Landgravine Auguste Of Hesse-Homburg Biography
Landgravine Auguste Fredericka of Hesse-Homburg (full German name: Auguste Friederike, Landgräfin von Hessen-Homburg; 28 November 1776, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, Holy Roman Empire – 1 April 1871, Ludwigslust, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a German noblewoman.
Background and early life
A portrait photograph of Auguste, taken in 1850.Auguste was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and his wife Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt, in turn daughter of Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was a member of the House of Hesse and a Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg by birth. Through her marriage, she became a member of the House of Mecklenburg and Hereditary Grand *ss of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Because all her older sisters married very early, Auguste became by 1793 in the primary caretaker of her parents, and a particular support to her ailing father.
Life
In Homburg on 3 April 1818, the 41-years-old Auguste married Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, twice a widower and father of four surviving children. The marriage was suggested by the late second wife of the Hereditary Grand Duke, Princess Caroline Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Auguste's first-cousin) at her deathbed.
The union was childless and lasted only 18 months until Frederick Louis' death on 29 November 1819. She was a devoted stepmother for her husband's children, taking responsibility for their upbringing and education. She developed a particularly close relationship with her stepdaughter Helene, second child and only daughter of her cousin Caroline Louise.
Auguste, who never remarried, remained in Mecklenburg-Schwerin for the rest of her life, dying in Ludwigslust aged 94. She was buried at the Helena Paulovna Mausoleum, next to her husband and his two previous wives.
Ancestry
Notes
Bibliography
- Paule Marquise d’Harcourt: Die Herzogin von Orleáns Helene von Mecklenburg-Schwerin p. 10.
- Karl Schwartz: Landgraf Friedrich V. von Hessen-Homburg und seine Familie. Archives and family do*ents, Rudolstadt 1878.
External links
- Books about Auguste Friederike of Hesse-Homburg in: Landesbibliographie Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Auguste Friederike, Prinzessin von Hessen-Homburg in: zeno.org
