George (; 12 August 1779 – 6 September 1860) ruled the state of

Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy in Northern Germany consisting of the eastern fifth of the historic Mecklenburg region, roughly corresponding with the present-day Mecklenburg-Strelitz district (the former Lordship of Stargard) ...

as Grand Duke of Mecklenburg from 1816 until his death.

Early life

Duke George Frederick Charles Joseph of Mecklenburg was born in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, the eighth child of Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and his first wife

Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt Princess Friederike Caroline Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt (20 August 1752 – 22 May 1782) was a member of the House of Hesse and by marriage a Duchess of Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Life Friederike was born in Darmstadt, ...

. Following the death of his mother in 1782 his father married her sister Charlotte two years later in 1784 and the family moved from Hanover to

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

. George remained in Darmstadt until 1794, when his father succeeded as the ruling Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and George accompanied his father to

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; ) is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital o ...

Heir apparent

Soon after arriving in Neustrelitz, George enrolled at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock () is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Se ...

, where he studied until 1799.See entry o
George, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
in

Rostock Matrikelportal The Rostock Matrikelportal (matriculation portal) disseminates about 186,000 individual-level datasets drawn from the student registers of the University of Rostock from its establishment in 1419 to today. Each entry is faithfully transcribed and l ...

After leaving university, George went to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he lived at the

Prussian court The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signi ...

. George's sister Louise was married to the Prussian king,

Frederick William III Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved. ...

. In 1802 he went to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, where he lived until 1804, He then returned to Germany and settled in Darmstadt. Following the

Battle of Jena-Auerstedt A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 1806, George travelled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he negotiated the entry of Mecklenburg-Strelitz into the

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austrian Empire, Austria ...

. He also attended the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

in 1814, where Mecklenburg-Strelitz was raised to the status of a

grand duchy A grand duchy is a country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Prior to the early 1800s, the only Grand duchy in Europe was located in what is now Italy: Tuscany ( ...

Grand Duke

When George succeeded his father on 6 November 1816, he found the grand duchy in a bad state. He set about raising the standard of education of his subjects by building schools. By the end of his reign, the majority of his subjects could read and write. He also improved agriculture in the grand duchy and abolished

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

. George died on 6 September 1860 at Neustrelitz and was succeeded by his eldest son Friedrich Wilhelm.

Marriage and children

On 12 August 1817 in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

, George married Princess Marie of Hesse-Cassel, the daughter of

Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel (11 September 1747 – 20 May 1837) was a younger member of the ruling dynasty of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) and a Danish general. He was born as the youngest son of Hereditary Prince ...

and his wife, Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen. Together they had four children: *Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1818–1842) * Frederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1819–1904) married Princess Augusta of Cambridge * Duchess Caroline of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1821–1876) married

Frederick VII of Denmark Frederick VII (Frederik Carl Christian; 6 October 1808 – 15 November 1863) was King of Denmark from 1848 to 1863. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg and the last monarch, king of Denmark to r ...

* Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1824–1876) married Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:George Of Mecklenburg, Grand Duke 1779 births 1860 deaths Protestant monarchs University of Rostock alumni Nobility from Hanover Hereditary grand dukes of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Grand dukes of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 18th-century people from the Holy Roman Empire