Marie of Prussia

For other uses, see Marie of Prussia (disambiguation).

Marie of Prussia Portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler, oil on canvas, 1843, Gallery of Beauties, Nymphenburg Palace Queen consort of Bavaria Tenure 28 March 1848 – 10 March 1864 Spouse King Maximilian II of Bavaria Issue Ludwig Otto House House of Hohenzollern House of Wittelsbach Father Prince Wilhelm of Prussia Mother Princess Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg Born October 15, 1825(1825-10-15) Berlin City Palace Died May 17, 1889(1889-05-17) (aged 63) Hohenschwangau Castle, Bavaria Burial Theatine Church Religion Calvinism later Roman Catholicism

Prussian Royalty House of Hohenzollern Descendants of Frederick William II Grandchildren    Prince Frederick    Prince Charles    Frederica Wilhelmina, Duchess of Anhalt-Dessau    Princess Friederike    Princess Irene    Prince Tassilo    Prince Adalbert    Prince Tassilo    Princess Elisabeth    Prince Waldemar    Marie, Queen of Bavaria Great-Grandchildren    Prince Alexander    Prince George

Marie of Prussia (German: Marie Friederike Franziska Hedwig von Preußen; October 15, 1825 – May 17, 1889) was Queen of Bavaria and the mother of Kings Ludwig II and Otto of Bavaria.

Life

Born and raised in Berlin, she was the daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, a younger brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, and his wife Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg. As a young woman, Marie was seriously considered as a wife for Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, until her engagement to Maximilian was announced.

Marriage

On 12 October 1842, she married the Crown Prince, and later King of Bavaria, Maximilian II.

Marie was loved equally by both the Evangelical and Roman Catholic populations. (At that time, Prussia was mostly Lutheran, whilst Bavaria was mostly Roman Catholic.) A specific emphasis of her "great social engagement" was a reactivation of the Bavarian Women's Association, which took place on 18 December 1869 with the aid of her son, Ludwig II. Its aim was "Pflege und Unterstützung der im Felde verwundeten und erkrankten Krieger" (Care and support of soldiers wounded and injured in the field). The Bavarian Red Cross was officially founded as a result of the Bavarian Women's Association. The Red Cross eventually took over for the Queen.

With the sudden death of Maximilian II on 10 March 1864, Marie became a widow. On 12 October 1874, she converted to Roman Catholicism.

In later years, she lived a secluded existence at her country estate in Elbigenalp in the Lechtal Alps and at Schloss Hohenschwangau near Füssen. Marie outlived her elder son, Ludwig II, by several years. He died on 13 June 1886. Marie died in 1889 in Hohenschwangau.

She is interred in the Theatine Church in Munich in a side chapel opposite her husband.

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm	25 August 1846	13 June 1886	succeeded as King of Bavaria declared mentally incompetent and deposed on 10 June 1886 died under disputed circumstances
Otto Wilhelm Luitpold Adalbert Waldemar	27 April 1848	11 October 1916	succeeded as King of Bavaria declared mentally incompetent and deposed on 5 November 1913

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Honours

• Dame of the Order of Louise

Ancestry

8 Augustus William of Prussia

4 Frederick William II of Prussia

9 Louise Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg

2 Wilhelm of Prussia

10 Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

5 Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt

11 Karoline of Zweibrücken

1 Marie of Prussia

12 Friedrich IV Karl, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

6 Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

13 Ulrike Luise of Solms-Braunfels

3 Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg

14=10 Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

7 Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt

15=11 Karoline of Zweibrücken

References

This article was translated from the article on the German Wikipedia on December 21, 2005.

Marie of Prussia House of Hohenzollern Born: 15 October 1825 Died: 17 May 1889
German royalty
Preceded by Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen	Queen consort of Bavaria 28 March 1848 – 10 March 1864	Vacant Title next held by Maria Theresa of Austria-Este

Persondata
Name	Marie Of Prussia
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 15, 1825
Place of birth	Berlin City Palace
Date of death	May 17, 1889
Place of death	Hohenschwangau Castle, Bavaria