Princess Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt (1761–1829)

Princess Louise Henriette Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt (15 February 1761 – 24 October 1829), was the first Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine by marriage.

Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
Landgravine consort of Hesse-Darmstadt
Tenure6 April 1790 – 13 August 1806
Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and by Rhine
Tenure13 August 1806 – 24 October 1829
Born(1761-02-15)15 February 1761
Darmstadt
Died24 October 1829(1829-10-24) (aged 68)
Auerbach
Spouse
(m. 1777)
Issue
Detail
Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
Landgravine Louise
Prince George
Prince Frederick
Prince Emil
Landgrave Gustav.
Names
Louise Henriette Karoline
HouseHouse of Hesse-Darmstadt
FatherPrince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt
MotherCountess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg
ReligionLutheranism

Life

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Louise was a daughter of Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt (1722–1782) from his marriage to Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg (1729–1818), daughter of Count Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Dachsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim.

The princess was in 1770 in the entourage of Marie Antoinette, as they traveled to France for her marriage. Louise exchanged letters with the French queen until 1792.

Louise married on 19 February 1777 in Darmstadt, her cousin the then hereditary prince Louis I of Hesse-Darmstadt (1753–1830). Her husband ruled Hesse-Darmstadt from 1790 as Landgrave Louis X and from 1806 as Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine.

Louise spent the summer months since 1783 in the State Park Fürstenlager, and died there in 1829. Here provided charity to the population Auerbach. The Grand Duchess was described as amiable and revered by the nation.[1] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe stayed at her court and Friedrich Schiller read from his Don Carlos in her salon. It was said that Napoleon Bonaparte promised the beautiful Louise, whom he believed to be one of the cleverest women of her time, that he would give her a crown.

Luisenstraße and Luisenplatz in Darmstadt are named after Louise.

Issue

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From her marriage with Louis, Louise had the following children:

  • Louis II (1777–1848), Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine; married in 1804 princess Wilhelmine of Baden (1788–1836)
  • Luise Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt (1779–1811); married in 1800 Prince Louis of Anhalt-Köthen (1778–1802)
  • George of Hesse-Darmstadt (1780–1856); married morganatically in 1804 Caroline Török de Szendrő (1786–1862), "Baroness of Menden" 1804, "Countess of Nidda," 1808, "Princess of Nidda 1821; (divorced 1827)
  • Frederick of Hesse-Darmstadt (1788–1867)
  • Stillborn twin daughters (1789).
  • Emil of Hesse-Darmstadt (1790–1856)
  • Gustav of Hesse-Darmstadt (1791–1806)

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ Carl Hertzog: Louis I and his monument to Darmstadt, p. 5
  2. ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 70.
Princess Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt (1761–1829)
Cadet branch of the House of Hesse
Born: 15 February 1761 Died: 24 October 1829
German royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Caroline of Zweibrücken
Landgravine consort of Hesse-Darmstadt
6 April 1790 – 13 August 1806
Title abolished
Title created Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and by Rhine
13 August 1806 – 24 October 1829
Vacant
Title next held by
Wilhelmine of Baden