Louise Henriette Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt (15 February 1761 – 24 October 1829), was the first
Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine
This is a list of the Landgravine, Electress and Grand Duchess of Hesse, the consorts of the Landgrave of Hesse and its successor states; and finally of the Electors and Grand Dukes of Hesse.
Hesse
Upper Hesse (Marburg)
The only Landgrav ...
by marriage.
Life
Louise was a daughter of
Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt
Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt (11 July 1722 – 21 June 1782) was a Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was born in Darmstadt.
He was the second son of Landgrave Louis VIII and Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau-Lichtenberg ...
(1722–1782) from his marriage to
(1729–1818), daughter of Count
.
The princess was in 1770 in the entourage of
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
, 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
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse be ...
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.
Carl Hertzog: ''Louis I and his monument to Darmstadt'', p. 5
/ref>
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
stayed at her court and Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...
read from his Don Carlos in her salon. It was said that Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
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
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
References
* Philip Alexander Ferdinand Walther
Darmstadt, what was like and what it has become'', p. 240
* Carl Friedrich Günther
Anecdotes, character descriptions and memoirs from the Hessian area.'', p. 172
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louise # Hesse Darmstadt
Louise # 1761
1761 births
1829 deaths
Landgravines of Hesse-Darmstadt
Grand Duchesses of Hesse
Burials at the Mausoleum for the Grand Ducal House of Hesse, Rosenhöhe (Darmstadt)