Princess Maria Anna of Hesse-Homburg (13 October 1785,

Bad Homburg vor der Höhe Bad Homburg vor der Höhe () is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe'', w ...

– 14 April 1846,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

) was a German noblewoman. She was the most senior woman at the Prussian court from 1810 to 1823. She was styled as "Princess Wilhelm of Prussia".

Life

She was the twelfth child (and sixth daughter) of

Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg Frederick V Louis William Christian, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (30 January 1748, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe – 20 January 1820, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe) was from 1751 to his death landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. He was born under Europe's Ancie ...

and Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt, thus being a granddaughter of

Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken Caroline of the Palatinate-Zweibrücken (Caroline Henriette Christiane Philippine Louise; 9 March 1721 – 30 March 1774) was Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt by marriage to Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was famed as one of the mo ...

, known as the "great Landgräfin". Maria Anna belonged to the anti-Napoleon-party around Queen Luise and supported the war against France in 1806. She followed the royal house in its escape from the French occupation. After the death of Queen Luise in 1810, she acted as first lady in official occasions. In March 1813, she proclaimed the famous "Aufruf der königlichen Prinzessinnen an die Frauen im preußischen Staate" and founded the patriotic women's association "Vaterländischen Frauenverein." She corresponded with Freiherr vom Stein, von Hardenberg and the Humboldt brothers and was an acquaintance of the poet

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué (); (12 February 1777 – 23 January 1843) was a German writer of the Romantic style. Biography He was born at Brandenburg an der Havel, of a family of French Huguenot origin, as evidenced in ...

. In 1822, she was in love with Count

Anton of Stolberg-Wernigerode Count Anton zu Stolberg-Wernigerode (23 October 1785 − 11 February 1854), was chief minister in Magdeburg, governor in the Prussian Province of Saxony and Prussian Minister of State. Life Count Anton was a fourth son of the reigning Count Ch ...

, who later became Prussian Minister of State. She was active in prison care at the Berliner Gefängnisinsassen and founded an orphanage in Pankow in Berlin.

Marriage and issue

She married in 1804 to Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1783–1851), her first cousin, and they had nine children: * Princess Amalie ''Friederike'' Luise Karoline Wilhelmine of Prussia (4 July 1805 – 23 November 1805); died in infancy. * Princess Irene of Prussia (born and died 3 November 1806); stillborn. * Unnamed son (born and died 30 August 1809); stillborn. * Prince Friedrich ''Tassilo'' Wilhelm of Prussia (29 October 1811 – 9 January 1813); died in infancy. * Prince Heinrich Wilhelm ''Adalbert'' of Prussia (29 October 1811 – 6 June 1873); married morganatically, in 1850,

Therese Elssler Therese Elssler (german: link=no, Theresia Elßler; 5 April 1808, Vienna - 19 November 1878, Merano) was a dancer. The sisters Therese and Fanny Elssler were both dancers, the former born in 1808, the latter in 1810, both in the Vienna suburb ...

and had issue. * Prince Friedrich Wilhelm ''Tassilo'' of Prussia (15 November 1813 – 9 January 1814); died in infancy. * Princess Marie ''Elisabeth'' Karoline Viktoria of Prussia (18 June 1815 – 21 March 1885); married, in 1836,

Prince Karl of Hesse and by Rhine Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine (23 April 1809 - 20 March 1877) was a German prince, officer and politician. He was the second surviving son of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse and Wilhelmine of Baden. The prince had a military career and became ...

and had issue. * Prince Friedrich Wilhelm ''Waldemar'' of Prussia (2 August 1817 – 17 February 1849), never married. * Princess ''Marie'' Friederike Franziska Hedwig of Prussia (15 October 1825 – 17 May 1889); married, in 1842, King Maximilian II of Bavaria and had issue.

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

* Horst Häker (Hrsg.): ''Tagebuch der Prinzessin Marianne von Preußen''. (= Heilbronner Kleist-Editionen; 1). Kleist-Archiv Sembdner, Heilbronn 2006, * * * Karl Schwartz: ''Landgraf Friedrich V. von Hessen-Homburg und seine Familie. Aus Archivalien und Familienpapieren''. Rudolstadt 1878 1785 births 1846 deaths House of Hesse-Homburg House of Hohenzollern Prussian princesses Landgravines of Germany Burials at Berlin Cathedral {{Germany-noble-stub