Gustav, Prince of Vasa
Gustav, Prince of Vasa (Gustav, Prinz von Wasa) lived from 9 November 1799 to 5 August 1877. He was born in Stockholm as the Crown Prince of Sweden, the son of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and Queen Frederica of Baden.
When he was ten, his father was overthrown in the Coup of 1809 and the family went into exile. The Gustavian party hoped he would be recognized as the heir, but that did not happen. He was known in his youth as a dutiful and quiet child.
In 1816 he took the title Count of Itterburg. He served with the Habsburgs in Austria, and in 1829 Emperor Francis I created him Prince of Vasa. During the Greek War of Independence there was talk of him becoming king of Greece, but it never happened. He rose to the rank of Field Marshal-Lieutenant in the Austrian Army in 1836.
In 1828 he became engaged to Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, but political pressures stopped the wedding. On 9 November 1830 he married his first cousin, Princess Louise Amelie of Baden. They divorced in 1843. They had a son, Louis, born in 1832 who died soon after birth, and a daughter, Princess Carola, who later married King Albert of Saxony; they had no children together.
Gustav died on 5 August 1877 in Pillnitz, Saxony. In 1884 his remains, along with those of his infant son, were moved to Stockholm to be buried beside his father at Riddarholmen Church. He is remembered as a member of the Swedish royal family who spent much of his life in Austrian service.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:13 (CET).