Karoline von Schlotheim (6 July 1766 - 7 January 1847) was a German noblewoman who was the third and final mistress of

William I, Elector of Hesse William I, Elector of Hesse (german: link=no, Wilhelm I., Kurfürst von Hessen; 3 June 1743 – 27 February 1821) was the eldest surviving son of Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) and Princess Mary of Great Britain, the d ...

from 1788 until 1811.

Life

Karoline was the daughter of General Heinrich Christian Wilhelm von

Schlotheim Schlotheim is a town and a former municipality in the Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated east of Mühlhausen. Since December 2019, it is part of the town Nottertal-Heilinger Höhen. Notable residents *Werner ...

and his wife, Friederike Most von Wilhelmsthal (d. 1799). In 1788, she was kidnapped against her will by

, who made her his mistress, replacing

Rosa Dorothea Ritter Rosa Dorothea Ritter (29 July 1759 – 13 January 1833), also called Rosette Ritter and Baroness of Lindenthal after 1783, was a German woman who was the second mistress of William I, Elector of Hesse from 1779 until 1788. She was an ancestor of the ...

. Karoline fled, but she was returned to the elector by her parents and later agreed to the relationship. On 14 May 1788, William made Karoline Countess of Schlotheim, after which she used the salutation "high and well-born", and built the

Löwenstein Castle Löwenstein Castle (not to be confused with the ruined medieval castle of the same name in Löwenstein, Germany) is a Late Baroque style castle built in the eighteenth century in Kleinheubach, Germany. History Prince Dominic Marquard of Löw ...

for her in 1793. William treated Karoline like his consort, and she had considerable influence, including political influence, on him and the development of the country.Karl Eduard Vehse: Geschichte der deutschen Höfe seit der Reformation. 4. Abteilung, Fünfter Teil. Hamburg, 1853 S. 265. In 1807, she followed her

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

husband into exile and lived with him in

Itzehoe Itzehoe (; nds, Itzhoe) is a town in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As the capital of the district Steinburg, Itzehoe is located on the Stör, a navigable tributary of the Elbe, 51 km (31.7 mi) northwest of Hamburg and 24 ...

, where she gave birth to their last child. On 2 May 1811, Karoline received the title Countess of Hessenstein, which all her surviving children with the elector also received after their

legitimization Legitimation or legitimisation is the act of providing legitimacy. Legitimation in the social sciences refers to the process whereby an act, process, or ideology becomes legitimate by its attachment to norms and values within a given society. It ...

Issue

With

, Karoline had 13 children, only five of whom lived to adulthood: * Wilhelm Friedrich von Hessenstein (23 June 1789 – 26 April 1790), died in infancy * Wilhelm Karl von Hessenstein (19 May 1790 – 22 March 1867), canon of Minden, Halberstadt and Cammin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin Real Privy Councilor. He married Countess Angelika von der Osten-Sacken. * Ferdinand von Hessenstein (19 May 1791 – 15 December 1794), died in childhood * Karoline Frederike Auguste von Hessenstein (9 June 1792 – 21 August 1797), died in childhood * Auguste Wilhelmine von Hessenstein (22 August 1793 – 1 June 1795), died in childhood * Ludwig Karl von Hessenstein (11 August 1794 – 17 November 1857), Prussian chamberlain. In 1818, he married Countess Auguste Wilhelmine von Pückler-Groditz (21 September 1794 - 8 November 1861). * Friederike Auguste von Hessenstein (16 October 1795 – 13 September 1845), married Wilhelm von Steuber (29 December 1790 - 6 July 1845) * Wilhelm Ludwig Georg von Hessenstein (28 July 1800 – 16 January 1836), Electoral Hessian Chamberlain. He first married Luise von dem Bussche-Hünnefeld (27 March 1804 - 21 May 1829) and secondly Karoline Wolff von Gudenberg (11 February 1812 – 20 August 1836). * Friedrich Ludwig von Hessenstein (8 February 1803 – 8 September 1805), died in childhood * Karoline von Hessenstein (16 February 1804 – 18 March 1891). In 1822, she married Carl von Stenglin (12 August 1791 - 15 March 1871). * stillborn child (1805) * stillborn child (1806) * stillborn son (1807 in Itzehoe)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlotheim, Karoline von Mistresses of William I, Elector of Hesse 1766 births 1847 deaths