View source for Princess Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt (1757–1830)

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{{Infobox royalty|consort=yes
| succession= [[List of Saxon consorts#Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Grand Duchess consort of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]
| name = Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
| full name =Louise Auguste
| image          =Tischbein, Louise von Sachsen-Weimar@Weimar Schlossmuseum.JPG
| image_size =
| caption = Luise von Hessen-Darmstadt, in a painting by [[Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein]]
| reign          =21 April 1815 – 14 June 1828
| spouse         ={{marriage|[[Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]|3 October 1775|14 June 1828|end=d.}}
| issue          ={{plainlist|
*Princess Luise
*[[Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]
*[[Princess Caroline Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Caroline Louise, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]]
*[[Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1792–1862)|Prince Bernhard]]
}}
| house    =[[House of Hesse-Darmstadt|Hesse-Darmstadt]]
| father         =[[Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt]]
| mother      = [[Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken]]
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1757|1|30|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Berlin]]
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1830|2|14|1757|1|30|df=y}}
| death_place =
| burial_date =
| burial_place=
|}}
'''Princess and Landgravine Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt''' (30 January 1757 &ndash; 14 February 1830) was a German princess.  She was the daughter of [[Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt]].  On 3 October 1775 she married duke (later grand-duke) [[Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Charles Augustus of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]] and as such a member of the court sphere of [[Weimar Classicism]].  She was held to be serious and introverted but also compassionate and sympathetic, in the aftermath of the [[Battle of Jena]] which guaranteed her part in the later "myth of Weimar" ("Weimarmythos").
==Life==
===Early life===
The princess belonged to the [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt|House of Darmstadt]], which held the Hessian landgraviate. She was born on 30 January 1757 in [[Frederick II of Prussia|Frederick II]]'s Prussian capital, Berlin, where her parents were due to the [[Seven Years' War]]. Her father [[Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt|Louis IX]] succeeded to the landgraviate in 1768 and was at the time of her birth fighting as a general for the Prussian forces. He was thus often away from his children and so the princess's education was in her mother [[Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken|Caroline]]'s hands. Caroline educated Louise in the evangelical Protestant tradition, and she became interested in literature and music.
As the youngest daughter, with eight siblings, Louise's education was important to improve her marriage prospects. Since Louis IX showed little interest in his children, it was vital to get Louise married off and a matter also in the hands of her mother, becoming known as the "great Landgräfin" and von Zweibrücken due to her expert international dynastic politics in ancien regime Europe. In  1773 Louise travelled with her mother and sisters [[Princess Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt|Amalie]] and [[Natalia Alexeievna (Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt)|Wilhelmine]] to Beschau then to the Russian court in [[St Petersburg]]. Tsarina [[Catharine II of Russia|Catharine II]] decided Louise was unsuitable as a wife for the grand-prince and future Tsar [[Paul I of Russia|Paul]], preferring her sister Wilhemine. This rebuff and her relationship with her future brother-in-law Paul formed Louise, leading to her being a persistent influence in the Russian state.
Nevertheless, this journey was not without influence on Louise, since on the way to Russia Caroline had learned of another female regent of a small German state – [[Anna Amalia von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach)|Anna Amalia]]. Anna and Louise probably found favour together.
===Marriage===
At the end of this acquaintance, under the influence of the governor in Erfurt from the [[Archbishopric of Mainz]], [[Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg]], the 18-year-old Louise was betrothed to the young knight Carl August of [[Sachsen-Weimar]]. The marriage occurred on 3 October 1775 at the Karlsruher court, where (as a new princess-consort) Louise became caught up in the [[Ernestine duchies|Ernestine]] Weimar court.
The marriage was wholly dynastic in purpose (her sisters were married off to [[Frederick William II of Prussia|heir to Prussia]] and the [[Paul I of Russia|Tsarevitch]]), consolidating the duchy of Saxe-Weimar's place at the heart of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Primary and secondary sources agree that it was as unhappy, with Louise (noted for her delicacy and timidity) had difficulty fitting in at court and remained in the shadow of her mother-in-law, the dowager duchess Anna Amalia. Louise especially attended the convents in her new country. A [[Romanticism|Romantic]] ''avant la lettre'', she did not have a taste for the Romantic lifestyle. [[Goethe]] was court poet and minister to her husband (and his companion in his extra-marital affairs), but was moved by her charm, noble-heartedness and her eyes "the colour of cornflowers". Taking her under his wing, Goethe  dedicated the following words to her:
{{Cquote|I know one, thin as the lily / Whose pride is only innocence. / No one – not even Solomon – ever saw her like. <br>(J'en sais une, mince comme lys/ Dont la fierté n'est qu'innocence./ Nul – pas même Salomon – n'en vit de pareille.)}}
After four years of marriage, in 1779 Louise finally gave birth her first child, who was not the hoped-for male heir but a daughter; named after her mother, she lived for only five years. Louise's next pregnancy, in 1781, produced a second daughter who died immediately after birth. At this time the Weimar ducal court also went through its [[sturm und drang]] phase, drawing not only Goethe but also the Ernestines from Miseleien and Eseleien. The resulting emotional coldness did not help their marriage, with her husband publicly humiliating the marriage by a long-term affair with the actress [[Karoline Jagemann]]. Louise only gave him the heir in 1783, with the birth of [[Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Charles Frederick]]; after him, followed four more children, of whom two survived infancy: [[Princess Caroline Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Caroline Louise]] in 1786 and [[Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1792–1862)|Bernhard]] in 1792. With the birth of Bernhard the marriage had finally served its purpose of guaranteeing the succession to the throne and the continuation of the dynasty. Charles Frederick later married [[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786-1859)|Maria]] (sister of [[Alexander I of Russia]], and their daughter [[Augusta of Saxe-Weimar]] married prince [[Wilhelm I, German Emperor|Wilhelm of Prussia]], thus becoming the first empress of Germany.
===Napoleonic Wars===
Louise had her great moment in October 1806. Despite her childhood and her early experiences in Weimar, she was a great influence in literary circles. The [[battle of Jena-Auerstedt]] (14 October), led to the defeat of the Prussian-Saxon forces and the total submission of all the German states to France and precipitated the fall of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Soon after the battle, the victorious French troops advanced on Weimar. The other family members either fled or were away fighting in the Prussian forces, and so Louise remained in Weimar as mother and protector of the nation.
Two days after the battle she ended up opposing [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] himself. He insisted that her husband withdraw from Prussian military service but she quite undiplomatically made it clear to Napoleon that he could not do so. Nevertheless, at her husband's request and inspired by the example of the German patriot queen [[Princess Louise of Prussia (1808-1870)|Louise of Prussia]], she managed to arrange the French plundering of the area so that Weimar got off lightly compared to the university-city of Jena. Whether Napoleon let himself soften towards Louise, or whether he acted this way due to his own calculations in power-politics remains open to discussion. The Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach duchy remained with the alliance upon the [[Treaty of Poznań]] and survived the Napoleonic era via further politicking. Since Louise was now considered as the country's leader, and her subjects and contemporaries maintained this image of her – along with her part in the Weimar myth.
In 1815 her politicking during the war ensured that at the [[Congress of Vienna]] her husband's small duchy not only retained all its territory but rose to become a grand duchy (her [[Thuringia]]n cousins the [[house of Saxony]], in contrast, merely preserved their title of duke). She then became devoted to ambassadorial duties. The Russian alliance ended with her successor [[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786-1859)|Maria Pavlovna]]. The jubilee of her rule and her golden wedding, both in 1825, passed with little celebration and – already very withdrawn – she died aged 73 on 14 February 1830.
==Issue==
[[File:Tischbein, Kinder Carl August@Weimar Schlossmuseum.JPG|thumbnail|right|200px|''The children of Charles Augustus and Louise's: Charles Frederick, Caroline Louise and Bernhard.'' Portrait by [[Johann Friedrich August Tischbein]], 1798.]]
She and Charles Augustus had 7 children, of whom only three survive adulthood:<ref>[http://wwperson.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/cgi-bin/l1/LANG=engl/INDEX=I130697 ''Louise Auguste Prinzessin v.Hessen-Darmstadt'' in: Genealogy Database by Herbert Stoyan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126102240/http://wwperson.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/cgi-bin/l1/LANG=engl/INDEX=I130697 |date=2014-11-26 }} [retrieved 14 November 2014].</ref>
* Louise Auguste Amalie (Weimar, 3 February 1779 – Weimar, 24 March 1784).
* A daughter (born and died Weimar, 10 September 1781).
* [[Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]] (Weimar, 2 February 1783 – Schloss Belvedere, Weimar, 8 July 1853).
* A son (born and died Weimar, 26 February 1785).
* [[Princess Caroline Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Caroline Louise]] (Weimar, 18 July 1786 – Ludwigslust, 20 January 1816), married Hereditary Prince [[Frederick Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]].
* A son (born and died, Weimar, 13 April 1789).
* [[Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1792–1862)|Charles Bernhard]] (Weimar, 30 May 1792 – Liebenstein, 31 July 1862).
==Archives==
Louise's letters to her parents, grandmother and other persons, written between 1760 and 1776, are preserved in the Hessian State Archive (Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt) in Darmstadt, Germany.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arcinsys.hessen.de/arcinsys/detailAction.action?detailid=v187620 |title=Briefe der Prinzessin Luise, verheiratete Herzogin von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach |publisher=Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt}}</ref>
==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center |ref=<ref>{{cite book|title=Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans| trans-title=Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AINPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA69|year=1768|publisher=Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel|location=Bourdeaux|language=fr|page=69}}</ref>
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
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|1= 1. '''Princess Louise Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt'''
|2= 2. [[Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt]]
|3= 3. [[Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken]]
|4= 4. [[Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt]]
|5= 5. [[Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg]]
|6= 6. [[Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken]]
|7= 7. [[Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken]]
|8= 8. [[Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt]]
|9= 9. [[Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach]]
|10=10. [[Johann Reinhard III of Hanau-Lichtenberg]]
|11=11. [[Dorothea Friederike of Brandenburg-Ansbach]]
|12=12. [[Christian II of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld]]
|13=13. Katharina Agathe of Rappoltstein
|14=14. [[Louis Crato, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken]]
|15=15. Philippine Henriette of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
}}
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* {{in lang|de}} Bornhak, Friederike: ''Aus Alt-Weimar. Die Großherzoginnen Luise und Maria Paulowna'', Breslau 1908.
* {{in lang|de}} Hammerich, Louis Leonor: ''Zwei kleine Goethestudien. II. Grossherzogin Louise von Sachsen-Weimar – eine politische, keine schöne Seele'', Kopenhagen 1962.
* {{in lang|de}} Taxis-Bordogna, Olga: ''Frauen von Weimar'', München 1950.
{{Commons category|Louise Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Hesse-Darmstadt]]|30 January|1757|14 February|1830|[[House of Hesse]]}}
{{s-roy|de}}
|-
{{s-vac|rows=2|last=[[Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Saxon consorts#Duchess of Saxe-Weimar|Duchess consort of Saxe-Weimar]]|years=3 October 1775 – 1809}}
{{s-non|rows=2|reason=Merged into one State}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Saxon consorts#Duchess of Saxe-Eisenach|Duchess consort of Saxe-Eisenach]]|years=3 October 1775 – 1809}}
|-
{{s-non|reason=New title}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Saxon consorts#Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Duchess consort of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]|years=1809 – 21 April 1815}}
{{s-non|reason=Title Abolished}}
|-
{{s-non|reason=New title}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Saxon consorts#Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Grand Duchess consort of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]|years=21 April 1815 &ndash; 14 June 1828}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786–1859)|Maria Pavlovna of Russia]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louise Of Hesse-Darmstadt, Princess}}
[[Category:1757 births]]
[[Category:1830 deaths]]
[[Category:Grand duchesses of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]
[[Category:Duchesses of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]
[[Category:Duchesses of Saxe-Weimar]]
[[Category:Duchesses of Saxe-Eisenach]]
[[Category:House of Hesse-Darmstadt]]
[[Category:House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]
[[Category:German people of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:People from Berlin]]
[[Category:Princesses of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]
[[Category:Landgravines of Hesse-Darmstadt]]
[[Category:Daughters of monarchs]]
[[Category:Mothers of Saxon monarchs]]