Marie Hedwig of Hesse-Darmstadt


Marie Hedwig of Hesse-Darmstadt was a landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt by birth and a Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen by marriage.

Life

She was the youngest daughter of Landgrave George II of Hesse-Darmstadt and his wife Sophia Eleonore, a daughter of Elector John George I of Saxony.
On 20 November 1671 at Friedenstein Castle in Gotha, she married Bernhard I, who at the time ruled Saxe-Gotha jointly with his brothers and later became the first Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. In 1676, the couple took up residence in Ichtershausen. Bernhard built a castle here, which he named Marienburg after Marie Hedwig.
In 1680, Bernhard I and his brothers divided Saxe-Gotha, and Bernhard became the first Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. His newly created duchy consisted of the former principality of Henneberg. The coat of arms of Henneberg showed a black hen. At the time, this was seen as a symbol of magic and witchcraft. Shortly before the scheduled move from their residence in Ichtershausen to Meiningen, Marie Hedwig stated that she would never enter the land of the black hen. She died later that year after giving birth to her seventh child and was buried in the crypt of the city church in Meiningen. She was only 32 years old and died nine weeks before the scheduled move to Meiningen.
[image:Schloss17.jpg|thumb|The Hesse hall in Elisabethenburg Palace]
Bernhard I decorated the Hesse hall in Elisabethenburg Palace in Meiningen in a baroque style in her memory, and hung portraits of the two dynasties in this hall.

Issue

Marie Hedwig was constantly pregnant during her marriage, giving birth almost once a year. Of her seven children, only two lived to mature adulthood:
  1. Ernest Louis
  2. Bernhard, died in adolescence
  3. John Ernest, died in infancy
  4. Marie Elisabeth, died in infancy
  5. John George, died in early childhood
  6. Frederick Wilhelm.
  7. George Ernest, died in adolescence of smallpox