Elisabeth of Prussia

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Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, born Princess of Prussia

Princess Elisabeth of Prussia , full name Marie Elisabeth Karoline Viktoria (born June 18, 1815 in Berlin , †  March 21, 1885 in Bessungen near Darmstadt ) was Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt by marriage .

Life

Elisabeth was born on June 18, 1815 in the Berlin City Palace . Her parents were Prince Wilhelm of Prussia , the youngest son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II , and Countess Marie Anne of Hessen-Homburg . She grew up with her brothers Adalbert and Waldemar and sister Marie in Fischbach Castle near Schmiedeberg in the Giant Mountains .

On October 22nd, 1836, Princess Elisabeth married Prince Karl of Hessen-Darmstadt , the second son of Grand Duke Ludwig II .

She paid particular attention to poor relief in her new Hessian homeland, so on her initiative the Elisabethenstift deaconess house was founded in Darmstadt in 1858 , to whose construction she contributed 10,000 guilders. Not only in her responsibility for this monastery, but also in her city residence, the Prinz-Carl-Palais in Wilhelminenstrasse , the princess was pioneering in mercy and piety. She gathered the aroused Darmstadt circles around her and the court preacher in order to organize joint public welfare .

The city of Darmstadt also owes one of its greatest art treasures to Princess Elisabeth, the Holbein Madonna from 1526, which became famous as the Darmstadt Madonna and caused a general sensation in the Dresden Holbein dispute in 1871 .

Madonna by Hans Holbein the Elder J. in the Schlossmuseum Darmstadt

The work of art came to Germany in 1822, where it was exhibited in Berlin in the salon of the composer Gaspare Spontini by his brother-in-law, an art dealer. Elisabeth's father, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, bought the painting as a birthday present for his wife, Princess Marianne. The painting was then initially in the Berlin City Palace until it was brought to Darmstadt as a paternal inheritance for Elisabeth in 1852, after the death of Prince Wilhelm. It has been owned by the Würth Collection since 2011 and has been on display in Schwäbisch Hall since 2012 .

Since 1848 her brother-in-law, the older brother of Prince Karl, was known as Ludwig III. Grand Duke of Hesse. His wife Mathilde Karoline died childless in 1862. In the same year Elisabeth's eldest son Ludwig married the second daughter of the British Queen Victoria , Princess Alice . The wedding was originally supposed to take place in 1861, but was postponed to the following year due to the death of Prince Consort Albert , the bride's father.

Grand Duke Ludwig III. then retired to his Seeheim Palace and left the residential palace in Darmstadt to Prince Karl and his family, as well as the Kranichstein Palace to the future heir to the throne, Ludwig and Alice .

Princess Alice was active from 1862 to 1878 as if she had known how short her life would be. Elisabeth's husband, Prince Karl, died on March 20, 1877 at the age of 68. The Grand Duke followed him on June 13 of the same year. Elisabeth's son now ascended the Hessian throne as Ludwig IV. The young Grand Duchess Alice died on December 14 of the following year at the age of only 35 after contracting diphtheria from her children.

Elisabeth now took her place at the side of her son as the Grand Duchess Mother. Especially for her grandchildren, she tried to be a replacement for their mother, who died so early. She lived to see her granddaughter Viktoria's wedding with Prince Ludwig Alexander von Battenberg and died on March 21, 1885 at the age of 70 in Bessungen near Darmstadt. She is buried in the old mausoleum in Rosenhöhe Park .

progeny

⚭ 1864 Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1823–1883)

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Elisabeth of Prussia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marie Elisabeth Karoline Viktoria of Prussia; Elisabeth of Hesse
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Wife of Karl von Hessen-Darmstadt
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1815
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 1885
Place of death Qualifications