Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Princess Marie Louise
Photograph of Marie Louise
Duchess consort of Saxe-Altenburg
Tenure	30 November 1848 – 3 August 1853
Born	(1803-03-31)31 March 1803 Ludwigslust Palace, Ludwigslust, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Holy Roman Empire
Died	26 October 1862(1862-10-26) (aged 59) Elisabethenburg Palace, Meiningen, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, German Confederation
Spouse	Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg ​ ​ (m. 1825; died 1853)​
Issue	Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Prince Albrecht Prince Moritz
Names German: Marie Luise Friederike Alexandrine Elisabeth Charlotte Catherine
House	Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Father	Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Mother	Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia

Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (German: Herzogin Marie Luise Friederike Alexandrine Elisabeth Charlotte Catherine Mecklenburg-Schwerin; 31 March 1803 – 26 October 1862) was the Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg. She was daughter of Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia. In 1825, she married Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and became his consort.

Early life

Marie Louise was born on 31 March 1803, in the Ludwigslust Palace in Ludwigslust, Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was the second child and first daughter of Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1778–1819), and his wife, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (1784–1803). Frederick Louis was the son of Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, while Elena Pavlovna was the daughter of Paul I of Russia and Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.

Marriage

Portrait of Marie Louise (by Karl Joseph Stieler, 1851)

On 7 October 1825 in Ludwigslust, at the age of twenty-two, Marie Louise married twenty-nine-year-old Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg. Georg was the son of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and his wife, Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The newly-wedded couple would live in Charlottenburg Palace in Hildburghausen until 1829.

The marriage was, reportedly, very happy. The local superintendent Klötzner said: "[...] in his love for his wife and sons, he was the model of a real family man."^[1]

They had three children:

1. Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (b. Hildburghausen, 16 September 1826 – d. Altenburg, 7 February 1908); married Princess Agnes of Anhalt-Dessau.
2. Prince Albrecht Frederick August (b. Hildburghausen, 31 October 1827 – d. Ludwigslust, 28 May 1835).
3. Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg (b. Eisenberg, 24 October 1829 – d. Arco, Italy, 13 May 1907); married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

8. Duke Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 4. Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 9. Princess Charlotte Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 2. Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 10. Prince John August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 5. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 11. Princess Louise Reuss of Schleiz 1. Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 12. Peter III of Russia 6. Paul I of Russia 13. Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst Catherine II of Russia 3. Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia 14. Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg 7. Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg 15. Margravine Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt

References

1. Heinrich Ferdinand Schoeppl: Die Herzoge von Sachsen-Altenburg. Bozen 1917, Neudruck Altenburg 1992 S. 187

Bibliography

• The Royal House of Stuart, London, 1969, 1971, 1976, Addington, A. C., Reference:
• Het Groothertogelijk Huis Mecklenburg, Bergen-op-Zoom, 1901–1902, Juten, W. J. F., Reference: page 112

Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin House of Mecklenburg Born: 31 March 1803 Died: 26 October 1862
German royalty
Preceded by Duchess Amelia of Württemberg	Duchess consort of Saxe-Altenburg 30 November 1848 – 3 August 1853	Succeeded by Princess Agnes of Anhalt-Dessau