Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt

Summary

Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt (11 July 1722 – 21 June 1782) was a Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was born in Darmstadt.

George William
Portrait by Johann Christian Fiedler c. 1760
Born(1722-07-11)11 July 1722
Darmstadt
Died21 June 1782(1782-06-21) (aged 59)
Darmstadt
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1748)
Issue
among others...
Prince Louis George
Prince George Friedrich
Friederike, Duchess Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Prince George Charles
Charlotte, Duchess Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Prince Karl William
Prince Friedrich George
Louise, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine
Augusta Wilhelmine, Duchess of Zweibrücken
HouseHesse-Darmstadt
FatherLouis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
MotherCharlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg
George William and family (1753)

He was the second son of Landgrave Louis VIII and Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau-Lichtenberg. From 1738 till his death, he commanded an army-regiment of his land. In the 1740s, he also commanded a Prussian regiment. He reached the rank of general of the cavalry. He was the official military adviser to his father, but had a strong rival in his older brother Louis IX, who followed his friend's example, the soldier-king Frederick II of Prussia and expanded Pirmasens as a garrison town.

In 1748, he married Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg. Through this marriage, he acquired the estates of Broich, Oberstein, Aspermont, Burgel, and Reipolzkirchen. He and Maria had nine children.

In 1764, George William received Old Palace in Darmstadt and the associated pleasure garden as a gift from his father, who had always favoured him above his brother Louis.[citation needed] George William had the palace with the White Tower expanded. He represented the reigning family in Darmstadt, as his brother stayed mostly in Pirmasens.

Issue edit

Name Portrait Birth Death Notes
Ludwig Georg Karl 1749 1823 Married morganatically in 1788 Friederike Schmidt, Baroness von Hessenheim
Georg Friedrich 1750
Friederike Caroline
Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
  20 August 1752 22 May 1782 Married in 1768 Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, had issue
Georg Karl   14 June 1754 28 January 1830
Charlotte Wilhelmine
Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
  5 November 1755 12 December 1785 Married in 1784 Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, had issue
Karl Wilhelm Georg
1757 1797
Friedrich Georg August
1759 1808 Married morganatically in 1788 Karoline Luise Seitz, Baroness von Friedrich
Louise Henriette Caroline
  15 February 1761 24 October 1829 Married in 1777 Louis X of Hesse-Darmstadt, had issue
Auguste Wilhelmine
Duchess of Zweibrücken
  14 April 1765 30 March 1796 Married in 1785 the future King Maximilian I of Bavaria, had issue

Ancestry edit

References edit

  1. ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 68.
  • Johann Friedrich Schannat: Eiflia Illustrata... S. 515
  • Philipp Alexander Ferdinand Walther: Darmstadt wie es war und wie es geworden S. 187

External links edit