William I of Württemberg

William I (German: Wilhelm Friedrich Karl von Württemberg; September 27, 1781 – June 25, 1864) was the second King of Württemberg from October 30, 1816 until his death.

He was born in Lüben, the son of King Frederick I of Württemberg (1754–1816) and his wife Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1764–1788).

First marriage

On June 8, 1808, in Munich, he married Princess Charlotte of Bavaria (1792–1873), daughter of King Maximilian I of Bavaria (1756–1825) and Princess Augusta Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt (1765–1796). They divorced in 1814.

Second marriage

On January 24, 1816, in Saint Petersburg, he married his first cousin Catherine Pavlovna of Russia (1788–1819), daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia (1754–1801) and Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (1759–1828). Later that year, he succeeded his father as King of Württemberg. With Catherine, he had two daughters:

• Marie (1816–1887), married Count Alfred von Neipperg (1807–1865)
• Sophie (1818–1877), married King William III of the Netherlands (1817–1890)

Third marriage

On April 15, 1820, in Stuttgart, he married another first cousin Duchess Pauline Therese of Württemberg (1800–1873), daughter of Duke Louis of Württemberg (1756–1817) and Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg (1780–1857).

By his third wife, he had three children:

• Catherine (1821–1898), whom by her husband Prince Frederick of Württemberg (1808–1870) was mother to King William II of Württemberg
• Charles (1823–1891), succeeded as King of Württemberg
• Augusta (1826–1898), married Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1825–1901); one of their daughters, Pauline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach married Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Reign

Wilhelm codified the insignia of Württemberg in 1816-17. He dealt moderately during the 1848 revolution, to survive, but finally ended the rump parliament that met at Stuttgart on 6–18 June 1848. His reign saw the start of the Württemberg railway system and some industrial expansion. William I died at Schloss Rosenstein in Stuttgart.

Legacy

At the Schlossplatz at the center of Stuttgart there remains a tall monument erected in 1841 to mark the 25th anniversary of William I s rule. The bas-relief at the base shows the king sitting in a throne leaning upon lions, holding a sword in one hand and a scroll in the other. and being cheered by gathered soldiers and notables.

Ancestry

Notes and sources