by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2017
source: Wikipedia
Luise Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt was the first Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach through her marriage to Grand Duke Karl August. She was born in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany on January 30, 1757, the daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Caroline of Zweibrücken. Luise had seven siblings:
- Princess Caroline – (1746-1821) – married Friedrich V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, had issue
- Princess Friederike Luise (1751-1805) – married King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, had issue
- Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (1753-1830) – married Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt, had issue
- Princess Amalie (1754-1832) – married Karl Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Baden, had issue
- Princess Wilhelmina (1755-1776) – married the future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia, died in childbirth with her baby
- Prince Friedrich (1759-1802) – unmarried
- Prince Christian (1763-1830) – unmarried
Karl August of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. source: Wikipedia
In the early 1770s, Luise’s mother took Luise and two of her sisters to St. Petersburg to be presented to the Russian Empress Catherine the Great as potential brides for her son and heir Paul. Luise’s sister Wilhelmine was chosen, but on the journey home, Luise’s future would be arranged thanks to a chance meeting with Anna Amalia of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, who was serving as Regent for her young son, Karl August. An engagement was soon arranged, and Luise and Karl August were married in Karlsruhe on October 3, 1775, just a month after he reached his majority. Luise became the Duchess of Saxe-Weimar and Duchess of Saxe-Eisenach upon her marriage, and the couple had four children:
- Princess Luise Auguste (1779-1784) – died in childhood
- Grand Duke Karl Friedrich (1783-1853) – married Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, had issue
- Princess Karoline Luise (1786-1816) – married Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had issue
- Prince Bernhard (1792-1862) – married Princess Ida of Saxe-Meiningen, had issue
The arranged marriage was purely dynastic and there was not much love between the two. Karl August had a long-term and very public affair with an actress and gave his wife little emotional support. Despite this, she was devoted to her husband’s position, as well as her new homeland. When French forces advanced on Weimar in 1806, Luise stood firm and remained there while most of the family fled or were off fighting in the war. She would take it upon herself to stand up to Napoleon himself and protect Weimar and its people from the fighting. Her efforts were successful, and Weimar remained mostly untouched. Several years later, at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Luise’s efforts ensured that the duchy did not have to cede any territory, and was instead elevated to a Grand Duchy. Those efforts also earned her the love and complete devotion of the people.
Luise stepped away from public duties after being widowed in 1828. The Dowager Grand Duchess died nearly two years later, on February 14, 1830, at the age of 73. She is buried in the Weimarer Fürstengruft in the Historical Cemetery in Weimar, Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, now in the German state of Thuringia.
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Resources at Unofficial Royalty