Emilie Ortlöpp
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Countess Emilie of Reichenbach-Lessonitz née Ortlöpp (13 May 1791 in Berlin – 12 February 1843 in Frankfurt) was the
mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...
and later second wife of
Elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...
William II of Hesse.


Life

Emilie was the second daughter of the goldsmith Johann Christian Ortlöpp and his wife Agnes Louise Sophie, née Weißenberg from Berlin, and from 1812, the mistress of the Elector William II of Hesse, whom she had met during a stay in Berlin. He brought her to Kassel in 1813, leading to a de facto termination of his marriage with Princess Augusta of Prussia, but for political reasons, he was not allowed to divorce his wife. In 1815, William and Augusta were separated from bed and board. Emilie was admitted at court, and later lived in the at the corner of ''Königsstraße'' and ''Friedrichsplatz''. In 1821, William raised her to Countess Reichenbach (named after
Reichenbach Castle Reichenbach castle (''Schloss Reichenbach'') is located in Zollikofen, about 5 kilometres north of Bern. The castle was founded as a medieval fort, probably built on the site of an earlier Roman fort, on the river Aar. The medieval castle was ...
in
Hessisch Lichtenau Hessisch Lichtenau ( is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in eastern Hesse, Germany. In 2006, the town hosted the 46th Hessentag state festival. Geography Location Hessisch Lichtenau lies in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis 20 km southeast of ...
) and in 1824, she received the Austrian title of Countess of Lessonitz after William had purchased the Moravian estates of Lessonitz, Bzenec and Dolní Moštěnice for her. At the same time she and her children received the Austrian citizenship. Their relationship caused a scandal; they even received death threats. The Countess was probably unpopular and was alleged to have had a negative impact on William's politics, or at least some of his political failures were attributed to her. Their relationship was one of the reasons why the William did not return to his capital
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 ...
after the 1830 revolution. He initially moved to
Hanau Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ...
and later to Frankfurt, where he acquired a
palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
in the and later a garden house in the Gallus district. Augusta died on 19 February 1841. William and Emilie married morganatically on 8 July 1841 at Bzenec Castle in Moravia. Their witness was State Chancellor Prince
Klemens von Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...
. Emilie died on 12 February 1843 in Frankfurt am Main to a liver infection and was buried at the Frankfurt Main Cemetery in Frankfurt. The Elector commissioned the architect
Friedrich Maximilian Hessemer Friedrich Maximilian Hessemer (24 February 1800 in Darmstadt – 1 December 1860 in Frankfurt am Main) was a German architect and author. Life His father was Bernhard Hessemer, the Baurat (building commissioner) of Hesse. He spent several ...
, to create a
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
in the Byzantine style. The crucifix inside was created by the sculptor . The marble sarcophagus was commissioned by the Countess's children and created in 1863 by the sculptor
Eduard Schmidt von der Launitz Nikolaus Karl Eduard Schmidt von der Launitz (born Nikolaus Karl Eduard Launitz; 23 November 1797 – 12 December 1869) was a German sculptor. Biography Launitz was born a Baltic German in Grobin, Courland, which was then part of the Russian Emp ...
. Elector Frederick William, who had succeeded his father by then, tried every diplomatic means available to prevent his father's sculpture from being installed in the mausoleum, but achieved nothing in the
Free City of Frankfurt For almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt was a city-state within two major Germanic entities: *The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt () (until 1806) *The German Confederation as the Free City of Frankfurt ...
. Today, the tomb with a capstone from 1847, contains six coffins. After Emilie's death, William married a third time, with
Caroline of Berlepsch Caroline of Berlepsch (9 January 1820 – 21 February 1877) was a member of the noble von Berlepsch family and was the third wife of the Elector William II of Hesse-Kassel. Early life Caroline was born 9 January 1820 in Bad Hersfeld. She was th ...
(1820–1877). He died on 20 November 1847 and was buried in the countly crypt of the St. Mary's Church in Hanau.


Issue

Emilie and William had eight children: *
Louise Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...
(born: 26 February 1813 in Berlin; died: 3 October 1883 in Baden-Baden), married on 15 May 1845 with Imperial Secret Councillor Count Charles August von Bose (born: 7 November 1814 in Garmisch; died: 25 December 1887 in Baden-Baden). Louise von Bose was an important patron of the arts. * Julius William (born: 4 October 1815 in
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 ...
; died: 15 January 1822 in
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 ...
). * Amalia Wilhelmine Emilie (born: 31 December 1816 in
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 ...
; died: 28 July 1858 in Dresden). *# married in 1836 Count William of Luckner (born: 29 January 1805; died: 19 February 1865); divorced 1839 *# married in 1840 Baron Charles of Watzdorff (born: 9 March 1807 in Dresden; died: 5 December 1846 Dresden) *# married Count William von Luckner again in 1847Werner Fritzsche: ''Unterhaltsames und Amüsantes aus der Familiengeschichte der Grafen von Luckner'', Dresden, 2007 * Charles (born: 24 August 1818 in
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 ...
; died: 26 September 1881 in Prague) *# married on 20 December 1861 with Clementine Richter (born: 28 August 1842 in Prague; died: 13 July 1902 in Bad Ischl) * Emilie (born: 8 June 1820 in
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 ...
; died: 30 January 1891 in Budapest) *# married on 10 March 1839 with Count Felix Zichy-Ferraris of Zich and Vásonkeö (born: 20 November 1810; died: 8 September 1885 in
Szilvás Szilvás is a village in Baranya county, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northea ...
, Hungary) * Friederike (born: 16 December 1821 in
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 ...
, died 23 February 1898 in Weilburg) *# married on 3 November 1841 with Baron William of Dungern (born: 20 June 1809 in Weilburg; died: 3 July 1874 in Bad Wildbad) * William (born: 29 June 1824 in
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 ...
; died: 19 January 1866 in
Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...
) *# married on 19 March 1857 (born: 27 April 1838 in Karlsruhe; died: 14 March 1912 in Frankfurt) * Helene (born: 8 August 1825 at Schloss Wilhelmshöhe Castle; died: 14 May 1898 in Munich) *# married on 4 January 1844 with Baron Oswald of Fabrice (born: 8 January 1820 in Bonn; died: 3 June 1898 in Munich)


References

* Walter Fraeb: ''Über Kurfürst Wilhelm II. und die Gräfin Reichenbach in Hanau'', in: ''Magazin für Hanauische Geschichte'', vol. 8, Hanau, 1929, p. 49–63 * Gustav Funke: ''Emilie Ortlepp Gräfin von Reichenbach-Lessonitz. Die Frankfurter Exiljahre von Kurfürst Wilhelm II. von Hessen-Kassel'', in: ''Frankfurt – lebendige Stadt. Vierteljahreshefte für Kultur, Wirtschaft und Verkehr'', vol. 6, 1991, issue 4 * Michel Huberty: ''L' Allemagne dynastique : Les 15 familles qui ont fait l'empire'', vol. 1: ''Hesse - Reuss - Saxe'', Le Perreux-sur-Marne, 1976,


Footnotes


External links


Grave chapel and Mausoleum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ortlopp, Emilie German countesses People from Frankfurt People from Hanau Emilie of Reichenbach-Lessonitz 1791 births 1843 deaths 19th-century German people Morganatic spouses of German royalty