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Names
	Auguste Christine Friederike

Augusta of Prussia
Augusta of Prussia
	Portrait by Friedrich Bury
Electress consort of Hesse
Tenure	27 February 1821 – 19 February 1841
Born	1 May 1780; Potsdam, Prussia
Died	19 February 1841 (aged 60); Kassel
Spouse	William II, Elector of Hesse (m. 1797)
Issue	Prince Wilhelm ; Princess Karoline ; Princess Luise ; Frederick William, Elector of Hesse; Marie, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen; Prince Ferdinand
Names
Names
	Auguste Christine Friederike
House	Hohenzollern
Father	Frederick William II of Prussia
Mother	Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt

Augusta of Prussia (Christine Friederike Auguste; 1 May 1780 – 19 February 1841) was a German salonist, painter, and Electress consort of Hesse by marriage to William II, Elector of Hesse. She was the third daughter and fifth child of Frederick William II of Prussia and Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Biography

On 13 February 1797 in Berlin, Augusta married Prince William of Hesse-Kassel, eldest surviving son of William IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. In 1803, the Landgrave was raised to Elector of Hesse, and Prince William succeeded on his father's death in 1821.

The marriage of Augusta was politically arranged and unhappy. Augusta and William often came into conflict with one another, which led to aggressive confrontations.

In 1806, Hesse was occupied by France. Augusta was in Berlin with her children at the time, having remained in the Prussian capital due to her pregnancy when Napoleon's army took it for France.^[1] Napoleon put guards around her house and gave orders that she should not be disturbed. With Hesse and Prussia occupied and her family in exile, Augusta lacked money, and after her child's birth she asked for a meeting with Napoleon. She appeared before him with her newborn baby on her arm and one of her children by the hand and asked him for an allowance, which he granted her.^[2]

After the birth of her last child in 1806, the relationship between Augusta and William was unofficially terminated. In 1815, they agreed to keep separate households. Augusta lived in Schoenfeld Palace, where she became a celebrated salonist and the centre of the romantic Schoenfelder-circle, which included Ludwig Hassenpflug, Joseph von Radowitz and the Grimm brothers, while William lived in a different residence with his mistress, Emilie Ortlöpp.

Auguste closed her salon in 1823, and between 1826 and 1831 she lived in The Hague, Koblenz, Bonn and Fulda. She returned to Kassel in 1831. Augusta was regarded as a skillful painter, whose works included self-portraits.

Several months after Augusta's death, William morganatically remarried his longtime mistress Emilie Ortlöpp, ennobled as Countess von Reichenbach-Lessonitz, by whom he had an additional eight children.

Issue

Wilhelm (9 April 1798 – 25 October 1800)
Karoline (29 July 1799 – 28 November 1854)
Luise (3 April 1801 – 28 September 1803)
Frederick William, Elector of Hesse (20 August 1802 – 6 June 1875) morganatically married Gertrude Lehmann.
Marie (6 September 1804 – 4 January 1888), married Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and had issue.
Ferdinand (9 October 1806 – 21 November 1806)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Princess Augusta of Prussia^[3]

16. Frederick I of Prussia

8. Frederick William I of Prussia

17. Sophia Charlotte of Hanover

4. Prince Augustus William of Prussia

18. George I of Great Britain

9. Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover

19. Sophia Dorothea of Celle

2. Frederick William II of Prussia

20. Ferdinand Albert I

10. Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

21. Christine of Hesse-Eschwege

5. Duchess Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

22. Louis Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick

11. Duchess Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

23. Christine Louise of Oettingen-Oettingen

1. Princess Augusta of Prussia

24. Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

12. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

25. Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach

6. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

26. Johann Reinhard III, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg

13. Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg

27. Dorothea Friederike of Brandenburg-Ansbach

3. Princess Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt

28. Christian II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld

14. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken

29. Katharina Agathe, Countess of Rappoltstein

7. Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken

30. Louis Crato, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken

15. Countess Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken

31. Philippine Henriette of Hohenlohe

Notes

^ Charlottas, Hedvig Elisabeth (1936) [1800–1806]. af Klercker, Cecilia (ed.). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok [The diary of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte] (in Swedish). Vol. VII 1800–1806. Translated by Cecilia af Klercker. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag. p. 455. OCLC 14111333. (search for all versions on WorldCat)
^ Charlottas, Hedvig Elisabeth (1936) [1800–1806]. af Klercker, Cecilia (ed.). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok [The diary of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte] (in Swedish). Vol. VII 1800–1806. Translated by Cecilia af Klercker. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag. p. 477. OCLC 14111333. (search for all versions on WorldCat)
^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768., pp. 17 (father's side), 69 (mother's side)

External links

German royalty
Princess Augusta of Prussia House of Hohenzollern Cadet branch of the Burchardinger dynasty Born: 1 May 1780 Died: 19 February 1841
Vacant Title last held by Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark	Electress of Hesse 27 February 1821 – 19 February 1841	Electorate annexed to Prussia in 1866