Anna of Prussia (1836–1918)

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Princess Anna of Prussia, later Landgravine of Hessen-Kassel (painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter , 1858, Schloss Fasanerie)

Anna von Prussia (born May 17, 1836 in Berlin as Princess Marie Anna Friederike von Prussia ; † June 12, 1918 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel , a Prussian princess and a well-known convert to the Catholic Church.

Life

Childhood, wife and princess

Princess Anna of Prussia in her early years

Princess Anna was the youngest daughter of Prince Carl of Prussia and Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , sister of Empress Augusta , the wife of Wilhelm I.

The girl grew up mainly at Glienicke Palace in Berlin-Wannsee and was instructed in Protestant religion by the Prussian field provost Ludwig August Bollert (1833-1860).

On May 26, 1853 married Princess Anna of Prussia in Charlottenburg Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse, son of the Landgrave Wilhelm of Hesse -Kassel-Rumpenheim and Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark . He was the presumptive heir to the throne in the Electorate of Hesse . In 1866, Kurhessen was annexed by Prussia, whereupon the last Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I , the uncle of Princess Anna's husband, went into exile.

In 1873 the nephew Friedrich Wilhelm renounced all government rights by way of a compensation contract and received a high severance payment from Prussia, which allowed him and Anna to live as private individuals while maintaining their princely household.

The family lived alternately in Denmark, in Kassel Wilhelmshöhe Palace , in Weimar, Berlin, at Gut Panker in Holstein, and at Rumpenheim Palace . In 1875, Friedrich Wilhelm began the expansion of Philippsruhe Castle near Hanau into his retirement home, which the couple moved into in 1880. Anna of Prussia, or Landgravine Anna, as she was called, maintained a circle there with renowned artistic personalities of her time, u. a. Johannes Brahms (who dedicated his great piano quintet in F minor, Op. 34, one of the most important works in chamber music ), Clara Schumann , Anton Grigorjewitsch Rubinstein , Julius Stockhausen , Niels Wilhelm Gade , August Winding and Johann Peter Emilius Hartmann .

Widow and convert

The St. Antonius Church in Frankfurt am Main , donated by Princess Anna

Princess Anna suffered numerous strokes of fate one after the other, which caused her to turn to religious matters. In 1882 the 10-year-old daughter Marie Polyxene died of inflammation of the bone marrow, in 1884 her husband succumbed to a serious stomach disease, in 1886 she lost her young son-in-law, Hereditary Prince Leopold von Anhalt ; her eldest son Friedrich Wilhelm died on a sea voyage in 1888.

Age picture of Princess Anna of Prussia, Landgravine of Hesse (after a pastel painting by Paul Beckert, 1916)

The Landgravine had already met the local bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler during a stay in Mainz in 1866, who made a strong impression on her and aroused her lasting interest in the Roman Catholic Church. Now she often stayed at Adolphseck Castle near Fulda , in a region characterized by Roman Catholicism. Over the years, the princess developed an ever increasing affinity to the Roman Catholic denomination and finally, after detailed instruction from Professor Viktor Thielemann (1867–1944), officially declared her conversion to the Roman Catholic Church on October 10, 1901. In addition to the local bishop Adalbert Endert and his successor Joseph Damian Schmitt , the later Bishop of Meissen Christian Schreiber and Archduchess Maria Luise of Austria, her husband, Prince Karl II of Isenburg and Büdingen , participated in the solemn act in the chapel of the Fulda seminary Was convert.

As early as August 7, 1901, a body gendarme brought her the handwriting of Kaiser Wilhelm II , in which he expelled her from the family as head of the House of Hohenzollern because of her impending change of faith. In 1918, shortly before the death of Princess Anna, he visited her again personally, regretted his behavior and made up with her.

In April 1902 the princess went to Rome, where she met Pope Leo XIII. received in private audience. On this occasion she also met the then Undersecretary of State Giacomo della Chiesa, the future Benedict XV. know personally.

In 1905 Anna von Hessen was accepted as a member of the Third Order of the Franciscans , in whose sisters' costume she was later buried at her request. Since 1902, the Landgrave had been on friendly terms with the newly founded St. Boniface Monastery in Hünfeld, to which she made several valuable donations, such as For example, a green vestment made of 20 parts, the portrait painting of the founder of the order Eugen von Mazenod made by Paul Beckert and, after her death, a silver altar cross with four candlesticks with a cross relic. The Congregation of Oblate Missionaries made her an honorary oblate, and young fathers often performed St. Mary as chaplains in the castle chapel at Adophseck Castle during the summer months . Mass celebrated.

She spent the last years of her life in Frankfurt am Main , where she died on June 12, 1918. Pope Benedict XV the dying man had given his personal blessing and greetings. When she died, Anna von Prussia was the eldest member of the Princely House of Hohenzollern . She was laid out on June 17th in the St. Antonius Church she founded , her daily abode for prayer and mass. The Limburg bishop Augustinus Kilian held the pontifical requiem there in the presence of many princes, u. a. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands . The coffin was then transported by train to Fulda , where the princess was buried at her own request in Fulda Cathedral , in front of the St. Anna Altar, near the grave of St. Boniface . The bottom inscription reads: "Hic iacet Serenissima Landgrafia Hassiae ANNA Principissa Borussiae nata Berolini the 17th maii 1836 obiit Francofurti the 12th junii 1918 + Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo RIP"

progeny

Landgravine Anna and her husband Friedrich Wilhelm had six children, of whom Friedrich Karl was elected King of Finland in 1918. The children were:

literature

  • Landgravine Anna of Hesse 1836–1918. Stations in the life of a Hessian princess. Exhibition catalog. Museum Schloss Fasanerie June 16 - October 14, 2018 . Imhof, Petersberg 2018. ISBN 978-3-7319-0750-3 and ISBN 978-3-9816021-5-9
    • Katharina Bechler: Notes on the room decoration of Philippsruhe Palace from the modernization phase 1875–1880 , pp. 198–219.
    • Christoph Heinemann: Anna of Hessen and the Boniface monastery in Huenfeld. A look at the monastery chronicle , pp. 142–153.
    • Christine Klössel: Third Phase of Life, Conversion and Death , pp. 126–137.
    • Christine Klössel: Family Life - Mother Happiness and Mother Sorrow, pp. 66–85.
    • Christine Klössel: Childhood, Love and Marriage , pp. 8–19.
    • Christine Klössel: Landgrave couple without land , pp. 48–59.
    • Christine Klössel: The Elixir of Life, Music , pp. 110–121.
  • Kapistran Romeis: Princess Anna of Prussia, Landgrave of Hesse - her way to the Catholic Church. Herder, Freiburg 1925.
  • John Röhl : Kaiser, court and state - Wilhelm II. And German politics. Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 978-3-406-49405-5 , p. 106.

Web links

Commons : Anna von Preußen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Susanne Bohl: Landgravine Anna von Hessen, Princess of Prussia - "As God willing, I keep still" . In: Susanne Bohl and others (ed.): Fulda. 50 treasures and specialties . Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-7319-0425-0 , pp. 150–154, here p. 152.
  2. ↑ On the instruction of converts by Professor Thielemann
  3. ↑ Susanne Bohl: Landgravine Anna von Hessen, Princess of Prussia - "As God willing, I keep still" . In: Susanne Bohl and others (ed.): Fulda. 50 treasures and specialties . Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2016, pp. 150–154, here p. 153.
  4. ^ To Maria Luise of Austria
  5. ↑ See: Thomas Heiler and Beate Kann: Fulda railway junction . Erfurt 2011, p. 117 (with photo).
personal data
SURNAME Prussia, Anna von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prussia, Marie Anna Friederike von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Princess of Prussia and Countess of Hesse-Kassel
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1836
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH June 12, 1918
Place of death Frankfurt am Main