Frederika Louisa of Hesse-darmstadt Information

Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (16 October 1751 – 25 February 1805) was Queen consort of the Kingdom of Prussia as the second wife of Frederick William II of Prussia.

Biography

Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt was the daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Caroline of Zweibrücken. She was born at Prenzlau. She and Frederick were married on 14 July 1769, immediately after his divorce from Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Frederick called her his "Hessische Lieschen", or "Hessian Lizzie".

She became queen of Prussia upon her husband's accession to the throne in 1786, and kept her position for eleven years. The marriage was not happy, and Fredrick had numerous lovers, most notably Wilhelmine von Lichtenau, with whom he had a relationship from the same year he married Frederika Louise until his death. In 1787, her spouse committed bigamy by marrying her lady-in-waiting Julie von Voß, and in 1790, he committed bigamy again by marrying her lady-in-waiting Sophie von Dönhoff. Queen Frederika Louisa was not considered attractive and has been described as eccentric. It was claimed that she saw ghosts and apparitions, and for this reason she kept reversed hours, sleeping by day and waking by night, a behaviour which worsened after Frederick died. Frederika Louisa was noted for her great generosity, especially to those in need.

From 1788, she spent her summers in Freienwalde, which greatly contributed to the economic and cultural development of the city. Especially as a Queen Dowager, several buildings were constructed in the city to house her and her court during their stay. In 1799, a summer palace was built for her there by David Gilly.

The Swedish Princess Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte described her at the time of her visit in 1798:

The Queen Dowager had invited us at déjeuner, and we left for Montbijou, a very simple manor slightly outside of Berlin, where she resides all year. It is sweet and well tendered but terribly small. She hade it built herself as well as the parc and the garden. She is a small, very fat, middle age lady, who walks so crocked that she looks like and old woman. You could mistake her for one of these fairies from an ancient tale. She is very polite and talkative and shines of a goodness which gives the witness of a kind heart and a noble characther.^[1]

She became a widow in 1797, and died in Berlin in 1805.

Issue

Although the king had numerous mistresses, he and the queen had the following children:

• Frederick William III of Prussia (1770–1840)
• Friederike Christine Amalie Wilhelmine (1772–1773)
• Louis (1773–1796)
• Wilhelmina (1774–1837), wife of William of Orange, afterwards King William I of the Netherlands.
• stillborn son (1777)
• Augusta (1780–1841), wife of William II, Elector of Hesse
• Charles
• Prince Henry of Prussia (1781–1846)
• William (1783–1851), married Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg, had issue.

Ancestry

Sources

• This page is a translation of its German equivalent.

References

1. ^ Cecilia af Klercker (1927) (in Swedish). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok VI 1797-1799 (The diaries of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte VI 1797-1799). P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag Stockholm. p. 122. ISBN 270693.

External links

• Find A Grave profile for Friederike Luise of Hessen-Darmstadt

Succession

Categories: 1751 births | 1805 deaths | People from Prenzlau | House of Hesse-Darmstadt | Landgravines of Hesse-Darmstadt | Crown Princesses of Prussia | House of Hohenzollern | Royal consorts of Prussia | Consorts of Brandenburg | Princesses of Neuchâtel | Burials at Berlin Cathedral | Prussian princesses | Electresses of Brandenburg

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