Born: 16 June 1808, Germany
Died: 21 June 1888
Country most active: Russia
Also known as: Amalie Stargard, Amalie von Sternfeld, Amalie von Lerchenfeld
Philanthropist Amalie Adlerberg was born the illegitimate daughter of Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Bavarian diplomat Maximilian-Emmanuel Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg. The 17-year-old married Russian diplomat Baron Alexander von Krüdener, more than 20 years her senior, on 31 August 1825. After her hsuband was recalled to Russia, Amalie moved to Saint Petersburg in 1836, where she became immersed in Russian high society. In 1848, Amalie von Krüdener gave birth to her son a child Nikolo, fathered by Count Nikolay Adlerberg, whom she married in 1855 after Baron von Krüdener died in 1852.
During Nikolay Adlerberg’s tenure as governor-general of Simferopol and Taurida Governorate from 1854 to 1856 amid the Crimean War, Countess Adlerberg opened an asylum for fourteen orphans with her own money on 31 December 1854.
The couple lived in Helsinki from 1866 to 1881 while Nikolay Adlerberg served as governor-general of Finland. The Catholic Countess Adlerberg helped establish the Roman Catholic parish and their cathedral there.