Frederick William, Elector of Hesse
Frederick William I was, between 1847 and 1866, the last Prince-elector of Hesse-Kassel.
Early life
He was born at Hanau on 20 August 1802. He was the son of Prince William, later William II, Elector of Hesse, and Princess Augusta of Prussia, daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia. During the French occupation of Hesse-Kassel from 1806 to 1813, he stayed with his mother in Berlin. Reportedly, he had a poor relationship with his father because of his father's affair with Emilie Ortlöpp.Frederick was educated at Marburg and Leipzig.
Career
[file:1855 Hessen-Kassel Friedrich Wilhelm von Hanau-Hořowitz|Friedrich Wilhelm I. 1 Taler.JPG|thumb|left|Coin of Frederick William]On 30 September 1831, he became co-regent and, in 1847, Prince-elector. Under influence of his minister Hans Daniel Ludwig Friedrich Hassenpflug, he conducted a reactionary policy, which made him very unpopular. He was forced to give in to the demands of the March Revolution, but reinstated Hassenpflug in 1850 after the revolution had been crushed.
In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, he chose the side of Austria. His capital, Kassel, was occupied by Prussia, and, as a consequence of his refusal to negotiate, he was transferred as a prisoner to Stettin on 23 June. Hessen-Kassel was annexed by Prussia in the same year.
Frederick William never accepted the Prussian dominance over his territory. Even after the creation of the unified German Empire in 1871, he tried to regain his throne.
Personal life
On 26 June 1831, Frederick William was morganatically married to Gertrude Falkenstein Lehmann. She had been born in Bonn and was the daughter of apothecary Johann Gottfried Falkenstein and Magdalena Schulz. When Frederick William met Gertrude, she was the wife of Lt Karl Michael Lehmann and the mother of two sons. Gertrude and her husband were divorced in 1830/31, but already by this time, some children had been born to her and Frederick William. They were married in 1831, after which they had further children.In 1831, Frederick William's father William II made Gertrude Her Illustrious Highness Countess of Schaumburg. In 1853, she was made Princess of Hanau and to Horowitz. All of the nine children that she bore to Frederick William, whether born before or after their marriage, were made Princes of Hanau, and granted the style of Serene Highness in 1862:
- Augusta Marie Gertrude, who married Ferdinand Maximilian III, Prince of Isenburg-Büdingen in Wächtersbach in Wilhelmshohe on 17 July 1849.
- Alexandrine Friederike Wilhelmine, who married Prince Felix Eugen Wilhelm Ludwig Albrecht Karl zu Hohenlohe-Oehringen, youngest son of August, Prince of Hohenlohe-Öhringen, in Kassel on 12 June 1851.
- Friedrich Wilhelm, who married, morganatically, twice, Auguste Birnbaum, daughter of Karl Birnbaum and Maria Sargany, in London on 23 September 1856 and divorced, and Ludowika Gloede, daughter of Reverend Friedrich Gloede and Maria Dorothea Goldbeck, in Vienna on 8 April 1875; their children were Counts von Schaumburg, but post-1918 descendants bear the title Prince and Princess von Hanau; the head of this line was Prince of Hanau, but the eldest son, Friedrich Wilhelm, and his issue were bypassed until all other sons and their issue male had died.
- Moritz Philipp Heinrich, 1st Prince of Hanau and Horowitz, Count of Schaumburg, who married, morganatically, Anne von Lossberg, daughter of Karl Wilhelm Jeremias von Lossberg and Marianne von Wangenheim, in Freiburg on 15 April 1875; they had no children.
- Wilhelm, 2nd Prince of Hanau and Horowitz, Count of Schaumburg, who married Princess Elisabeth Wilhelmine Auguste Marie of Schaumburg-Lippe, daughter of George William, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, in Frankfurt on 30 January 1866; they divorced in 1868 and he married Countess Elisabeth of Lippe-Weissenfeld in Doberitz on 12 May 1890; neither marriage produced children.
- Marie Auguste, who married Prince Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld in Kassel on 27 December 1857. They divorced in 1872, and Marie and her children were granted the titles HSH Prince/ss of Ardeck after her divorce on 28 July 1876.
- Karl, 3rd Prince of Hanau and Horowitz, Count of Schaumburg, who married Countess Hermine Grote in Hannover on 11 November 1882; they did not have children.
- Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Ludwig, 4th Prince of Hanau and Horowitz, Count of Schaumburg, who married, morganatically, Martha Riegel, in Prague on 5 June 1917.
- Friedrich Wilhelm Philipp, who married, morganatically, Albertine Hubatschek-Stauber in Vienna on 29 March 1875; their children bore the title Counts of Schaumburg.
Honours
- Grand Cross of the House Order of the Golden Lion18 June 1821: Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle1837: Grand Cross of the Order of St. StephenApril 1844: Knight of the Order of St. Andrew the First-called15 February 1846: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold29 January 1848: Knight of the Order of the Elephant13 August 1865: Grand Cross of the House Order of the Wendish Crown