Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1769-1818)
Charlotte Georgine Luise Friederike Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (born November 17, 1769 in Hanover ; † May 14, 1818 in Hildburghausen ), known as the Duchess of Saxony-Hildburghausen , was the eldest daughter of Hereditary Prince Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Friederike Caroline of Hessen-Darmstadt . Charlotte became Duchess of Saxony-Hildburghausen by marriage in 1785 .
With her sisters, Queen Luise of Prussia , Queen Friederike of Hanover and Princess Therese von Thurn und Taxis , she was considered one of the most beautiful women of her time. Jean Paul dedicated his novel Titan to the “four beautiful and noble sisters on the throne” .
Life
Childhood and youth
Charlotte grew up in Hanover, where her father, in the service of his brother-in-law Georg III. who acted as governor. When Charlotte was twelve years old, her mother died and she was first raised by her mother's sister, Charlotte, whom her father married in 1784, and the educator Magdalena von Wol . After the stepmother's death, her siblings were housed with their grandmother in Darmstadt . Charlotte had already moved to Hildburghausen at that time .
Duchess of Saxony-Hildburghausen
At the age of 15, the princess married Duke Friedrich von Sachsen-Hildburghausen on September 3, 1785 in Hildburghausen , who was under the reign of his great-great-uncle Joseph Friedrich until 1787 .
The marriage was less harmonious, Friedrich, who was mentally far inferior to his wife, soon treated Charlotte indifferently. The Duchess lived not only in less happy families, but also in tense financial circumstances. The country had been placed under imperial administration until 1806 because of the ruinous financial policy of Frederick's predecessors and the duke was only entitled to a reduced civil list .
Charlotte's father, who had often stayed with his eldest daughter in Hildburghausen Palace with his two sons , became President of the Credit Commission and in 1787 moved entirely to Hildburghausen. In 1792 her grandmother Princess George fled with the Charlotte siblings to Hildburghausen before the approaching French army. The grandmother noted about Charlotte's husband: “[...] who of his duties only pursues marital duties with zeal. Charlotte, who never loved this man, is always pregnant. ”The reunited family spent carefree weeks in Hildburghausen. In 1793 the grandmother ended her exile and traveled to Frankfurt am Main , where Luise met her future husband Friedrich Wilhelm .
Charlotte had a very close and loving relationship with her Strelitz family and her children. She was with her sister Therese on October 9, 1806 in Erfurt at the headquarters of the Prussian king with her sister Luise and witnessed the declaration of war by Friedrich Wilhelm III. to Napoleon , on which Luise had played a decisive role. In 1803 and 1805 the Prussian royal couple visited Hildburghausen, for this purpose the compulsory administration approved the renovation of the interior of the castle in Hildburghausen.
Christian Truchseß von Wetzhausen zu Bettenburg was also a friend of the court and godfather of Charlotte's son Eduard . Truchseß wrote to Fouqué about a visit from Charlotte, accompanied by her daughter Therese , Crown Princess of Bavaria, to the Bettenburg in Franconia : “Our Crown Prince of Bavaria and the Hereditary Prince of Weilburg were with their mother, the Duchess of Hildburghausen; and since I knew these lovely daughters from my youth and they were always dear to me, the desire arose in them to visit old Truchseß in his castle and to visit them and their mother and her brother Georg and the hereditary prince of Weilburg , the brave one Man from Waterloo and really only a small suite came on Sunday at noon. ”A large number of spectators had come to see the Bavarian Crown Princess. When the guests were received, Truchsess had wanted to lead the lower-ranking Charlotte into the castle first, but she refused, with reference to her daughter. Truchseß replied: "Your Highness will graciously forgive, as long as the castle is here, the mother always had priority over the daughter." Therese then took the baron's other arm and the three of them stepped through the castle gate.
The Duchess used half of her annual income for poor relief, pensions, education and apprenticeship costs. After her sister's death, she had the Luis monument built in Hildburghausen's city park in 1815.
The court of muses
Charlotte, who was interested in literature, was an ardent supporter of the intellectual life of the residence. She relaxed the etiquette regulations and brought musicians, painters and poets to court. Since May 1799, the writer Jean Paul was one of them . On May 25, 1799, he wrote to his friend Otto : “I've been sitting here for a week and it's very soft. First of all, imagine, paint yourself the heavenly Duchess, with beautiful childlike eyes, your whole face full of love and charm and youth, with a nightingale glottis and a mother's heart [...] they love and read me [...] I am Always asked for lunch and dinner [...] Yesterday I was fantasizing on the piano in front of the courtyard. Here, too, I have a decent community of brothers and sisters and can be the Zinzendorf . ”He wrote Otto again on October 27, 1799:“ I knew in advance that the farm was in Seidingstadt , where I am going out for one night today. The beautiful duchess was just here when I was flying in and immediately let me come a few minutes before boarding. Apart from a lover, I know nothing more beautiful than this sweet figure. "
Charlotte bestowed the bourgeois Jean Paul with the title of legation councilor and the writer became engaged to one of her ladies-in-waiting. The engagement with Karoline Feuchter von Feuchtersleben was later canceled.
Under Charlotte, the court developed into a "Little Weimar"; the current city slogan of Hildburghausen "The little classic" should remind of this. In addition to Jean Paul, many other contemporaries testified to Charlotte's extraordinary singing talent, which earned her the name "Singlotte" and the reputation of one of the greatest singers of her time. She received singing lessons in Hanover from the Italian Giuliani and later took part in court concerts and church festivals. During Holy Week she sang regularly in the Christ Church in Hildburghausen Graun's death of Jesus , at which the entire population had access to the church.
death
Charlotte died on May 14, 1818 after a long illness. Her daughter Therese reports about this to her sister Luise: “Eight or ten days ago, on a fearful night, in which the end seemed near, she said good-bye to all of us and sent you distant loved ones her blessing - that's the best thing a good, affectionate mother can give to her children [...] In those days when she said goodbye to us in the most touching expressions, I knelt by the bed of her sorrows and asked for her blessing. When her hand rested on my head, I spoke - not true for all of us, dear mother - and she replied - for all [...] We all received a (ring) from her dear hands. Often looking at him, the resolve to always live worthy of the best of mothers becomes ever more solid in our hearts. "
Charlotte ordered her to be buried in the newly planned cemetery at Backsteinfeld in Hildburghausen. Initially provisionally in the castle church, Charlotte was the first to be buried there in 1819. The tomb was designed by Hofzimmermann Heim and erected in 1824. The green bronzed candelabra stands on four black spheres with an upper shell at the top, in which blazing flames are depicted. Friedrich Sickler wrote the inscription . A little later, Prince Moritz von Sachsen-Altenburg had the candelabra restored. The crypt has a height of 4 meters and a diameter of about 12 meters. After the castle church was converted into a courtroom, all the corpses of the royal crypt there were transferred to the grave of Duchess Charlotte.
progeny
Charlotte had given birth to 12 children to her husband:
- Friedrich (1786–1786)
-
Charlotte (1787–1847)
⚭ 1805 Prince Paul of Württemberg (1785–1852), Princess Paul - Auguste (1788–1788)
-
Joseph (1789–1868), Duke of Saxony-Altenburg
⚭ 1817 Duchess Amalie of Württemberg (1799–1848) - Friederike (1791–1791)
-
Therese (1792–1854)
⚭ 1810 King Ludwig I of Bavaria (1786–1868) -
Luise (1794–1825)
⚭ 1813 Duke Wilhelm von Nassau (1792–1839) - Franz (1795–1800)
-
Georg (1796-1853), Duke of Saxony-Altenburg
⚭ 1825 Duchess Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1803-1862) - Friedrich (1801-1870)
- Maximilian (1803-1803)
-
Eduard (1804–1852)
⚭ 1. 1835 Princess Amalie von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1815–1841)
⚭ 2. 1842 Princess Luise Reuss zu Greiz (1822–1875)
ancestors
| Pedigree of Duchess Charlotte of Saxony-Hildburghausen | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great grandparents |
Duke |
Duke |
Landgrave |
Count |
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| Grandparents |
Duke |
Prince |
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| parents |
Duke Karl zu Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1741–1816) |
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Duchess Charlotte of Saxony-Hildburghausen (1769–1818) |
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literature
- Heinrich Ferdinand Schoeppl: The dukes of Saxony-Altenburg. Bozen 1917, reprint Altenburg 1992
- Dr. Rudolf Armin Human: Chronicle of the city of Hildburghausen , Hildburghausen 1886
- HP Wulff-Woesten: Hildburghausen Highnesses - connected to the people , Hildburghausen 1992
- Jean Paul, Christian Otto: Jean Paul's correspondence with his friend Christian Otto , Bd. 1, Berlin 1829
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Jean Paul: Jean Paul's complete works Paris 1836 p. 495
- ↑ HP Wulff-Woesten: Hildburghäuser Highnesses - connected to the people , Hildburghausen 1992, p. 24.
- ↑ Karin Feuerstein-Praßer: The Prussian queens . Munich: Piper 2005, p. 257.
- ↑ Dr. Rudolf Armin Human: Chronicle of the City of Hildburghausen , Hildburghausen 1886, p. 238.
- ^ Karl Kühner: Dichter, Patriarch und Ritter , Frankfurt 1869, p. 156.
- ↑ Dr. Rudolf Armin Human: Chronicle of the city of Hildburghausen Hildburghausen 1886, p. 205 f.
- ↑ Dr. Rudolf Armin Human: Chronicle of the city of Hildburghausen , Hildburghausen 1886, p. 204 f.
- ↑ Dr. Rudolf Armin Human: Chronicle of the City of Hildburghausen , Hildburghausen 1886, p. 205.
- ^ Gunther de Bruyn: The life of Jean Paul Friedrich Richter , Halle-Leipzig 1975, p. 210.
- ↑ Heinrich Ferdinand Schöppl: The Duke of Saxe-Altenburg. Bozen 1917, reprint Altenburg 1992, p. 158
- ↑ HP Wulff-Woesten: Hildburghäuser Highnesses - connected to the people , Hildburghausen 1992, p. 24.
- ^ HP Wulff-Woesten: Hildburghauser Highnesses - connected to the people , Hildburghausen 1992, p. 26
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Charlotte of Saxony-Hildburghausen |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Duchess of Saxony-Hildburghausen |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 17, 1769 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hanover |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 14, 1818 |
| Place of death | Hildburghausen |