Augusta of Prussia (Christine Friederike Auguste; 1 May 1780 – 19 February 1841) was a German

salonist A salon is a gathering of people held by an inspiring host. During the gathering they amuse one another and increase their knowledge through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "e ...

, painter, and Electress consort of Hesse by marriage to

William II, Elector of Hesse William II (german: Wilhelm II; 28 July 1777 – 20 November 1847) was the penultimate Elector of Hesse.After 1806, the title of ''Elector'' was meaningless, since no more Holy Roman Emperors could be elected, because the Empire had been dissolve ...

. She was the third daughter and fifth child of

Frederick William II of Prussia Frederick William II (german: Friedrich Wilhelm II.; 25 September 1744 – 16 November 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death in 1797. He was in personal union the Prince-elector of Brandenburg and (via the Orange-Nassau inherita ...

and

Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Friederike Luise; 16 October 1751 – 25 February 1805) was Queen of Prussia as the second spouse of King Frederick William II. Life Frederica Louisa was the daughter of Louis IX, Landgrave of He ...

Biography

On 13 February 1797 in

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 ...

, Augusta married

Prince William of Hesse-Kassel Prince William of Hesse-Kassel (24 December 1787 – 5 September 1867) was the first son of Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen. Marriage and children On 10 November 1810, William was married in Amalienborg P ...

, eldest surviving son of

William IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel 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 da ...

. In 1803, the Landgrave was raised to

Elector of Hesse This is a list of rulers of Hesse (german: Hessen) during the history of Hesse on west-central Germany. These rulers belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant,''Burke's Royal Families of the World ...

, and Prince William succeeded on his father's death in 1821. The marriage of Augusta was politically arranged and unhappy. Augusta and William often came into 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, having remained in the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n capital due to her pregnancy when

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's army took it for 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 child's 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.
search for all versions on WorldCat
After the birth of her last child in 1806, the relationship between Augusta and William was unofficially terminated. In 1815, they agreed to keep separate households. Augusta lived in Schoenfeld Palace, where she became a celebrated

and the centre of the romantic ''Schoenfelder-circle'', which included

Ludwig Hassenpflug Hans Daniel Ludwig Friedrich Hassenpflug (26 February 1794 – 15 October 1862), German statesman, was born at Hanau in Hesse. Promotions He studied law at Göttingen, graduated in 1816, and took his seat as Assessor in the judicial chamber of t ...

Joseph von Radowitz Joseph Maria Ernst Christian Wilhelm von Radowitz (6 February 1797 – 25 December 1853) was a conservative Prussian statesman and general famous for his proposal to unify Germany under Prussian leadership by means of a negotiated agreement a ...

and the

Grimm brothers The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

, while William lived in a different residence with his mistress,

Emilie Ortlöpp Countess Emilie of Reichenbach-Lessonitz née Ortlöpp (13 May 1791 in Berlin – 12 February 1843 in Frankfurt) was the mistress and later second wife of Elector William II of Hesse. Life Emilie was the second daughter of the goldsmith J ...

. Auguste closed her salon in 1823, and between 1826 and 1831 she lived in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and Fulda. She returned to Kassel in 1831. Augusta was regarded as a skillful painter, whose works included self-portraits. Several months after Augusta's death, William

morganatically Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spou ...

remarried his longtime mistress Emilie Ortlöpp, ennobled as Countess von Reichenbach-Lessonitz, by whom he had an additional eight children.

Issue

#Wilhelm (9 April 1798 – 25 October 1800) # Karoline (29 July 1799 – 28 November 1854) # Luise (3 April 1801 – 28 September 1803) #

Frederick William, Elector of Hesse Frederick William I (20 August 1802 – 6 January 1875) was, between 1847 and 1866, the last Prince-elector of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). Early life He was born at Hanau on 20 August 1802. He was the son of Prince William, later William ...

(20 August 1802 – 6 June 1875) morganatically married Gertrude Lehmann. #

Marie Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...

(6 September 1804 – 4 January 1888), married

Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Bernhard II (17 December 1800, in Meiningen – 3 December 1882, in Meiningen) was a Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Family He was the only son of Georg I Frederick Karl, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Bernhard was a ...

and had issue. # Ferdinand (9 October 1806 – 21 November 1806)

Ancestry

Notes

External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Augusta Of Prussia, Princess 1780 births 1841 deaths House of Hohenzollern Prussian princesses People from Potsdam Hereditary Princesses of Hesse-Kassel Landgravines of Hesse-Kassel Electresses of Hesse German salon-holders 18th-century Prussian people 18th-century Prussian women 19th-century Prussian people 19th-century Prussian women Daughters of kings