Marie of Prussia

Queen of Bavaria from 1848 to 1864

For other uses, see Marie of Prussia (disambiguation).

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Marie of Prussia

Queen Marie in middle age, 1860s

Queen consort of Bavaria
Tenure| 28 March 1848 – 10 March 1864

Born| (1825-10-15)15 October 1825
Berlin City Palace, Prussia
Died| 17 May 1889(1889-05-17) (aged 63)
Hohenschwangau Castle, Bavaria
Burial|

Theatine Church

Spouse|

Maximilian II of Bavaria

(m. 1842; died 1864)​

Issue| Ludwig II
Otto I
House| Hohenzollern (by birth)
Wittelsbach (by marriage)
Father| Prince Wilhelm of Prussia
Mother| Princess Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg
Religion| Evangelical Christian Church, later Catholicism
Prussian Royalty

House of Hohenzollern
Descendants of Frederick William II

Grandchildren
Prince Frederick
Prince Charles
Frederica, Duchess of Anhalt-Dessau
Princess Friederike
Princess Irene
Prince Tassilo
Prince Adalbert
Prince Tassilo
Princess Elisabeth
Prince Waldemar
Marie, Queen of Bavaria
Great-Grandchildren
Prince Alexander
Prince George

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* e

Marie of Prussia (German: Marie Friederike Franziska Auguste Hedwig von Preußen; 15 October 1825 – 17 May 1889) was Queen of Bavaria by marriage to Maximilian II of Bavaria, and the mother of Kings Ludwig II and Otto of Bavaria.

## Life

[edit]

Born and raised in Berlin, she was the daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, a younger brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, and his wife, Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg. The family spent half of the year at Fischbach (today Karpniki) Castle in Silesia, where they loved to hike in the Giant Mountains.

In her youth, Marie was seriously considered as a wife for Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, until her engagement to Maximilian was announced.

### Queen

[edit]

Marie of Prussia as Crown Princess of Bavaria, by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1843, Gallery of Beauties, Nymphenburg Palace Queen Marie of Bavaria, 1864

On 12 October 1842, she married the Crown Prince, and later King of Bavaria, Maximilian II.

Marie was loved equally by both the Catholic and Protestant populations. (At that time, Bavaria was mostly Catholic, whilst Prussia was mostly Evangelical.) A specific emphasis of her "great social engagement" was a reactivation of the Bavarian Women's Association, which took place on 18 December 1869 with the aid of her son, Ludwig II. Its aim was "Pflege und Unterstützung der im Felde verwundeten und erkrankten Krieger" (Care and support of soldiers wounded and injured in the field). The Bavarian Red Cross was officially founded as a result of the Bavarian Women's Association. The Red Cross eventually took over for the Queen.

### Queen dowager

[edit]

With the sudden death of Maximilian II on 10 March 1864, Marie became a widow. On 12 October 1874, she converted to Catholicism.

As a widow she lived at Nymphenburg Palace. She spent her summer holidays at Schloss Hohenschwangau near Füssen, a castle her husband had redecorated in Gothic Revival style, and at her country estate in Elbigenalp in the Lechtal Alps. She enjoyed hiking the mountains, which she had often done with her sons when they were young. Marie looked after her second son Otto, who was declared insane. She outlived her elder son, Ludwig II, by nearly three years; his unusual death occurring on 13 June 1886. Marie died in 1889 in Hohenschwangau.

She is interred in the Theatine Church in Munich in a side chapel opposite her husband.

## Issue

[edit]

* Ludwig II of Bavaria (25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886); succeeded as King of Bavaria as Ludwig II. Declared mentally incompetent without examination and deposed in a coup in favour of his uncle, Prince Luitpold, on 10 June 1886; died under disputed circumstances.
* Otto I of Bavaria (27 April 1848 – 11 October 1916); succeeded as King of Bavaria as Otto I, but reigned only in name due to the regency of his uncle, Prince Luitpold. Declared mentally incompetent and deposed on 5 November 1913 by his cousin Prince Ludwig, later King Ludwig III of Bavaria.

## Honours

[edit]

* Kingdom of Bavaria: Grand Mistress of the Order of Theresa[1]
* Kingdom of Prussia:[1]
* Dame of the Order of Louise, 1st Division
* Cross of Merit for Women and Girls
* Spain: Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa, 17 June 1856[2]
* Kingdom of Saxony: Dame of the Order of Sidonia, 1871[3]

## Ancestry

[edit]

Ancestors of Marie of Prussia

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 8\. Prince Augustus William of Prussia

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| 4\. Frederick William II of Prussia|

|  |  |
| 9\. Duchess Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

| 2\. Prince Wilhelm of Prussia|

|  |  |  |  |
| 10\. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

| 5\. Princess Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt|

|  |  |
| 11\. Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken

| 1\. Marie of Prussia|
|  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 12\. Frederick IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

| 6\. Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg|

|  |  |
| 13\. Princess Ulrike Louise of Solms-Braunfels

| 3\. Princess Maria Anna of Hesse-Homburg|

|  |  |  |  |
| 14\. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (= 10)

| 7\. Princess Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt|

|  |  |
| 15\. Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken (= 11)

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Preußen (1886/7), Genealogy p. 4
2. ^ "Real orden de Damas Nobles de la Reina Maria Luisa". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 166. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
3. ^ Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen: 1873. Heinrich. 1873. p. 155.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marie of Prussia.

Marie of Prussia

House of Hohenzollern

Born: 15 October 1825 Died: 17 May 1889

German royalty
Preceded by

Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen

|  Queen consort of Bavaria
28 March 1848 – 10 March 1864  | Vacant

Title next held by

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este

* v
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Prussian princesses by birth

The generations are numbered from the ascension of Frederick I as King in Prussia in 1701.

1st generation|

* Luise Dorothea, Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Kassel

2nd generation|

* Wilhemine, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
* Friederike Luise, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach
* Philippine Charlotte, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
* Sophia Dorothea, Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt
* Louisa Ulrika, Queen of Sweden
* Princess Anna Amalia

3rd generation|

* Wilhelmina, Princess of Orange
* Louise, Princess Antoni Radziwiłł

4th generation|

* Frederica Charlotte, Duchess of York and Albany
* Wilhelmine, Queen of the Netherlands
* Augusta, Electress of Hesse

5th generation|

* Charlotte, Empress of Russia
* Alexandrine, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
* Louise, Princess Frederick of the Netherlands
* Frederica, Duchess of Anhalt-Dessau
* Elisabeth, Princess Charles of Hesse and by Rhine
* Marie, Queen of Bavaria

6th generation|

* Louise, Grand Duchess of Baden
* Louise, Landgravine of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfel
* Anna, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel
* Charlotte, Hereditary Princess of Saxe-Meiningen
* Alexandrine, Duchess William of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

7th generation|

* Charlotte, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen
* Viktoria, Princess Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe
* Sophia, Queen of the Hellenes
* Margaret, Landgravine of Hesse
* Marie, Princess Albert of Saxe-Altenburg
* Elisabeth, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
* Princess Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn

8th generation|

* Viktoria Luise, Duchess of Brunswick and Princess of Hanover
* Victoria Margaret, Princess Heinrich XXXIII Reuss of Köstritz

9th generation|

* Princess Alexandrine
* Princess Cecilie, Mrs. Clyde Harris
* Princess Herzeleide, Princess Biron von Courland

10th generation|

* Princess Kira
* Princess Antonia, Duchess of Wellington

* v
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Bavarian princesses by marriage

1st generation|

* Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen

2nd generation|

* Princess Marie of Prussia
* Duchess Amalia of Oldenburg
* Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria
* Infanta Amalia of Spain

3rd generation|

* Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este
* Archduchess Gisela of Austria
* Princess Theresa of Liechtenstein
* Infanta María de la Paz of Spain
* Princess Louise d'Orléans

4th generation|

* Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria
* Princess Antonia of Luxembourg
* Archduchess Isabella of Austria
* Princess Maria Bona of Savoy-Genoa
* Infanta María Teresa of Spain
* Maria Luisa de Silva y Fernández de Henestrosa

5th generation|

* Princess Irmingard of Bavaria*

7th generation|

* Princess Anna of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

*also a Bavarian princess by birth

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Queens of Bavaria

* Princess Caroline of Baden (1806–1825)
* Duchess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1825–1848)
* Princess Marie of Prussia (1848–1864)
* Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (1913–1918)

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* Poland

People|

* Deutsche Biographie
* DDB

Other|

* RISM

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