Louise of Bose

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Louise as a child (painting in the Kassel New Gallery )

Countess Louise Wilhelmine von Bose , b. Countess von Reichenbach-Lessonitz, also known as Luise von Bose , (born February 26, 1813 in Berlin ; † October 3, 1883 in Baden-Baden ) was a benefactress of the poor and was considered a supporter of art and science, especially the natural sciences. She was the daughter of Elector Wilhelm II and his mistress Emilie Ortlepp , whom he later married for a second time and raised to the nobility and made Countess Reichenbach. Louise was the oldest of eight siblings.

Louise was confirmed in 1828 in the Wilhelmshöhe Palace Chapel . After the death of her mother, as was customary at the time, she was married. She married Carl August von Bose (1814–1887) in 1845 and died in 1883 at the age of 70. Her father Wilhelm II was particularly fond of his daughter Louise, valued her cleverness and efficiency and her loving and cheerful nature. Louise lived mostly with her mother, but later looked after her sick father for many years. During their marriage, Louise lived with her husband in Frankfurt am Main , Wiesbaden and Baden-Baden .

Since she had no children of her own and had sufficient financial means, she took care of those in need. She put u. a. In 1861, with a donation of 16,000 guilders, the foundation for the Blessing Church and the rectory in Griesheim . The alliance coat of arms Bose-Reichenbach-Lessonitz can still be found today at the house of God known as the Blessed Church. A toddler school was built from her estate in 1884.

Louise von Bose was also a patron of the arts and sciences, especially the natural sciences. She set up a foundation for the Senckenberg Natural Research Society in Frankfurt and the “Foundation of Countess Louise Bose, geb. Countess von Reichenbach-Lessonitz ”for the University of Marburg , from whose funds the Dental Institute was later founded.

Louise and her husband (relief in Kassel Luisenstrasse)

Since the Countess had spent her childhood in Kassel , the concerns of the Kassel population were particularly close to her heart. She built her own home with 50 beds for the children's hospital “Zum Kind von Brabant” (formerly on Königstor Street , destroyed in 1943). She took care of Hessian teachers and their widows and orphans and donated money for the education of needy and neglected children. She left a foundation to the city , which included her extensive art collection, which later formed the basis of the collections in the Neue Galerie . It also included personal mementos, furniture and documents, along with a villa intended for this purpose.

This "Bose Museum" was located in the Luisenstrasse in Kassel, which was named after her. Until a few years ago, the August Fricke School was located here. There is a relief of Louise von Bose and her husband as a double portrait, under which the words know yourself are carved. The Luisenschule, founded in 1855 as a girls' school, is also located on Luisenstrasse.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Höchst Kreisblatt, January 26, 2012, p. 16
  2. ↑ Chronicle . Luisenschule Kassel. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Bose, Louise of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bose, Louise Wilhelmine Countess of (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sponsor of art and science
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1813
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH October 3, 1883
Place of death Baden-Baden