The youngest from the inner circle of the Romanov children
Friederike Solms was the fourth child of Reinhard Ludwig Solms, brother of Eleonore Solms, wife of Ernst Ludwig Hessen and sister in law of the Tsarina. Friederike was the younger sister of Carl Solms, she was a four years younger than Anastasia Romanov who told her about the Cremerie de Paris. The girls copied each others hair style. Don Hessen was one year, Ludwig Hessen three years younger. Philipp Solms and Dmitri Romanov ten or twelve years older. Like her brother Carl she was a "baby sitter" of the editor of this website.
Legendes about Cremerie de Paris
The Tsarina had a passion for her children She was not interested in politics, state affairs, court issues ... All she liked were the children and her husband. At night she told them fairytale stories The most beautiful ones were about a certain "Cremerie de Paris", a milk store at the iconic Halles Centrales foodmarket in heart of the French capital.
Cremerie de Paris is part of a century old mansion where another child, the young Bourbon King Louis XIV had lived a long time ago. It was the house of the children François and Catherine de Villeroy, their father was the tutor of the young boy, later called Sunking. Later they all lived at the Palace of Versailles. The stories had a secret code "VB" so that adults would know what their sorties were about.
The Tsarina knew these stories from her childhood friend the French Empress Eugenie that was still alive and that lived the United Kingdom in exile. Eugenie was a friend of her own grandmother, Queen Victoria mother of her own mother Alice that had died. Empress Eugénie had lost her only child and loved Alix (the Tsarina) and sometimes before Alix went to bed, Eugénie came to tell her about the Cremerie de Paris.
As a young woman Eugenie had married the French Emperor Napoléon III with the project to make Paris become the world's most beautiful city. The new foodmarket at Les Halles Centrales was the project of Eugénie. She knew the détail of everything. The market was made of the Pavillons Baltard, 10 glass iron pavillions and some beautiful newly erected avenues like the Rue des Halles. On the corner of number 15 rue des Halles and the centuries old rue des Déchargeurs was located the Cremerie de Paris. When a grand reception was going on in St Petersburg, food was coming from this market brought to Russia with the Nord Express train.
The Tsarina with her smaller children, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei talking about the Cremerie de Paris. Every time the Tsarina come up with new the Cremerie de Paris stories, so many things had happened in Les Halles, the children couldn't wait for the next épisode .... In the summer 1910 Friederike was sometimes present when the Tsarina was talking about the Cremerie de Paris.
Access to the Cremerie de Paris Legends ... Summer in 1910 August 1910 Nicolas II and his family came to Hessen / Germany for a long vacation. The Tsarina was suffering from health problems and had decided to take a cure in Bad Nauheim near her brother Ernst Ludwig Hessen and her sister in Law Eleonore Solms. This was the time Friederike Solms became friends with her cousine Anastasia and the other Romaov children. It is also the time Anastasia told her about the Cremerie de Paris. Both girls made the plan to become actresses and to live in Paris ... During the summer vacation the girls met many times, in Friedberg, a place where the Romanovs stayed, but also during trips to Burg Münzenberg, Lich, Hohensolms. Tsar Nicolas II received wonderful cars from the Opel family and the girls were allowed to accompany him in the car. Was left from the summer a hat Anastasia had left to Friederike, a few toys and Anastasia's signature in the Lich guestbook. But when Anastasia returned to Russia in November 1910 the girls did not imagine they would never see again.
World War I & Russian Revolution
World War I and the Russian Revolution brough an end to the 300 year long reign of the Romanovs and a lot of misery to Russia. 1918 july 18 all the Rimanov children were brutaly murdered, Anastasia was only 17 years old. Friederike kept her in her mind all her life. She hated Lenin for killing the children. When Anna Anderson claimed to be Anastasia and ti have survived the massaker Friederike did not beleive it even though many people did.
After the Russian Revolution and the end of the monarchy in Germany After World War I many things changed. Germany became a very instable Republic.
In this picture you see Friederike in 1931, thirteen years after the killing of the Romanov children. The picture was taken at the wedding of her sister Rosa. Bad time were on the way for Germany ... Not allowed to marry Friederike fell in Love with a very good looking guy. Unfortunatly her father Reinhard Ludwig Solms was not very open minded and he did not allow his daughter to get married, as her boyfriend was not from an aristicratic background. A little later Friederike's cousines Elisabeth Solms caused a scandal but marrying outside the rules. Friederikes destiny was to stay single. She lived at home in the Lich castle where she had a right of residence.
Working as a Bee Breeder Unfortunately Nicolas II had not left a few gold coins for his young niece, so Friederike had very little money. She first worked as midwife helping babies to be born. In the 1970s she decided to change. She started to breed bees and to produce honey which was sold on the local markest and to the people she knew.
Friederike's bees were moved around and she knew the countryside better than anybody. Transmitting the legends half a century later Over half a century after the death of the Romanov cousins in 1918 Friederike Solms was sometimes babysitting the grandchildren of her brother ... This is when the editor of this article had the chnace to meet her.
The stories about the past were completely "crazy & funny"; Imperial Russia, Raspoutine, the Romanov children and some legends about a Cremerie in Paris which came from Friederikes aunt, the Tsarina. The stories were captivating ... Like a fairy tale which was out of this world.
This image shows the editor of this article during the christening of his cousin in Lich castle. He is in a red circle, so is Friederike. If you look at the picture before, taken bout sixty years earlier, you can see old Friederike ressembles the young Friederike of the times the Romanov children were stil alive.
One of the last survivors of the inner circle of the Romanovs
Friederike Solms outlived the Romanov children for 75 years.
