Nikolaus was a son of William, Duke of Nassau and his second wife, Princess Pauline of Württemberg. Natalia was a daughter of Alexander Pushkin, the most renowned Russian writer who ranked, however, only as a dvoryanin. An untitled member of the lower nobility.
He was also a younger half-brother of Adolphe, who was deposed by Prussia as last reigning Duke of Nassau in 1866, but succeeded as Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890. Therefore, Natalia was created Countess von Merenberg, a title without territory, as she was not legally permitted to share her husband"s princely title or rank, even though his family had ceased to be hereditary rulers when the kingdom of Prussia annexed Nassau. Through Pushkin, Natalia descends from Peter the Great"s African protégé, Abram Petrovich Gannibal.
Through her mother, Natalia descends from the Cossack leader Prince Petro Doroshenko.
Their surviving children were:
Countess Sophie von Merenberg (1868-1927). As this marriage was also deemed morganatic, she was not allowed to share her husband"s titles and rank.
Instead she was created Countess de Torby by the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Her issue survives, among them the current Marquess of Milford Haven.
Countess Alexandra von Merenberg (1869-1950).
Georg Nikolaus, Count von Merenberg (1871-1948). Georg Nickolaus would have thus become the reigning Grand Duke of Luxembourg. In 1907, William IV, obtained passage of a law in Luxembourg confirming the exclusion of the Merenbergs from succession to the grand ducal throne.
Georg Nikolaus"s protests against the Luxembourg Diet"s confirmation of the succession rights of William IV"s daughter, Princess Marie-Adélaïde, were expected to be taken up by the Netherlands and by the Great Powers which had guaranteed Luxembourg"s neutrality in 1867.
Nonetheless, Marie-Adélaïde did succeed her father, to become Luxembourg"s first female monarch, in 1912. The heads of the house of Merenberg after 1912 were:
Georg Nikolaus (1912-1948)
Georg Michael Alexander (1948-1965).
Georg Nikolaus" issue in the female line survives: Nikolaus´granddaughter, Countess Clothilde von Merenberg (born 1941), who married Enno von Rintelin, is the last surviving member of the Merenberg family.
