Princess Augusta of Prussia
| Princess Augusta | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electress consort of Hesse | |||||
 | |||||
| Consort | 27 February 1821 – 19 February 1841 | ||||
| Born | 1 May 1780 Potsdam | ||||
| Died | 19 February 1841 (aged 60) Kassel | ||||
| Spouse | William II, Elector of Hesse | ||||
| Issue | Prince Wilhelm Princess Karoline Princess Luise Frederick William Marie, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen Prince Ferdinand | ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Hesse-Kassel | ||||
| Father | Frederick William II of Prussia | ||||
| Mother | Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt | ||||
Princess Augusta of Prussia (German: Auguste Christine Friederike, Prinzessen von Preußen) (born Potsdam, 1 May 1780; died Kassel, 19 February 1841) was a German salonist and electress consort of Hesse. She was the third daughter and fifth child of Frederick William II of Prussia and Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the first consort of William II, Elector of Hesse.
Biography
The marriage of Augusta was politically arranged and unhappy. Augusta and William often came to conflict with one another, which led to aggressive confrontations. In 1806, Hesse was occupated by France. Augusta was in Berlin with her children at the time, and when the army of Napoleon headed toward Berlin, she remained in the capital because of her pregnancy when it was taken by France.[1] Napoleon put guards around her house and gave orders that she should not be disturbed. With Hesse and Prussia occupated and her family in exile, Augusta lacked money, and after her birth, she asked for a meeting with Napoleon. She appeared before him with her newborn baby on her arm and one of her children by the hand and asked him for an allowance, which he granted her.[2]
After the birth of her last child in 1806, the relationship to William was finished, although they stayed married, and in from 1815, they kept separated households and made a secret separation agreement. Augusta lived in Schoenfeld palace, where she became a celebrated salonist; the centre of the romantic Schoenfelder-circle, which inkluded Ludwig Hassenpflug, Joseph von Radowitz and the Grimm brothers, and William lived in a different residence with Emilie von Reichenbach-Lessonitz. Her salon was finished in 1823, and in 1826-1831 she lived in Haag, Koblenz, Bonn and Fulda. Augusta was regarded as a skillfull painter.
Marriage and issue
On 13 February 1797 in Berlin, Augusta married Prince William of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), eldest surviving son of William IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. In 1803, the Landgrave was raised to Elector of Hesse, and Prince William succeeded on his father's death in 1821.
William and Augusta had six children :
- Wilhelm (9 April 1798 – 25 October 1800)
- Karoline (29 July 1799 – 28 November 1854)
- Luise (3 April 1801 – 28 September 1803)
- Friedrich (20 August 1802 – 6 June 1875), later Frederick William, Elector of Hesse
- Marie (6 September 1804 – 4 January 1888), married Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
- Ferdinand (9 October 1806 – 21 November 1806)
Several months after Augusta's death, William remarried to his longtime mistress Emilie Ortlöpp, Countess of Reichenbach-Lessonitz, by whom he had an additional eight children.
Ancestry
Sources
Notes
- ^
Cecilia af Klercker (1936). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok VII 1800-1806 (The diaries of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte VIII 1800-1806) (in Swedish). P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag Stockholm. p. 455. ISBN 362103.
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Cecilia af Klercker (1936). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok VII 1800-1806 (The diaries of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte VIII 1800-1806) (in Swedish). P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag Stockholm. p. 477. ISBN 362103.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: length (help)
External links
