Chapter Text
History of Germany
Chapter 17: The Kingdom of Bavaria
Although the Wittelsbach dynasty has reigned over parts of Bavaria since 1180, when Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa lent the Duchy of Bavaria to Count Otto IV of Wittelsbach, it was never quite united. It was mostly composed of multiple counties that eventually merged together.
The three main branches of this dynasty are the Bavarian branch, currently the titular Kings of Bavaria, the Palatinate branch, who lost their lands after Napoleon’s invasion and became Dukes in Bavaria, and the Löwenstein branch, which was founded in 1494.
As was normal during the Middle Ages, lands were split amongst a ruler’s sons and only re-incorporated into the firstborn son’s line upon extinction. This was not different in Bavaria, and the Duchy got split up in four different territories named Bavaria-Landschut, Bavaria-Straubing, Bavaria-Ingolstadt, and Bavaria-Munich. These were the divisions made by the sons of Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria.
The complete Duchy of Bavaria came into existence again when the four lands were united under Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria. This line kept close connections to the House of Habsburg for centuries, with several marriages being conducted.
The Dukes and Electors of Bavaria became known for being ambitious, in personal life as well as public life. They arranged advantageous marriages for their sons, marrying off their daughters to gain political influence within the Royal sphere, and being strict Catholics.
But that all changed.
Andreas I Augustus of Bavaria (1723 – 1808) was the first King of Bavaria, who had been Elector of Bavaria for eight years prior to being elevated in status. This elevation in status was because of his marriage to Princess Elisabeth Friederike Juliane of Prussia in 1753.
Additionally to being King of Bavaria,he also held the titles Duke of Berg and Jülich after these lands were forced from the hands of the last Count Palatine of Sulzbach and Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth since 1763 as these lands were part of the Prussian Princess’s inheritance. The Margraviate of Brandenburg-Ansbach was acquired when the last Margrave sold it in 1791.
Andreas I Augustus is known for his enlightened and peaceful policies. He stimulated trade, arts, sciences, and many building projects. One of his more controversial moves, was to tax the churches. It did not raise his popularity amongst the clergy, some of which were imprisoned for attempted assassinations and outing threats to the Royal family. However, taxing the churches and lowering taxes for the bourgeoisie did make the Wittelsbach dynast immensely popular.
He was the first Wittelsbach dynast to become a Lutheran, which had a long-lasting effect on the Kingdom.
In early 1753, months before his second wedding, the then Elector of Bavaria invaded the Electorate of Saxony with the goal of eliminating the corrupt Prime Minister Count Heinrich von Brühl. This was done after the Electoral Princess, Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria, requested her brother’s help. The intervention kept Saxony out of the Seven Years’ War which began in 1756 as it had apparently been Von Brühl’s plan to pull Saxony into a war to reap profits from it.
During the Seven Years’ War, Bavaria stayed out. They did not have a horse in the game.
However, during those years, the King of Bavaria incorporated the Bisdoms of Passau, Regensburg, Freising, Augsburg, and Eichstätt into his Kingdom.
In 1755, after the birth of Prince Andreas Viktor, the reigning Count Palatine of Sulzbach declared the child illegitimate. This declaration meant the end of the Palatinate-Sulzbach, as the territory was run over by Prussian and Bavarian troops and the Count Palatine was imprisoned.
Having eliminated a threat twice together, the Kingdoms of Prussia and Bavaria became more intertwined.
Former allies of Bavaria, such as Austria, Spain, and Sardinia became somewhat concerned with the King’s new military policies. It created one-sided rifts difficult to repair, though not impossible.
Throughout the remainder of his long reign, the King of Bavaria created many trade agreements and secured funding for public schooling for the poorest of the poorest children whose parents could not afford to send their children to school as they would starve without their children’s income. He managed to find money to pay these parents to send their children to school.
The education focused policies secured Bavaria the position of the educational powerhouse within the Holy Roman Empire with the cities of Munich, Ingolstadt and Regensburg functioning as the main university hubs. Literacy amongst the working class was the highest in Bavaria compared to anywhere else in Europe, with the peasantry enjoying a level of education previously only available to Counts and Burgraves.
Living in Bavaria during this ‘Golden Age’ can be compared to the Dutch Golden Age. There were similar levels of prosperity, arts and sciences flourished, and food was plenty. Barely anyone at that time complained about the circumstances of their life, as many from the lower classes were able to become well-known artisans, play-writers, chemists, and musicians.
Harvests went very well during this period, mainly thanks to innovation in the agricultural branch.
It was also the period of early industrialisation, which first started in the United Kingdom. But the unsanitary situations in British cities was not a problem in Bavaria, as disease research was one of a few fields personally funded by the King. Because of their research, city planning around factories included advanced sewage systems, indoor clean water pumps, and free access to Marseille soap for factory labourers and their families. At that time, it was fairly unthinkable for any ruler to invest so much into the concept of hygiene as for a long time people believed that being dirty protected against diseases.
Bavaria would come to enjoy close connections with both Catholic and Protestant nations, mainly through marriages contracted by the King’s twenty children. Many treaties were signed, always benefiting Bavaria in one way or another.
His Majesty King Andreas I Augustus of Bavaria, Duke of Jülich and Berg, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and Brandenburg-Ansbach, Count Palatine of Sulzbach and Simmern, died at the age of 85 at his main residence of Nymphenburg Palace in November 1808 from pneumonia. He was succeeded by his first surviving son, Andreas II Viktor.
Andreas I Augustus, King of Bavaria, was married twice.
His first marriage was to Princess Anne Henriette of France (1727 – 1752), second-born daughter of King Louis XV of France and his Polish-born wife Marie Leszczyńska. Their wedding ceremony was held at the iconic Nymphenburg Palace on 6 April 1741 when the bride was 13 and the groom 17. Both their families, parents and siblings, were in attendance. The marriage had been arranged between King Louis XV of France and Elector Charles Albert of Bavaria as part of a trade deal.
As a couple, the pair got along well. There was clear respect between husband and wife, which is documented in the French Princess’s letters to her father (now archived in Paris).
Henriette described her husband as a gentle soul who was harsh when need be. He was always respectful to her, allowing her to conduct building projects around Bavaria freely for as long as things did not get too expensive. She described the marriage as happier than she thought an arranged marriage would ever be, probably because her husband respected her.
The Electress loved to paint, write poetry, and constructed many churches and monasteries. It was her way of giving back to the nation which had welcomed her as a young teen. She embraced the Bavarian culture, hosting many parties to keep traditions alive. This was one of the reasons she was so well-loved.
As a mother, the Princess of France was described to be patient, involved in her children’s education plans, and a strong manager of family affairs. She loved her children dearly, paying special attention to her only son as she knew from day one that he was his father’s designated heir. Yet she did not neglect her daughters, providing them with equal love and the education a high-born noblewoman was entitled to.
The young woman contracted smallpox during her last pregnancy while she was at Versailles for Chistmas. She died two days after giving birth to her 5th daughter, aged 24.
Andreas’s children with her were raised to be Catholic, as that had been their mother’s wish, and they spent many Christian holidays in France with their maternal grandparents and cousins at Versailles.
She was a beloved figure at the Bavarian court, by the Royal family as well as courtiers. She was a silent and gentle presence next to her headstrong husband. Her early death was a blow to everyone, including the citizens of Bavaria as many stood outside Saint Louis as her coffin was laid to rest there after a long funeral service. The chapel dedicated to her memory drew many daily visitors.
Before her death, she gave birth to six children.
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Duchess Maria Amalia of Bavaria (1742 – 1805), elevated to the rank of Princess upon her father’s ascension to the Bavarian throne, was the firsborn child of both her parents. She was named after her paternal grandmother, and baptised Maria Amalia Charlotte Elisabeth Henriette Louise.
She was a canoness of Essen from 1762 until her marriage at the age of 26. She married the widower of her aunt Duchess Maria Josepha of Bavaria, the twice widowed Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. Though the marriage was not one of her own choosing, she accepted the proposal and became Holy Roman Empress on 10 June 1768, barely a year after her aunt’s passing.
There are several written accounts about how the Princess made an impression on the Holy Roman Emperor, but the man’s own description of events says: “Though she was wearing black and the atmosphere was solemn, there was a certain joy following her. She made smile all those she came into contact with that day as the funeral was ongoing. I could not help but think she was incredibly beautiful, and for the first time since my first wife’s passing, I think I might actually be falling in love.”
The couple had no courtship. The Holy Roman Emperor immediately proposed once his mandatory six months of mourning was over, and wedding preparations soon followed.
The King of Bavaria did vocally protest the marriage, still somewhat bitter about his youngest sister’s treatment at the Viennese court. Yet he allowed it because his daughter said she wanted it.
The Bavarian Princess was pregnant five times, giving birth to living children four times as her third pregnancy ended with a stillbirth in the sixth month. She had two sons and two daughters: Leopold Andreas I, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke Christian Theodore of Austria, Archduchess Augusta Josepha of Austria, and Archduchess Anna Henrietta of Austria. Both her sons married while her daughters became Benedictine nuns in Italy after refusing several marriage candidates.
As Holy Roman Empress and Dowager, she stimulated the educational programmes her husband had already implemented, helping her son to continue them. She was notorious for preferring her second son’s wife, Maria Anna Enrichetta of Savoy, over her first son’s wife, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. She left a lot of her private jewellery to the daughter-in-law who was her niece.
She died in early 1805 aged 62, surviving her husband by fifteen years. She had been severely ill for seven years at that point, dying of what many suspected was a degenerative lung disease. She was buried in the Imperial Crypt, her casket flanked by those of her late husband’s two other wives.
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Duchess Maria Louisa of Bavaria (1744 – 1799), baptised Maria Louisa Gabriella Magdalena Elenora Josephine Christina, was the first of her sisters to marry. Her marriage was 100% arranged by her maternal grandfather, who wished closer ties to certain families within the French aristocracy without risking them getting too close.
In 1764, she was married to the Prince of Lamballe, an illegitimate great-grandson of the Sun King by his mistress Madame de Montespan. The marriage was unhappy, but Louisa was a devoted wife to her sickly husband. During her four years of marriage, she gave birth to three children: Jean Marie, the 2nd Prince of Lamballe, Princess Anne Marie Louise de Bourbon, and Princess Christine Henriette de Bourbon.
After her husband’s death on 6 May 1768, she stayed in France. However, she did relocate from Château de Louveciennes to Versailles to be closer to her family. She would remain there, living a quiet life, until her death in 1799, aged 55, after contracting smallpox. She was buried at the Basilica of Saint Denis, beside other members of the French Royal family.
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Louis Theodore Frederick Francis Augustus Philip Maximilian Xavier was born as his father’s heir. First, he was heir to the Electorate, later he became Crown Prince of Bavaria. His birth in 1746 was celebrated around Bavaria as well as at Versailles.
However, the young Prince was very sickly.
His father always predicted he would not survive long, hence he quickly started seeking for a second wife once his first wife had died in childbirth. He was scared of the Duchy of Bavaria passing to the ‘extreme’ Catholic Count Palatine of Sulzbach should he not have a surviving heir.
As soon as the young Prince hit puberty, his father arranged his marriage to Infanta Maria Josepha of Spain, the first surviving daughter of King Charles III of Spain and Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony. The bride, two years older than her groom, was his second cousin and the couple were married on 1 August 1760, two weeks before the groom’s fourteenth birthday. The marriage was solely arranged in an attempt to provide an heir to the throne of Bavaria should Louis Theodore die an early death.
Children were born from this marriage, but only the Prince’s two daughters Maria Anna Amalia and Maria Louisa Theodora would survive into adulthood. The couple’s only son Prince Maximilian Clemens died a mere three hours after his birth.
The Bavarian Crown Prince died on the 9th of December in 1764, aged 18. Both he and his son were buried at the Saint Louis Church in Munich, where the late Electress was also laid to rest.
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Third-born daughter Duchess Maria Carolina of Bavaria (1748 – 1830), baptised Maria Carolina Antonia Louisa Anna Christina Elisabeth, was always regarded as the Electorial couple’s most graceful daughter. She picked up her etiquette at Versailles, and received an extensive education which a King’s daughter would be entitled to. Most of her education was overseen by her stepmother and her aunt Maria Anna, Dowager Margravine of Baden-Baden.
In 1766, at the age of 18, she was chosen by her aunt Maria Antonia, Dowager Electress of Saxony, to become the bride of her oldest son. It meant that she would move to Dresden and continue her education there under her other aunt’s tutelage. The Bavarian Princess was married to her first cousin a mere three years later on 29 January 1769 at the Dresden Cathedral, thus becoming Electress consort of Saxony.
The couple went on to have five children in total, three daughters and two sons.
Their oldest son was Maximilian I Andreas, who married Princess Carolina of Parma on 9 May 1792.
Their oldest set of daughters were Maria Antonia and Maria Juliana. Both of them married Polish Princes of the Poniatowski family. The marriages allowed the Kingdom of Poland to remain in existence for a while, until the Russian Empire decided they wanted to have it.
Younger son Frederick Albert became known for his contributions to architecture and science, funding geological and cartographic science expeditions throughout Europe. He was married to his cousin, Princess Amélie Joséphe of France, and had two sons with her.
The couple’s youngest child, Maria Augusta, remained unwed. She would become known as a componist and play writer, having many theatre and acting school patronages.
Maria Carolina became Queen of Saxony on 20 December 1806. She would have this title until her husband’s death in 1827. She survived him by three years and was buried alongside him at Dresden Cathedral, the place where they were first joined in Holy Matrimony.
The marriage was considered happy, much happier than those of her older sisters despite it also being arranged and not much of her own choice. But she strongly loved her husband, and remained by his side even though her husband had an illegitimate daughter.
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Duchess Maria Eleonora of Bavaria, baptised Maria Eleonora Amalia Josepha Raphaela Louisa Victoria, was known to be the most beautiful amongst the daughters born from her father’s first marriage. She had clearly inherited her mother’s elegance and her father’s wit. From puberty onwards, she became a sought-after bride for Catholic and Protestant Princes in Europe.
The lucky Prince to receive her hand in marriage would be the Prince of Piedmont, the future King Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia. The marriage was arranged by her maternal grandfather to strengthen the ties between the House of Bourbon and the House of Savoy, as part of a series of marriages between the two Royal dynasties.
The marriage was conducted on the 30th of September in 1772 at the Palazzo Reale in Turin.
Three daughters and three sons were born from the marriage.
Maria Anna Enrichetta married her first cousin, Archduke Christian Theodore of Austria. She was very much favoured over her sister-in-law by her aunt Maria Amalia. She enjoyed many luxuries in Austria while she educated her four children at the court.
Second-born daughter Maria Elisabetta never married, though she was considered as a bride for her uncle Charles Felix, Duke of Genoa. Instead, she chose life at a convent over marriage.
As the firstborn son, Maurizio would inherit the Kingdom of Sardinia upon his father’s death in late 1819. He was married to Princess Maria Christina of Naples and Sicily, daughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. They had 3 sons: Charles Emmanuel, Victor Amadeus, and Louis Albert.
Princes Amadeus and Benedetto were gifted the Duchies of Mantua and Nevers upon reaching adulthood. They respectively married Archduchess Maria Louisa of Austria (1791 – 1847) and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Tuscany (1801 – 1855).
Princess Maria Luisa of Savoy, the couple’s youngest daughter and born in-between the Duke of Mantua and the Duke of Nevers, became Queen of France as the wife of her cousin André I Auguste.
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Duchess Maria Anna Henrietta of Bavaria (1752 – 1820), baptised Maria Anna Henrietta Amelia Josepha Franziska Theresa Elisabeth, was born a couple of days before her mother’s untimely passing. She was primarily taken care of by her aunts Maria Anna and Maria Josepha prior to her father’s remarriage. Since then, her stepmother Julia raised her as her own.
Together with her older full siblings, Anna Henrietta spent a lot of time at Versailles with her mother’s relatives. Amongst her siblings, she was her maternal grandfather’s favourite grandchild just like her mother had been his favourite daughter.
When it came to her marriage, her grandfather was adamant that he wanted her to stay in France. So, he arranged her marriage to her cousin Louis Auguste the Petit Dauphin. It was not welcomed by her father, who had hoped his youngest daughter would be able to follow a different path, but he did not argue with his former father-in-law about it.
The people of France liked the King of Bavaria, and they liked his daughters. They were absolutely delighted by the news that a Bavarian Princess would marry the heir instead of an Archduchess of Austria, something that had been whispered into their ear two years earlier.
The wedding was held at Versailles on 11 March 1772, drawing masses to the immense Palace.
Two years after her marriage, when she had just given birth to her first child Anne Marie, she became Queen of France when her father-in-law died of smallpox. She was 20 years of age at that time.
While she had behaved meak and complicit during her years as Dauphine, the Bavarian Princess turned out to be anything but. She radically changed the level of hygiene at Versailles, calling in the best engineers to install sewage systems in all Royal residences. Under her rule, only a maximum number of guests were allowed at indoor parties, with more room for enlightened thinking and the bourgouisie. She hosted many women-only saloons, entering into her stepmother’s footsteps.
As Queen of France, Marie Anne Henriette would have six children in total. Following the birth of her daughter Anne Marie, she gave birth to Louise Henriette, her husband’s successor André I Auguste whom she named after her own father, Prince Xavier the Duke of Aquitaine, Prince Louis the Duke of Burgundy, and Amélie Joséphe.
She survived her husband by 27 years, passing away in 1820 due to heart failure.
Secondly, Andreas I Augustus married Princess Elisabeth Friederike Juliane ‘Julia’ Caroline Antoinette Louise Auguste Katherine Christine Sophie Dorothea of Prussia (1736 – 1810), the only daughter of King Frederick the Great of Prussia and Duchess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern. He had fourteen more children with her, all born between 1754 and 1776.
Julia, as the Prussian was known, was strongly influenced by her father’s enlightened absolutism. Many accounts state that she was basically a female version of her father.
According to some, she was brash, spoilt, snubbish, ambitious, had an attitude, barely got along with others, and looked down on Catholics. Others would tell you she was a graceful appearance, an amazing hostess, a grateful wife, and a loving mother to her many children.
It cannot be denied that the Queen of Saxony had an expensive taste in clothing and jewellery, but this feature was far from unique as many Royal women of the time indulged in luxury.
But Queen Julia could tastefully dress down, as she did during the weddings of her stepchildren and her own children. Her simple monochrome A-line style gowns with lace at the waist and on the sleeves are still a popular choice for mother-of-the-bride dresses all around Germany.
There were indeed people the Prussian looked down upon and outright refused to meet. One man she could not stand was her husband’s cousin, the late Elector Frederick Christian of Saxony. In her diary, she wrote: “I cannot stand him, for the blatant disrespect he has shown to my beloved husband while he should have been grateful he still has an Electorate. Had my father had his wish, the Electorate of Saxony would have been divided between Prussia and Bavaria after the 1753 invasion, with perhaps some lands going to the Ernestine Saxon Duchies. I am absolutely stunned by this abrasive behaviour.”
About some of the French courtiers, she wrote the following: “Though I should perhaps not offend an entire nation with which we have a strong trade relationship in public, I can write down my disgust in this book and my letters to my parents. I simply cannot fathom why they are here, remaining in Munich while all they do is complain . They boast about the grandeur of Versailles, asking out loud why a great King such as my husband would willingly reside in such a ‘pathetic’ residence as the Nymphenburg. This place may not have a Hall of Mirrors or massive gold ornaments, but that is because my husband does not have such a grand ego that needs to be soothed or small dick energy that requires compensation. My husband is an actual man, not a simple-minded idiot who never grew up!” and “I really wish these stupid Frenchies would just leave, go back to the palace they adore so much. Their comparisons are getting absolutely ridiculous now, and their words I cannot bear repeating on paper. They were quite nasty.”
Queen Julia was considered intelligent. She had attracted her husband’s attention not just with her looks, but also her knowledge of ancient tales. Later in life, she mapped out the ancestry of the House of Wittelsbach and the House of Hohenzollern. Her genealogy projects are on display at the Alter Hof, the residence where she remained during her two short years of widowhood.
Just like her husband’s first wife, she spent a lot of time as a property developer. She commissioned the fairy tale castle that is Neuschwanstein Castle, the Classical style Elisabettenburg near the city of Ingolstadt, and the baroque style Saint Viktor’s Palace on the outskirts of Immenreuth, yet also redeveloped several residences including the Electoral Palace in Amberg and Landschut Residence.
Queen Julia’s preferred Palace to reside at was the family’s summer residence Schleißheim Palace. It was the one Palace she felt like she could be herself instead of having to wear the mask of a perfect and dutiful Queen. She often took her daughters there when they were young, even in winter time.
When it came to ambition, Queen Julia had great hopes for her sons to contract marriages with Princesses from all over Europe who would be a great influence to young Bavarian ladies, hence she was strongly against any French Princess marrying one of her children.
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The first child born from the King’s second marriage, was a son.
Andreas Viktor Frederick Ferdinand William Joseph Anton Charles, later King Andreas II Viktor of Bavaria, was born in December 1754, 13 months after his parents’ marriage. He was a welcome addition to the House of Wittelsbach, considering his half-brother was sickly and none of his paternal male relatives had surviving male issue.
He grew up a Lutheran, receiving a mostly Prussian-centric education overseen by his mother. He had private tutors in his youth, but went to university in Ingolstadt to study politics. He was the first Wittelsbach dynast to attend a public university, something which was continued throughout the decades.
Considering Andreas II grew up in a time of peace and prosperity, he was never truly taught about battle strategies. He inherited his father’s strong desire for peace. He was extremely intelligent, capable of speaking multiple languages including German, French, English, Russian, Swedish, Italian, and Greek. His desire to learn multiple languages stemmed from the days in his youth when his parents told him stories from ancient Greece, sparking his will to learn more.
In 1775, he married his second cousin Princess Sophia Albertina of Sweden, the only daughter of King Gustav III of Sweden and Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark. This marriage was from the couple’s own volition, as they fell in love through a 5-year long letter exchange after meeting in Berlin during a family gathering. He was 20, she 21.
The couple had a strong and happy marriage. Together, they had three daughters and four sons: Sophia Magdalena, Louisa Ulrika, Andreas III Ferdinand, Anton Viktor, Charles Gustav, Frederica Dorothea, and Joseph William.
Sophia Abertina was not particularly well liked by the Bavarian courtiers, who seemed to be unable to understand why the Crown Prince choose a wife with a witch’s nose from the minor dynasty that was the House of Holstein-Gottorp. She was despised by many of them, contributing to her sentiments of disappointment after she gave birth to two daughters in a row at the beginning of her marriage. She did not find her confidence again until the birth of her son Andreas III Ferdinand who later married Princess Catharina of Württemberg (1783 – 1835).
Andreas II Viktor was a patron of the sciences from 1773 until his death on 6 June 1825 at the Nymphenburg Palace aged 70. He was buried at the Elisabettenburg Mausoleum. His wife survived him by four and a half years and was buried next to her husband.
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Prince Frederick Philip Julius Anton Christian August Charles Joseph of Bavaria was his mother’s second child, born in 1756. His birth was proof to the people of Bavaria that his mother was a woman worthy of marrying his father and providing him with more children, a suitability which had been doubted since their engagement had been announced in the spring of 1753.
Frederick Philip grew up receiving a similar education to his older brother, but was enrolled into the military at the age of 16 where he did a three-year stint as a lieutenant. He married only a few months after his military service ended, aged 19. He was married to the slightly older Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, youngest daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis of Lorraine and his second cousin once removed.
The marriage was completely arranged by the bride’s mother, who was extremely keen on having her children marry dynastically relevant Royals in Europe. Hence it was a disaster from start to finish.
For five years, no child was born. It lead people to believe the marriage would be childless. Especially because the Austrian Archduchess was quite open about her dislike for sexual activities.
The birth of Anna Theresa, the future Duchess of Burgundy, was therefore a big surprise to the entire court. She was later joined by her younger sisters Elisabeth Juliana (b. 1785) and Katharina Antonia (b. 1789).
The family of five primarily lived at Holnstein Palace in Munich. They kept to themselves, only joining the larger family unit during military parades, the King’s birthdays, the Queen’s birthdays, and Christmas.
And although Maria Antonia was Austrian, they barely visited Vienna. They have only made the journey, which is quite short, only on seven occasions.
The Archduchess predeceased her husband, at the age of 45. She was involved in the collision of two carriages in the streets of Munich in 1801, dying on impact. Her body was brought back to Vienna and buried in the Imperial Crypt.
Frederick Philip lived on for another two decades, dying at the age of 71. He was initially buried at the Elisabettenburg Mausoleum, but his body was relocated to the Imperial Crypt in 1835 by the reigning Holy Roman Emperor Leopold Andreas II.
He was mostly invisible in the Bavarian monarchy. He kept to himself and delivered no problems for his father or older brother to deal with, unlike one of his younger brothers. He remained active in the military even in his later years, drilling new recruits and instilling respect.
His most significant contribution to the Bavarian monarchy, would be the stable relationship between Bavaria and the Palatinate of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. He was the one to arrange the marriage of his niece Christina Josepha, but he also played a role in the de-escalation of conflict that had been arising between the Palatinate lands and the Kingdom of Bavaria since 1755 with the incarceration of Count Palatine Charles Theodore of Sulzbach.
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George Augustus Benedict Frederick Henry Louis Ernest was born 11 months after his brother Frederick Philip. His education was even more military oriented than those of his older brothers. He was primarily educated in Berlin and did a stint in the Prussian army.
During his time in Berlin, George Augustus met his first wife, Princess Sophie of Saxe-Hildburghausen, who was the oldest daughter of Duke Ernest Frederick III of Saxe-Hildburghausen and Princess Ernestine of Saxe-Weimar. He fell in love with her, and the pair got married after Sophie’s 16th birthday in 1776.
For 11 years, George and Sophie were happily married, conducting engagements for the Bavarian monarchy, and raising five children when tragedy struck.
In the fall of 1787, Sophie fell ill with influenza and died a few weeks later.
George Augustus mourned the loss of his wife publicly, closing himself off from the world by remaining inside his apartment at Ansbach Residence where he and his family had been living since their wedding day. It was not until he met his future second wife, Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom, fifth daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom and Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, at the wedding of his sister Augusta Christina that he began living again. He courted the British Princess for a year before the couple got engaged and married in London on the 18th of April 1800.
With his second wife, George had four more children which he cherished as much as the children born from his first marriage. He died in 1831, aged 74, and was buried at the Elisabettenburg Mausoleum. Sophia survived him by 17 years and was placed beside her husband and his first wife.
One of George’s daughters was Anna Andreievna, wife of Emperor Constantin I of Russia. She was a controversial figure in the sense that she took control of the entire dynasty’s affairs before she became Empress of Russia. She only had one son, Nicholas, who married Princess Charlotte of Prussia (Alexandra Feodorovna), who was his first cousin once removed.
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Anna Louisa Henrietta Antonia Katharina Carolina was her mother’s first daughter. She was born a Princess of Bavaria, rather than being elevated to that status afterwards like her older half-sisters.
From day one, she was an attractive marital candidate for German Princes. Her high level of education, overseen by her mother, simply increasted that initial attractiveness.
As a young girl, she was considered by Empress Catherine II of Russia as a marital candidate for her only son, but both times she was considered another was chosen. Other potential early suitor were the later Landgrave Louis X of Hesse-Darmstadt, Count Palatine Charles II August of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, Prince Frederick of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, and Prince Albert Frederick of Anhalt-Dessau.
Eventually, Anna Louisa was betrothed to Hereditary Duke Frederick Francis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the son of Duke Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Charlotte Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. He was one of the few male heirs to the Duchy as his uncle did not have children and there were few other heirs beyond his cousins from the Mecklenburg-Strelitz line.
The marriage ceremony was held at Nymphenburg Palace three months before Anna Louisa’s 17th birthday, which she celebrated with her husband in private at the Ansbach Residence. She continued her trip to Schwerin via Berlin, visiting her aging grandfather who was happy to have one of his grandchildren fairly nearby as the distance between Berlin and Schwerin was not too much.
In Schwerin, the Bavarian Princess was given a warm welcome by the people and the court. They were all extremely happy that ‘a daughter of a fertile woman’ had married into the family considering there was a distinct lack of male heirs.
Together, the couple had six children. Their firstborn daughter Louise Charlotte married Hereditary Prince Augustus of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and their other daughter Charlotte Frederica married her cousin King Christian VIII of Denmark, producing the future King Frederick VII of Denmark. Their oldest son Frederick Louis married Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia, Duchess Caroline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and Landgravine Augusta of Hesse-Homburg.
They both outlived their firstborn son, and firstborn daughter, who died after giving birth to her only daughter Louise. These events brought the couple closer, allowing Anna Louisa to forgive her husband for briefly cheating on her after the birth of their sixth child.
Grand Duke Frederick Francis I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin died in early 1837, aged 80, leaving Anna Louisa as a Dowager Grand Duchess. She herself lived for another decade, passing away on 4 November 1847 aged 89. She assured that the transition of power in Mecklenburg-Schwerin went smooth, often advising her grandson during more difficult decision-making processes. She was buried at the Doberan Minster in Bad Doberan, next to her late husband.
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Christian Joseph Ulrich Louis Frederick Albert Charles was his parents’ 5th child and 4th son. Just like his elder brothers, he was destined for a military career. He too was married at the age of 19, to Princess Christine of Saxe-Hildburghausen who was the younger sister of his older brother’s wife Sophie.
Christine was originally supposed to marry her paternal uncle Prince Eugen, but she refused to marry him and ‘eloped’ with her brother-in-law much to her father’s dismay. She was happily married to him until her untimely death in 1790 following the birth of her second daughter Christina Josepha.
After his wife’s death, Christian Joseph continued his stellar military career. He was an innovator in both attack and defense strategies, often taking his squadrons to Neuschwanstein to see how they would attack a strategically placed hillside ‘fort’.
For fourteen years, he remained a widower. But in 1804, he remarried Princess Wilhelmine of Baden, youngest daughter of Grand Duke Charles of Baden and Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was originally intended to marry her first cousin Grand Duke Louis II of Hesse and by Rhine, but he decided to marry someone else and break the arranged engagement.
Wilhelmine gave birth to four children, one son and three daughters.
Together, the couple primarily resided at Dachau Palace where they could enjoy the lime trees and the English style garden around the fairly rurally located Palace. They enjoyed 32 years of marriage until Wilhelmine died aged 47 following a long period of illness.
Christian Joseph passed away four years and five days after his second wife’s death aged 80. Together with both his wives, he was interred at the Elisabettan Palace Mausoleaum.
His daughters from his first marriage both contracted fairly significant marriages, with his oldest daughter Sophie Caroline marrying her cousin Duke Gustav Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and his second daughter Christina Josepha marrying Count Palatine Ludwig III of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, son of Count Palatine Maximilian I Joseph of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and Landgravine Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt.
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Elisabeth Caroline Antoinette Louise Christine Amalie Juliane Marie and Eleonore Charlotte Friederike Louise Philippine Elisabeth Marie were twins, both born on 9 April 1761 at the Nymphenburg. Both Princesses received an education similiar to their sister Anna Louisa and older half sisters. Similar to their older sisters, they too contracted significant Royal marriages.
Elisabeth Caroline married Prince Frederick of Denmark, only son of King Frederick V of Denmark and Princess Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, at the Amalienborg Palace in 1779 aged 18. Her husband had been pressured to get married by his mother, who had initially selected Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin for her son who had rumouredly been infuriated with Princess Caroline Mathilde of Great Britain, the wife of his nephew. With him, she had seven children including King Christian VIII of Denmark and Landgravine Juliane Sophie of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld.
The current King of Denmark is a descendant of their third son Prince Frederick of Denmark who married Duchess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in 1810. Their son, King Christian IX of Denmark, was married to his first cousin Landgravine Louise of Hesse-Kassel.
Frederick died at the age of 52 at the Amalienborg in 1805, 43 years before his son ascended to the Danish throne. Elisabeth Caroline lived to see her son ascend to the throne, passing away in late 1840.
Eleonore Charlotte married 9 years after her twin sister, at the age of 26 on 20 March 1788, to the future Grand Duke Peter I of Oldenburg. She became the stepmother to his two young sons August and George who had been born from his previous marriage to Duchess Frederica of Württemberg . Still, she gave birth to five more children, among them Elisabeth Juliane, wife of Grand Duke George II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and Marie Eleonore, wife of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold Andreas II.
For six years, she was the Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, becoming a Dowager upon her husband’s death in 1829 aged 74. She herself died on 14 August 1842 at the age of 81. She was laid to rest beside her husband at the Ducal Mausoleum, Gertrudenfriedhof, in Oldenburg.
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Otto Ferdinand Theodore Joseph Louis Francis Philip was the 5th son, born in 1762. He only spent the first ten years of his life in Bavaria, before he moved to Berlin to further his education in politics. Despite this move, he remained a Bavarian Prince by heart as he advocated for policies favouring his homeland, but also invested a lot into science and architecture within Prussian lands as well as Bavarian lands.
While in Berlin, he met his future wife who was his double second cousin.
Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia was the only daughter born between King Frederick William II of Prussia and Duchess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. She’d seen little of her mother considering she had been under house arrest at Stettin Castle since 1769 after plotting an escape with one of her many lovers.
Initially, Frederick William II wanted his daughter to marry the British Duke of York and Albany. Yet he noticed that Frederica Charlotte was rather happy with Otto Ferdinand and allowed the courtship to run it’s course.
From 1780 to 1786, the pair of Royals courted before their engagement was finally announced by the courts of Prussia and Bavaria on the 8th of December 1786. The wedding was held six months later in late May at Sanssouci Palace, in the presence of both their families.
Together, the Royal couple resided at the Charlottenburg Palace in Potsdam where they had an entire floor to themselves and their family. Frederica Charlotte gave birth to eight children. Their oldest daughter Elisabeth Charlotte married her first cousin Duke Andreas Augustus of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, their youngest daughter Augusta Amalia married Grand Duke Leopold of Baden, and their oldest son Joseph Philip married Princess Sophie of Sweden who was the oldest daughter of the deposed King Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden.
The pair of them were happily joined in marriage until Frederica Charlotte’s death in 1820 at the age of 53 after a long drawn-out illness over the course of a decade. Her widower grieved her deeply, never remarrying, and taking care of the many dogs they had owned until his own death in 1840, aged 77.
The couple was buried together in the dynastic mausoleum at the Berliner Dom.
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Anna Henrietta Victoria Louisa Frederica Elisabeth was named after her father’s first wife, who had remained a popular figure in Bavaria and a popular woman to name one’s daughters after. She was regarded as one of her father’s most beautiful daughters, hence there were many young Princes who tried to win Anna Henrietta’s hand in marriage.
Her suitors included Infante Antonio of Spain, Prince Joseph of Brazil, Prince Karl Wilhelm of Saxe-Meiningen, Prince Karl Ludwig of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duke William Frederick Philip of Württemberg, and Archduke Francis of Austria.
However, it was the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Karl August, who received the Princess’s hand. The match had been arranged by the young Grand Duke’s mother Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who wanted to secure a wealthy and politically significant match for her son who would have to carry on the Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach line as only he and his younger brother were left to carry on the line.
About two weeks before her 16th birthday, the wedding ceremony was conducted at the Nymphenburg.
The couple remained on palace grounds until the Princess’s birthday had passed, before making the journey to the city of Weimar where the court was located.
Historically, Weimar was a duchy with rigorous etiquette. Even at her young age, Anna Henrietta fit her role well and was able to deal with the duties that came with her position as Grand Duchess. She had no difficulty with the strict etiquette, as she had been educated by her maternal grandmother.
During her marriage, Anna Henrietta bore her husband six children. Amongst her children were the future Grand Duke Charles Frederick, future husband of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia and father of the first German Empress, and future Hereditary Princess of Mecklenburg Schwerin Caroline Louise.
Grand Duke Karl August of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach died in 1828, aged 70, to be succeeded by his eldest son.
Anna Henrietta remained at the court of Eisenach, often visiting her oldest son’s two daughters and one of her younger sisters in Berlin. She herself passed away in 1854, at the age of 90.
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In 1766, another son was born, Anton Ulrich William Eugen George Albert Ferdinand, named after his relative Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. However, unlike his namesake, he was the definition of a ‘problem child’.
Unlike his brothers, he did not study nor did he enroll into the military. Ever since he was young, Anton Ulrich was obsessed with the luxury of the Sun King’s reign, something which he aspired to emulate later in his life. And since his teenage years, he built upon that.
At the age of 18, he began the construction of his very own palace: The Linderhof. This Palace was partially modelled after Sansoucci and the Nymphenburg, but with a flavour of fantasy and crazy architecture. It became the Prince’s very own Versailles, the stage for his many affairs and financial mismanagement.
Anton Ulrich’s first affair was with the 14 years older Austrian woman Maria Anna ‘Nannerl’ Mozart. Her two daughters, Jeanette (1789 - 1805) and Marie Babette (1790 - 1791), were rumoured to be his yet never confirmed or denied. The affair lasted between 1787 to 1795, a time during which the young Prince of Bavaria spent a lot of time in Austria as the Linderhof was still under construction.
Far more scandalous were the Prince’s affairs with Royal women.
While his affair with Maria Anna Mozart was still ongoing, Anton Ulrich made several trips to France where he seduced Princess Marie Clotilde of France, Princess Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon-Condé, and Duchess Bathilde d’Orléans. At the time, it was rumoured that Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon-Condé gave birth to a set of twin girls who were then raised as nuns at Remiremont
Another one of his famous affairs was with a married Royal.
From 1797 to 1812, Anton Ulrich had a passionate affair with the Princess consort of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumbrug-Hoym who was born Princess Amalie of Nassau-Weilburg. Though Royals often had affairs, this one was particularly scandalous because the affair was not discrete. Hence there were strong rumours that most of her daughters if not all of them were products of this affair that was playing out fairly publicly. The pair were often seen together in Schaumburg and at the Linderhof by Royal staffers and even the Princess’s own family members such as her older sister Princess Wilhelmine Louise Reuss of Greiz and her oldest surviving brother Frederick William.
While this affair was ongoing, King Andreas I Augustus of Bavaria was trying to push his son into a marriage with Landgravine Karoline Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, daughter of Elector William I of Hesse and Princess Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark-Norway. This match failed, as the Prince refused to marry a woman who was not palatable to his tastes.
Instead, Anton Ulrich married the woman he’d been having an affair with since 1797 after the death of her husband on 22 April 1812. On 18 December 1812, in a private ceremony, he and the Dowager Princess consort of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym were joined in marriage. During their marraige, lasting until Amelia’s death in 1841, the couple had two daughters named Amalie Adelaide and Marie Louise Philippine.
Amelia died on 19 February 1841, aged 64, and her husband joined her in the grave eleven months later as he passed away on 9 December 1841 aged 75. The couple was buried together on the Linderhof property in a purpose built baroque style mausoleum.
Neither his mother or his father saw him getting married, as both had passed away a couple years earlier.
Though Anton Ulrich regretted that his parents did not see him getting married, he did not regret waiting for Amelia whom he’d called the love of his life and his soulmate. He felt like he had to wait for her.
The couple was quite elaborate in their spending.
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Born the 7th and last son, Francis Leopold Maximilian Charles Augustus Frederick Louis trailed behind all of his older brothers. In his youth, he was quite colourless and paled in academic work compared to his oldest five brothers yet he was also not as excentric as Anton Ulrich.
Francis Leopold decided in his teenage years to make a long trip through Europe, visiting most of its Royal courts and the beautiful cities yet untouched by the fast industrialisation. It was through his travels that he met many different types of people including scientists, philosophers, musicians, actors, architects, military generals, magistrates, regular farmers, factory workers, and funeral directors. Because of his many interactions, he naturally learned their languages and became known as one of few Royals to be capable of leveling themselves with the peasantry.
He brought his new knowledge with him to Bavaria, enriching his father’s court with it. However, he himself feared he would end up like his older brother Anton Ulrich, and decided to seek out a wife.
The Electorate of Hesse was Francis Leopold’s first stop, to meet with the woman his older brother would later on reject. He did also find her bland. He then continued to lands of Nassau to see Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg, yet he also rejected her for unknown reasons. He then visited both Stuttgart and Kalrsruhe. While at Karlsruhe, Francis Leopold felt a connection to the Hereditary Prince’s oldest two daughters. After spending a couple of weeks at the court, he decided he wanted the oldest twin.
On 9 March 1797, the twin Princesses of Baden married their respective fiancé’s. Amalie was married to the Prince of Bavaria, and Caroline was married to Count Palatine Maximilian I Joseph of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld.
After the wedding, Francis Leopold and Amalie remained in Karlsruhe for about a year and a half before making the journey to Munich. They welcomed their first child, Maria Franziska, in Karlsruhe three months before the start of their trip. Once back in Bavaria, the couple settled down at Neuburg Castle in Neuburg an der Donau which had once been the seat of the Counts Palatine of Neuburg.
The couple did much for the community where they settled, such as providing better quality shelter for factory workers and building entirely new villages around the city for those without a permanent home. These projects made them loved in the community, and the King often praised his youngest son for the decisions he made in his early adult life.
Francis Leopold and Amalie had eight children in total. Twice did they have twin daughters, with the first time being in 1801 when Maria Catharina and Maria Carolina were born, and the second time in 1806 with the birth of Maria Leopoldina and Maria Louisa.
Their second-born daughter Maria Catharina was engaged at the age of 11 to the young Duke Louis Augustus of Anhalt-Köthen, but he died before the wedding could even take place. Instead, she was wed to Prince Karl Christian of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the 4th surviving son of Prince George I of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Princess Augusta of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.
Their youngest daughter, Maria Amalia, was the second wife of her first cousin Prince Albert of Prussia who had been unhappily married to another first cousin. They had two sons together.
The couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in early 1822, with many members of the community turning up to celebrate it with them in true Bavarian style. It was one of the largest parties in history, laying the groundwork for the modern day Oktoberfest.
However, Amalie would die one and a half year after these celebrations due to complications arrising from an emergency surgery she had to undergo. It has been speculated that she suffered from uterine prolapse as her medical files and the diary she kept describe many of its currently known complaints.
Francis Leopold mourned his wife’s death until his own in the autumn of 1846. It was unknown whether he took a mistress after his wife’s death. Yet if he had, the affair was discreet enough for it not to be a scandal.
Both of them were buried at the Mausoleum on the Elisabetten Palace grounds.
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Another set of twins were born on 20 February 1772.
The first of these twins was baptised Augusta Christina Dorothea Alberta Frederica Carolina Elisabeth. She was considered to be the more attractive twin and more well-suited to become Queen of a land.
In the end, she did become Queen of the United Kingdom as the second spouse of King George IV of the United Kingdom. He was still Prince of Wales upon their marriage, but had freshly divorced his cousin Duchess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and was in search for a new wife.
Augusta Christina was chosen to replace Caroline, becoming a stepmother to young Princess Charlotte who was only one and a half years old when the marriage took place at Saint James’s Palace. She took being a stepmother in stride, raising the girl just like she raised her own six children.
Her oldest son was the future King William IV of the United Kingdom, who first married Princess Luise Marie Friederike of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1810 – 1839), oldest daughter of Duke Frederick William of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel on 5 March 1832 and secondly married the 20 years younger Princess Aegidia Eulalie of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (1820 – 1895), youngest child of Prince Charles Thomas of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg and Countess Sophie of Windisch-Grätz, on 10 February 1840.
Augusta Christina remained loyal to her husband, despite his many mistresses. She mostly tolerated their presence, she never sought out any conflict with them. She preferred to be in Norfolk with her children and grandchildren, often visiting local communities around the estate.
Upon the death of her father-in-law in 1820, Augusta Christina became Queen of the United Kingdom. She enjoyed this rank for ten years until her husband’s death in the summer of 1830 at the age of 67. She was a widow for 15 years, dying at the age of 73 on 8 October 1845.
Though generally thought of as less attractive than her twin and many of her contemporary Princesses, Amalia Dorothea managed to marry her 2nd cousin Prince Frederick William of Prussia on 23 December 1793, five years before her older twin was married.
Unlike many other weddings of the time, it was not arranged in any way.
The pair met at the wedding of Otto Ferdinand and Frederica Charlotte in 1787 when Amelia Dorothea was only 15 and Frederick William 16. They wrote each other for five years, slowly falling in love. The engagement was announced in February 1793, yet the marriage was postponed due to indecision on the groom’s family side as they were in the middle of arranging the marriage of Prince Louis Charles of Prussia and Princess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
It was initially the plan to have a double wedding in Berlin, but the wedding of Louis Charles and Frederica was pulled forward so Amalia Dorothea and Frederick William could get married at the Nymphenburg.
Despite these early issues, the couple had a happy marriage. They had nine children together and became King and Queen of Prussia on 16 November 1797.
Their oldest son, Frederick William, married Countess Palatine Elisabeth Ludovika of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, daughter of Count Palatine Maximilian I Joseph of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and Princess Caroline of Baden. Their second son, Wilhelm, was married to his first cousin once removed Duchess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Their first daughter, Charlotte, became Empress of Russia through her marriage with Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, son of Emperor Paul I of Russia and Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg. And their daughter Alexandrine became Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin through her marriage to Grand Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, her first cousin once removed.
Frederick William died at the age of 69, to be succeeded by his oldest son, and was buried at the Charlottenburg Palace Mausoleum. Amalia Dorothea joined him there after her own death in 1850.
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Friederike Juliane Antonia Louisa Amalia Theresa Maria was born in the late summer of 1776, six months after the weddings of her siblings Frederick Philip and George Augustus. Considering most of their children were early teens and older, she was thought of as her mother’s only solution to prevent empty-nesting syndrome from setting in too early.
Perhaps this was somewhat true, as her mother did coddle her youngest daughter the most. However, Queen Julia had no trouble letting her youngest daughter take the wedding veil in 1798 when, after a short courtship, Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine proposed to the Bavarian Princess who was one year his senior. At the age of 22, she was considered a mature bride.
Friederike Juliane resided with her husband and his family in Darmstadt. She saw the abysmal state of the Royal Palaces, and decided it was time for a change. She turned herself into a workhorse, doing as much for the people as she could while also using the money from her dowry to pay for roof repairs. She asked some of her brothers for favours so they would hire artisans who could come to Darmstadt for work.
However, this was just her short-term plan. On the long term, Friederike Juliane hoped to turn Darmstadt into the cultural center of the West-German lands. She funded many expeditions to the Black Forrest, built a museum dedicated to Darmstadt’s history, repaired the city’s roads, smoothened logistics through the city, and made sure their was enough space for people to work and trade.
In many eyes, she was the actual reigning Royal rather than her husband. Indeed, Grand Duke Louis II of Hesse and by Rhine was not as strong a leader as his wife who had enjoyed a very Prussian education, and he was generally considered a bore which made the birth of his eight children a miracle. Hence there were many rumours at the time that most children were fathered by the Grand Duke’s younger brother Prince Frederick of Hesse and by Rhine, who never married.
Of the eight children born to the couple, only four of them got married.
The heir, the future Grand Duke Louis III of Hesse, was married to Countess Palatine Caroline Mathilde, daughter of Count Palatine Louis I of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and Princess Christina Josepha of Bavaria.
The couple’s second son, Charles, was married to Princess Elisabeth of Prussia, daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Landgravine Maria Anna of Hesse-Homburg. Their oldest son, the future Louis IV, was married to Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, daughter of King William IV of the United Kingdom and Princess Aegidia Eulalie of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.
The couple’s third son, Alexander, morganatically married Julia Hauke. They were the creators of the Battenberg lineage which provided a Spanish Queen Consort and a wife for a Greek Prince.
Of the couple’s five daughters, only their youngest got married. Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine married her first cousin once removed Emperor Alexander II of Russia, first-born son of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (born Charlotte of Prussia).
Princesses Wilhelmine, Mathilde Caroline, Anna Louise, and Elisabeth remained unmarried for the rest of their lives.
In the next chapter, we will be focusing on the reign of King Andreas II of Bavaria and his family. Though his achievements pale in comparison to his father’s, it is sometimes considered to be better when you have less reforms to do as they have already been done for you so you have time to fine-tune plans and close loopholes in the law.