Landgravine Auguste of Hesse-Homburg

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 member of the House of Hesse and a Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg by birth. Through her marriage she was also a member of the House of Mecklenburg and Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Landgravine Auguste
Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Born(1776-11-28)28 November 1776
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, Holy Roman Empire
Died1 April 1871(1871-04-01) (aged 94)
Ludwigslust, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Burial
Helena Paulovna Mausoleum, Ludwigslust
SpouseFrederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Full name
German: Auguste Friederike
FatherFrederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
MotherLandgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt

She 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.

Life

A portrait photograph of Auguste in her final years, 1850

Because all her older sisters married very early, by 1793 Auguste became in the primary caretaker of her ailing father.

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, eldest 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

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