Margravine Philippine of Brandenburg-Schwedt

Philippine of Brandenburg-Schwedt
Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel

State portrait of Philippine c.1773.
Born (1745-10-10)10 October 1745
Schwedt
Died 1 May 1800(1800-05-01) (aged 54)
Berlin
Spouse Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Full name
German: Philippine Auguste Amalie
House Brandenburg-Schwedt
Father Margrave Frederick William of Brandenburg-Schwedt
Mother Sophia Dorothea of Prussia

Margravine Philippine Auguste Amalie of Brandenburg-Schwedt (10 October 1745 – 1 May 1800) was a Landgravine consort of Hesse-Kassel by marriage to Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel.

Life

Philippine was one of five children born to Margrave Frederick William of Brandenburg-Schwedt and his wife Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia.[1] Her siblings included Friederike Dorothea, Duchess of Württemberg and Elisabeth Louise, Princess of Prussia.

Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel

Philippine was very early on chosen by her aunt, Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden, as the future queen of Sweden; her mother was the queen's favourite, and Louisa Ulrika wished Philippine to marry her son, Gustav (later Gustav III of Sweden).[2] These plans were broken however when Gustav was married to Sophia Magdalena of Denmark in 1766. Louisa Ulrika then wanted Philippine to marry her younger son, Charles, but instead, Gustav decided that his brother should marry Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp.[2]

On 10 January 1773, Philippine married Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, who was 25 years older, in Berlin.[1] She was his second wife; his first wife, Princess Mary of Great Britain, died the previous year. Philippine thus became stepmother to Frederick's three surviving sons: William, Charles, and Frederick. Philippine would not produce any legitimate children herself however.

During her marriage, Philippine led a widely independent life, even setting up her own court. On 1 March 1777, she gave birth to an illegitimate son, Georg Philippson, fathered by the later Württemberg statesman Georg Ernst Levin von Wintzingerode. She also helped reconcile her husband with his children from his first marriage, from whom he had been estranged since 1754.

Later life

Frederick died on 31 October 1785. As a widow, she lived first in Hanau. After the invasion of the French revolutionary army she moved to Berlin. King Frederick William II donated a modern palace to her (Behrenstraße 66). In 1794, she married Wintzingerode secretly with knowledge and approval of the king. Philippine died on 1 May 1800. She is buried in the Berlin Cathedral. The only heir was her second husband Wintzingerode. [1]

Legacy

Three places, all established in 1778 and incorporated into Wolfhagen in 1971, are named after Philippine:

Ancestry

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lundy, Darryl. "The Peerage: Philippine Charlotte Prinzessin von Brandenburg-Schwedt". Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  2. 1 2 Olof Jägerskiöld: Lovisa Ulrika, drottning av Sverige (in Swedish)(Louisa Ulrika, queen of Sweden) (in Swedish) (1945)
Margravine Philippine of Brandenburg-Schwedt
Cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern
Born: 5 March 1723 Died: 14 January 1772
German royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Mary of Great Britain		 Landgravine consort of Hesse-Kassel
10 January 1773 – 31 October 1785 		Succeeded by
Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark

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