William II, Elector of Hesse
William II was the penultimate Elector of Hesse.
Early life
William was the eldest surviving son of William I, Elector of Hesse and Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark and Norway. With the Hessian troops, he was involved in the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon in 1813. He succeeded as Elector of Hesse after his father's death in 1821.Upon succeeding his father as Elector, he halted the construction of the Chattenburg palace. Instead, he focused on expanding the Residenzpalais in Kassel.
file:William II, elector of hesse.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Portrait of William II by Conrad Bodenstein, 1827
Personal life
On 13 February 1797 in Berlin, William married Princess Augusta of Prussia, fourth daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia. They had six children:- Wilhelm, who died in infancy.
- Karoline
- Luise, who died in infancy.
- Friedrich, later Elector of Hesse.
- Marie Fredericka, who married Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
- Ferdinand, who died in infancy.
Second marriage
William also had eight children with his second wife, Emilie Ortlöpp, daughter of Johann Christian Ortlöpp and Agnese Wiessenberg, created in 1821 Countess of Reichenbach-Lessonitz. The children bore the title Count/Countess of Reichenbach-Lessonitz:- Luise Wilhelmine Emilie, who married Karl Count von Bose.
- Julius Wilhelm Albrecht.
- Amalie Wilhelmine Emilie, who married Wilhelm Count von Lückner, then Karl Baron von Watzdorf.
- Gustav Karl, who married Clementine Richter.
- Emilie, who married Felix Count Zichy-Ferraris.
- Friederike, who married Wilhelm Baron von Dungern.
- Wilhelm, who married Helene Amelie Baroness Goeler von Ravensburg.
- Helene, who married Oswald Baron von Fabrice.
Third marriage
Several months after Augusta's death on 19 February 1841, William morganatically married his mistress and their children were legitimated. Emilie Ortlöpp died less than two years after the marriage in 1843.Again, months after his second wife's death, William married Caroline, Baroness of Berlepsch, daughter of Ludwig Hermann, Baron of Berlepsch and Melusine Jul. Chr. von Kruse. William created the title of Countess of Bergen for Caroline in 1846. This marriage was childless. After his death, she married on 28 October 1851 Karl Adolf Graf von Hohenthal, by whom she had two sons: Karl Adolf and Karl Ludwig.
William died on 20 November 1847 and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Frederick William, the last Elector of Hesse.