Princess Maria Anna Friederike of Prussia (; 17 May 1836 – 12 June 1918), usually called Anna, was a

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

n princess as the granddaughter of King

Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, w ...

. She was the second wife of

Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel Frederick William George Adolphus, Landgrave of Hesse (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Adolf von Hessen-Kassel; 25 November 1820 – 14 October 1884) was the only son of Wilhelm I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel-Rumpenheim and Princess Louise Charlotte ...

Early life

Anna was the youngest of the three children of

Prince Charles of Prussia Prince Frederick Charles Alexander of Prussia (german: Friedrich Karl Alexander; 29 June 1801 – 21 January 1883) was a younger son of Frederick William III of Prussia. He served as a Prussian general for much of his adult life and became the fi ...

and Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. As a beautiful young princess, she was the object of much attention at court. In the winter of 1852, the young Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria met her in Berlin, fell in love, and wished to propose to her. His mother,

Archduchess Sophie of Austria Archduchess Sophie of Austria (german: Sophie, Erzherzogin von Österreich; 5 March 185529 May 1857) was the first child and first of three daughters and one son born to Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and his wife, Duchess Elisabeth in Bav ...

, wrote to her sister Queen Elisabeth of Prussia referring to "the happiness that showed itself to him like a fleeting dream and made an impression on his heart -- alas -- much stronger and deeper than I had first thought."Hamann, Brigitte. ''Elisabeth. Kaiserin wider Willen''. Munich, 1981, p. 8. However, Anna was already engaged at that time, and as an added complication, there were strong feelings against an alliance with Austria among Prussian statesmen. Franz Joseph's mother asked, "whether there is any hope that this sad marriage, which they are imposing on this charming Anna and which leaves her no prospect of happiness whatsoever, could be prevented," but to no avail. Sophie predicted that Anna's marriage to her betrothed, Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel, would be unhappy, which turned out to be correct.

Marriage and issue

On 26 May 1853, Anna married her second cousin

Charlottenburg Palace Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) is a Baroque palace in Berlin, located in Charlottenburg, a district of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough. The palace was built at the end of the 17th century and was greatly expanded during th ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. Anna was the second wife of her new husband, who nine years previously had experienced the traumatic death in childbirth of his beloved first wife,

Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia (24 June 1825 – 10 August 1844) was the youngest daughter and fourth child of Tsar Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia, and his wife, Princess Charlotte of Prussia. She was a younger sister of Tsar Alexa ...

. He never got over this loss, which took place less than a year after his wedding to Alexandra. Like Sophie correctly predicted, Frederick's relationship with Anna was polite but emotionally distant. They did however have six children, being: * Prince

Frederick William III of Hesse Frederick William (III), Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl, 15 October 1854 – 14 October 1888) was (titular) Electorate of Hesse, Elector of Hesse-Kassel. Early life He was the eldest son of Frederick William of ...

(1854–1888); never married; died at sea on a voyage from Batavia to Singapore. * Princess Elisabeth Alexandra Charlotte of Hesse (1861–1955); married Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt and had issue. * Prince Alexander Frederick of Hesse (1863–1945); married Baroness Gisela Stockhorner von Starheim, daughter of Otto, Baron Stockhorner von Starheim and Emilie Susanne Hildegard, Baroness von Wolzogen -Neuhaus; had issue. *

Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse Frederick Charles Louis Constantine, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (german: Friedrich Karl Ludwig Konstantin Prinz und Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel; fi, Fredrik Kaarle; 1 May 1868 – 28 May 1940), was the brother-in-law of the German Emp ...

, King of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

(1868–1940); married

Princess Margaret of Prussia English: Margaret Beatrice Feodora , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , birth_date = , birth_place = New Palace, Potsdam, Prussia, German Empire , ...

and had issue. * Princess Marie-Polyxene of Hesse (1872–1882); died at age 10 of

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is an infection of bone. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The long bones of the arms and legs are most commonly involved in children e.g. the femur and humerus, while the ...

. * Princess Sybille Marguerite of Hesse (1877–1925); married Friedrich Alexander Henry Robert Carl Albert, Baron von Vincke (divorced 1923).

Assessments

Queen Victoria's daughter,

Victoria, Princess Royal Victoria, Princess Royal (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa; 21 November 1840 – 5 August 1901) was German Empress and Queen of Prussia as the wife of German Emperor Frederick III. She was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdo ...

, who was married to Anna's cousin, the future Emperor of Germany, wrote about Anna: However, Anna was also a highly intelligent woman who presided over a court salon of outstanding artists and musicians, including

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sa ...

, and Julius Stockhausen. She herself was a classically trained pianist of great talent and ability who studied under

Theodor Kullak Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blue ...

. Brahms dedicated his

Piano Quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a pian ...

to her in 1865. Unusually for a Hessian landgravine, she converted to Catholicism in 1901, which led to political complications.Röhl, John. ''Kaiser, Hof und Staat. Wilhelm II. und die deutsche Politik'', Munich, 1988, p. 106. Anna was the subject of one of the most famous paintings by

Franz Xaver Winterhalter Franz Xaver Winterhalter (20 April 1805 – 8 July 1873) was a German painter and lithographer, known for his flattering portraits of royalty and upper-class society in the mid-19th century. His name has become associated with fashionable court ...

, in which she is depicted wearing a sweeping dress of tulle over pink silk.

Death and burial

Anna died on 12 June 1918, in Frankfurt at the age of 82. She is buried in Fulda Cathedral before the altar to

St. Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

. The

Ecclesiastical Latin Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late Antiquity and used in Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration down to the present day, especially in the Cath ...

inscription reads:

Honours

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

: Dame of the Order of Louise, 1st Division * : Dame of the Order of the Golden Lion, ''1 January 1883'' * : 795th Dame of the

Order of Queen Maria Luisa The Royal Order of Noble Ladies of Queen Maria Luisa is an Order created by King Charles IV of Spain by royal decree on April 21, 1792, at the request of his wife, Queen Maria Luisa, to reward noble women who distinguished themselves for their s ...

Order of Queen Maria Luisa (Spain) - ribbon bar

Ancestry

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anna Of Prussia, Princess 1836 births 1918 deaths House of Hohenzollern People from Berlin House of Hesse-Kassel Prussian princesses Converts to Roman Catholicism from Protestantism