Princess Augusta of Prussia

Princess Augusta
Electress consort of Hesse
Portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter
Consort	27 February 1821 – 19 February 1841
Born	(1780-05-01)1 May 1780 Potsdam, Prussia
Died	Kassel
Spouse	William II, Elector of Hesse
Issue	Prince Wilhelm Princess Karoline Princess Luise Frederick William, Elector of Hesse Marie, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen Prince Ferdinand
Full name Auguste Christine Friederike
House	Hohenzollern
Father	Frederick William II of Prussia
Mother	Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt

Princess Augusta of Prussia (Christine Friederike Auguste; 1 May 1780 – 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. Augusta was a talented painter. Among the messages left by her works are also self-portraits.

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 occupied 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. Napoleon put guards around her house and gave orders that she should not be disturbed. With Hesse and Prussia occupied 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.

After the birth of her last child in 1806, the relationship between Augusta and William was unofficially terminated and in 1815, they agreed to separate and kept separate households. Augusta lived in Schoenfeld palace, where she became a celebrated salonist and 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. Auguste closed her salon in 1823, and between 1826 and 1831 she lived in The Hague, Koblenz, Bonn and Fulda. She returned to Kassel in 1831. Augusta was regarded as a skillful painter.

Marriage and issue

On 13 February 1797 in Berlin, Augusta married Prince William of Hesse-Kassel, 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. 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.

Issue

1. Wilhelm (9 April 1798 – 25 October 1800)
2. Karoline (29 July 1799 – 28 November 1854)
3. Luise (3 April 1801 – 28 September 1803)
4. Frederick William, Elector of Hesse (20 August 1802 – 6 June 1875) married Gertrude Lehmann.
5. Marie (6 September 1804 – 4 January 1888), married Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and had issue.
6. Ferdinand (9 October 1806 – 21 November 1806)

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 1 May 1780 – 13 February 1797 Her Royal Highness Princess Auguste of Prussia
• 13 February 1797 – 15 May 1803 Her Royal Highness The Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Kassel
• 15 May 1803 – 27 February 1821 Her Royal Highness The Electoral Princess of Hesse
• 27 February 1821 – 19 February 1841 Her Royal Highness The Electress of Hesse

Ancestry

Family of Princess Augusta of Prussia

16. Frederick I of Prussia               8. Frederick William I of Prussia                       17. Sophia Charlotte of Hanover               4. Prince Augustus William of Prussia                             18. George I of Great Britain               9. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover                       19. Sophia Dorothea of Celle               2. Frederick William II of Prussia                                   20. Ferdinand Albert I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg               10. Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                       21. Christina Wilhelmina of Hesse-Eschwege               5. Duchess Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel                             22. Louis Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg               11. Antoinette Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg                       23. Princess Christine Louise of Oettingen-Oettingen               1. Princess Augusta of Prussia                                         24. Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt               12. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt                       25. Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach               6. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt                             26. Johann Reinhard III, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg               13. Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg                       27. Dorothea Friederike of Brandenburg-Ansbach               3. Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt                                   28. Christian II of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld               14. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken                       29. Katharina Agathe of Rappoltstein               7. Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken                             30. Louis Crato, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken               15. Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken                       31. Philippine Henriette of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

External links

Princess Augusta of Prussia House of Hohenzollern Cadet branch of the Burchardinger dynasty Born: 1 May 1780 Died: 19 February 1841
German royalty
Vacant Title last held by Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark	Electress of Hesse 27 February 1821 – 19 February 1841	Electorate annexed to Prussia in 1866