Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen

Louise was the seventh child of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen and his wife Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. One of her godparents were her aunt, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen consort of Kingdom of Prussia. Louise and her sister Therese were considered very beautiful, and were the subject of the Friedrich Rückert poem “Mit drei Moosrosen."

In 1809, Ludwig, Crown Prince of Bavaria visited Schloss Hildburghausen to choose his bride. Ludwig chose between Louise and Therese and finally selected Therese. Louise married William, Duke of Nassau, eldest son of Frederick William, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg and his wife Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg, on 24 June 1813 in Weilburg. To honor the occasion of their marriage, the Civil Guard of Weilberg and Samuel Luja (1735–1818) composed the "Cantate am Feste der Heimführung des Erbprinzen Wilhelm von Nassau mit der Prinzessin Louise von Sachsen-Hildburghausen."

Louise and William had eight children:

• Auguste Luise Friederike Maximiliane Wilhelmine of Nassau (Weilburg, 12 April 1814 - Weilburg, 3 October 1814).
• Therese Wilhelmine Friederike Isabelle Charlotte of Nassau (Weilburg, 17 April 1815 - Prague, 8 December 1871). Married in Biebrich on 23 April 1837 Duke Peter of Oldenburg. Their grandson was the Tsarist General Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia the Younger.
• Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (24 July 1817 – 17 November 1905). The Present Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg, which became extinct in the male line in 1912, descends from him.
• Wilhelm Karl Heinrich Friedrich of Nassau (Biebrich, 8 September 1819 - Biebrich, 22 April 1823).
• Moritz Wilhelm August Karl Heinrich of Nassau (Biebrich, 21 November 1820 - Vienna, 23 March 1850), unmarried and without issue.
• Marie Wilhelmine Luise Friederike Henriette of Nassau (Biebrich, 5 April 1822 - Biebrich, 3 April 1824).
• Wilhelm Karl August Friedrich of Nassau (Biebrich, 12 August 1823 - Biebrich, 28 December 1828).
• Marie Wilhelmine Friederike Elisabeth of Nassau (Biebrich, 29 January 1825 - Neuwied, 24 March 1902), married in Biebrich on 20 June 1842 Hermann, Prince of Wied (Neuwied, 22 May 1814 - Neuwied, 5 March 1864). Their daughter Elisabeth married King Carol I of Romania.

The marriage was an unhappy one. Louise's husband was not only autocratic in politics, but also with regard to his family circle and bullied his wife and children.

Louise died in 1825 shortly after the birth of her youngest daughter, Marie. Following her death, Louise's husband married her sister Charlotte's daughter Princess Pauline of Württemberg (1810–1856). The Luisenplatz and Luisenstraße in Wiesbaden are named for Louise.

• Heinrich Ferdinand Schoeppl: Die Herzoge von Sachsen-Altenburg. Bozen 1917, Neudruck Altenburg 1992
• Dr. Rudolf Armin Human: Chronik der Stadt Hildburghausen, Hildburghausen 1886