Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg

Countess Maria Louise Albertine
Princess George William of Hesse-Darmstadt
File:MLA Hessen-Darmstadt.JPG Marie Louise Albertine of Hesse-Darmstadt in a painting around 1753 by Johann Christian Fiedler
Born	(1729-03-16)16 March 1729 Obrigheim, Electorate of the Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire
Died	Neustrelitz, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, German Confederation
Spouse	Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt
House	Leiningen
Father	Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Dachsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim
Mother	Countess Katharina Polyxena of Solms-Rödelheim

Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg (16 March 1729 – 11 March 1818); also known as Princess George, was heiress to the barony of Broich and by marriage Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the grandmother and educator of Princess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who later became Queen consort of Prussia.

Life

Maria Louise Albertine was a daughter of Count Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Dachsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim (1695–1766) and his wife Countess Katharina Polyxena of Solms-Rödelheim (1702–1765). After the death of her father, she was heiress to the barony of Broich and began with the architect Nicolas de Pigage, the restoration and expansion of the Broich Castle. In 1806, the government of Broich was dissolved by Napoleon in 1815 and Broich was annexed by Prussia.

On 16 March 1748, She married Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt, the brother of the reigning Landgrave Louis IX of Hesse-Darmstadt in Heidesheim am Rhein. As Louis IX stayed almost exclusively in Pirmasens, she felt obliged, after the death of his wife in 1774, to represent the territory in the capital Darmstadt.

Her daughters Friederike and Charlotte were the first and second wives of Prince Charles II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. They both died in childbirth. Charles then ended his service as governor-general in Hannover and moved with his children to his mother in Darmstadt. Princess George was a widow since 1782 and took over the education and care of Charles's children.

Charlotte did not move with her father to Darmstadt. At the age of 16, she had been married the Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen. His father visited his two sons frequently and moved to Hildburghausen with his oldest daughter in 1787, after he became president of the local imperial debit commission. Thus, Maria Luise cared primarily for Louise and her sisters Therese and Frederica for whom she provided a secure and largely informal home in the "Old Palace" at the market square in Darmstadt. She employed regional educational methods.

In 1790 she traveled with Louise, Frederica and George to Frankfurt to see the coronation of Emperor Leopold II. She stayed here with Catharina Elisabeth Goethe. In 1791, she joined an educational trip to the Netherlands. In 1792 she fled for the advancing French army and took the children from Darmstadt to her granddaughter Charlotte in Hildburghausen, where she remained until March 1793. On the return trip to Darmstadt, she traveled via Frankfurt, where a meeting between Louise and her future husband Frederick William III of Prussia had been arranged. In 1793 she accompanied Louise and Frederica to their wedding in Berlin.

Maria Louise was described as a magnificent person, warm hearted, cheerful all the time and usually speaking the Palatinate dialect. The proximity and warmth she has as a surrogate mother during the formative years of her granddaughters passed on to them.

Issue

Name	Portrait	Birth	Death	Notes
Ludwig Georg Karl		1749	1823	Married morganatically in 1788 Friederike Schmidt, Baroness von Hessenheim
Georg Friedrich		1750
Friederike Caroline Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz		20 August 1752	22 May 1782	Married in 1768 Duke Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, had issue
Georg Karl		14 June 1754	28 January 1830
Charlotte Wilhelmine Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz		5 November 1755	12 December 1785	Married in 1784 Duke Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, had issue
Karl Wilhelm Georg		1757	1797
Friedrich Georg August		1759	1808	Married morganatically in 1788 Karoline Luise Seitz, Baroness von Friedrich
Louise Henriette Caroline		15 February 1761	24 October 1829	Married in 1777 Louis X of Hesse-Darmstadt, had issue
Auguste Wilhelmine Duchess of Zweibrücken		14 April 1765	30 March 1796	Married in 1785 the future King Maximilian I of Bavaria, had issue

Ancestry

Family of Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg

16. Emich XIII of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim               8. Count George William of Leiningen-Dagsburg                       17. Christine of Solms-Laubach               4. John, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg                             18. Wilhelm Wirich of Daun-Falkenstein               9. Countess Anna Elisabeth von Daun-Falkenstein                       19. Elisabeth of Waldeck-Wildungen               2. Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Dachsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim                                   20. Philip Wolfgang, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg               10. Johann Reinhard II, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg                       21. Johanna of Oettingen-Oettingen               5. Countess Johanna Magdalene of Hanau-Lichtenberg                             22. Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler               11. Countess Palatine Anna Magdalena of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler                       23. Countess Palatine Magdalene Catherine of Zweibrücken               1. Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg                                         24. Johann August of Solms-Rödelheim-Assenheim               12. Johann August of Solms-Rödelheim-Assenheim                       25. Eleonore Barbara Maria Cratz of Scharffenstein               6. Ludwig of Solms-Rödelheim-Rödelheim                             26. Johann Philipp Cratz of Scharffenstein               13. Eleonore Barbara Marie Cratz of Scharffenstein                       27. Eleonore Anna Elisabeth Colonna of Fels               3. Countess Katharina Polyxena of Solms-Rödelheim                                   28. Friedrich of Ahlefeldt-Rixingen               14. Friedrich of Ahlefeldt-Rixingen                       29. Brigitte of Ahlefeldt-Rixingen               7. Charlotte Sibylle of Ahlefeldt-Rixingen                             30. Friedrich Emich of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg               15. Maria Elisabeth von Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg                       31. Sibylle of Waldeck-Wildungen

References

• Claudia von Gélieu and Christian von Gélieu: The teacher of Queen Louise: Salomé de Gélieu, Regensburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-7917-2043-2
• Carsten Peter Thiede and Eckhard G. Franz: Years with Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Archive for History of Hesse and Archaeology, Vol 43, Darmstadt 1985

External links

• http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1740.htm