 He would serve in the army of the Grand Duchy of Saxony (Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) and he was present when Wilhelm I was crowned as German emperor.Because his mother was a daughter of King William II of the Netherlands and his older uncles, except King William III, died childless, Karl August was second in line in the succession to the throne of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1894.He was preceded only by his mother.