several infirmaries and three military ambulance trains. Unlike other trains, these trains transported the wounded directly from the front line to Tsarskoye Selo. The Empress, Alexandra Feodorovna, was indignant about the instructions that dictated the transportation of the wounded. According to these instructions, the wounded were transferred from one place to another: "These old men who were sitting there knew that they were not among the wounded, so they didn't think about what it would be like for a wounded person to be dragged on a stretcher, carried by car or cart, and then by train. I find this inhumane."

Alexandra Feodorovna's decision to train as a nurse alongside her eldest daughters, Olga and Tatiana, and to work in the infirmary was a unique event in Russian history. The empress herself helped make bandages and assisted with surgeries. "Her Majesty had no pride or arrogance; she wanted to be just a simple nurse," Schulenberg wrote, giving this example to prove it: "The infirmary's doctor, Princess Giedroyc... behaved in a defiantly authoritarian manner. Between surgeries or difficult bandages, Princess Giedroyc would sit and address the Empress, saying, 'Pass me the cigarettes, give me the matches,' and Her Majesty would obediently do everything. The Empress herself told me repeatedly that she was just a humble nurse, and she expressed regret that she wasn't meant to be a doctor. 'How much good, how much comfort and relief I could have given to the patients then.'"

To learn more about the last Russian empress, learn about her letters to Nicholas II, view unique photographs of the royal family, and see newsreel footage, readers can visit the section of the Presidential Library's collection dedicated to Alexandra Feodorovna, House of Romanov. The Zemsky Sobor of 1613.