This chapter focuses on the efforts of Carl Alexander (1818–1901; r.1853–1901), Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, to adapt his international position to the changed conditions created by Saxe-Weimar’s entry into the North German Confederation and the German Empire, and explores how successful he was in reconciling his international role with the challenges of nationalism both inside and outside Germany. Carl Alexander succeeded in creating a public image of himself as a promoter of Germany’s colonial interests and as a patron of colonists and colonialist middle-class organizations in the 1870s and 1880s. He tried to present himself as a modern patron: accessible to a broader, middle-class public, sharing their political interests and eager to help them. More importantly, he was able to revive this image in the 1890s, when the context of German colonial politics was changing. The chapter argues that numerous German colonialists had a vested interest in maintaining and reinforcing this image through media outlets—not only because Carl Alexander financed their projects, but also because he provided them with a framework that helped them to understand the modernity they represented in romanticized, mythologized and sacralized terms. Thus, he was able to distinguish himself from other German monarchs and ruling houses.