Princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Kassel (25 February 1726 – 8 October 1808) was a Prussian princess, married to
Prince Henry of Prussia.
Wilhelmina was the daughter of
Prince Maximilian of
Hesse-Kassel
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...
and
Friederike Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt
Friederike Charlotte of Hessen-Darmstadt (8 September 1698 Darmstadt – 22 March 1777, Darmstadt) was a princess of Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Darmstadt and through her marriage a princess of Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-K ...
, and the niece of
William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
William VIII (10 March 1682 – 1 February 1760) ruled the German Landgraviate Hesse-Kassel from 1730 until his death, first as regent (1730–1751) and then as landgrave (1751–1760).
Life
Born in Kassel, he was the seventh son of Charles I, La ...
and
King Frederick
I of Sweden.
She was introduced to Henry when he visited
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
in 1751 and was married to him on 25 June 1752 at
Charlottenburg Palace
Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) is a Baroque palace in Berlin, located in Charlottenburg, a district of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough.
The palace was built at the end of the 17th century and was greatly expanded during th ...
. Henry's eldest brother, King
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
, insisted that his brother marry, of course equally, just as their father had once arranged Frederick's marriage against his will. He only left him the choice of which of the sisters from the
House of Hesse
The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...
he wanted.
Wilhelmina was described as a charming beauty. Wilhelmina and Henry had their own court and lived at
Schloss Rheinsberg and
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. Wilhelmina had no children with Henry, who was reported to pay more attention to his male friends than to her. At his marriage Henry described the situation to his siblings that he was "changing from the captivity of the king to the captivity of marriage". Although the whole court spied on her behavior, she always managed to appear in a good mood and not to offer court gossip a target thanks to her consistently friendly demeanor.
The couple separated in 1766 after an alleged affair on Wilhelmina's side. After the separation, she lived at
Prince Henry's Palais in Berlin, on the grand boulevard
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden (, "under the linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Running from the City Palace to Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden (lime in England and Ireland, not re ...
, which the king had built for his brother between 1748 and 1753 (today the main building of the
Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
). She occupied one half of the building while her husband lived in the other.
Frontansicht des Hauptgebäudes der Humboldt-Universität in Berlin.jpg, Prince Henry's Palace, Berlin
She was popular with her husband's family, especially his brothers, while her husband was more distant towards her. Nevertheless, the
Duke of Nevers
The counts of Nevers were the rulers of the County of Nevers, which became a French Duchy of Nivernais, duchy in 1539, with the rulers of the duchy calling themselves Duke, dukes.
History
The history of the County of Nevers is closely connected ...
wrote about Henry: "He shows more consideration for his wife than his brother." (What was meant was the behavior of the king to his wife
Queen Elisabeth Christine.)
The Swedish princess
Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp
Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp ( sv, Hedvig Elisabet Charlotta; 22 March 1759 – 20 June 1818) was Queen of Sweden and Norway as the consort of King Charles XIII and II. She was also a famed diarist, memoirist and wit. She is ...
described her at the time of her visit in 1798:
She was a tall and handsome lady with a well kept figure, though very thin, and you can still see how remarkably beautiful she was in her youth. Her eyes are big and lively though somewhat protruding, and with a restless look. She is witty and literal, but as a consequence of her age, she sometimes talks of several subjects at the same time. Her manners are regal, and she represents perfectly, and was additionally very polite and toward me very pleasant.
She was one of the few members of the royal house to remain in Berlin during the French occupation in 1806. While most of the royal family left, reportedly because of the anti-Napoleonic criticisms they had expressed, and the members of the royal court either followed them or left the capital for their country estates, Wilhelmina remained with
Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia
en, Augustus Ferdinand
, house =House of Hohenzollern
, father = Frederick William I of Prussia
, mother =Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
, birth_date =
, birth_place =Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia
, death_date =
, death_place =Berlin, Kingdom of P ...
and his consort
Margravine Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt
, house = Brandenburg-Schwedt
, father = Frederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt
, mother = Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Schwedt
, death_date =
, death_place = Berlin, Brandenburg
, plac ...
because of "their high age" as well as
Princess Augusta of Prussia
Augusta of Prussia (Christine Friederike Auguste; 1 May 1780 – 19 February 1841) was a German salonist, painter, and Electress consort of Hesse by marriage to William II, Elector of Hesse. She was the third daughter and fifth child of Freder ...
, who was pregnant at the time.
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelmina Of Hesse-Kassel, Princes
1726 births
1808 deaths
Prussian princesses
Burials at Berlin Cathedral