Tag: Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Hohenzieritz, Queen Louise Memorial Site

In 1771 Carl II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz visited his sister, Queen Charlotte. During his visit in England he became aware of beautifully landscaped gardens. He organised for Archibald Thomson, a brilliant English landscape gardener, to establish a landscaped garden at Hohenzieritz. This wonderful park-like garden still exists today. We had the pleasure to wander around in it.

We also had the good fortune to take a glance inside Hohenzieritz  castle where two rooms on the ground-floor can be seen as a memorial to Queen Louise. Since Louise died in Hohenzieritz this place is mentioned in all the history books and visitors can find out a lot about Luise’s life at this historical site.

Louise married Friedrich Wilhelm when she was 17 and he was 23. The first years of their marriage they lived in peace and loved each other very much whenever they could be together. The last peaceful year was 1805 for them. The following years they had to flee the French army under Napoleon. They lived in exile in East-Prussia till they finally could go back to Berlin at the beginning of 1810. The winters  in East-Prussia were bitter cold. Louise and her children were sick frequently. Towards the end of the war years Louise was totally run down and often depressed. She suffered a lot of fevers and breathing difficulties. Plus she had born her last two children in exile. She had had ten pregnancies in all during her marriage. However only seven children survived.

A lot of people surrounded Louise while she lay dying in her father’s study room where a bed had been brought in for her. There’s a picture of her deathbed in Schloss Hohohenzieritz. She died on the 19th July 1810. Friedrich Wilhelm sits at the bed beside her. Her two eldest sons kneel at her bedside. At the foot of the bed are Louise’s father (Carl II) as well as her brother George. At the bed’s top-end are Dr. Heim, Countess von Voss and Louise’s friend Caroline von Berg.

This is a memorial in the room where Queen Louise died. Her burial place is in Berlin.
This is a memorial in the room where Queen Louise died. Her burial place is in Berlin.

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The Louise Temple, dating back to 1815 in the Park of Hohenzieritz
The Louise Temple, dating back to 1815 in the Park of Hohenzieritz
A Memorial dating back to 1798
A Memorial dating back to 1798
Many children apparently died in infancy.
Many children apparently died in infancy.

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Palais of the three Queens

These are the three queens Peter took pictures of at the ‘Welcome Center’ of the ‘Palais of the three Queens’ at Mirow.

Queen Charlotte of Great Britain
Queen Charlotte of Great Britain
Queen Louise of Prussia
Queen Luise of Prussia
Queen Friederike of Hannover
Queen Friederike of Hannover

Pincess Sophie Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was born in 1744 in Mirow. In 1761 she married King George III of Great Britain and  became Queen. When she died in London in 1818 a huge number of people followed her casket.

One of Charlotte’s brothers was Carl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Carl was the father of Louise and Friederike. Carl’s first wife died when Louise was only six and Friederike four and their brother George three. Carl then married his first wife’s sister, who was a very good mother to his children. But after only one year  the second wife died too. Carl then gave the children to their grandmother.  The children had a very good upbringing at the grandmother’s place.

Ernst August Duke of Cumberland (1771-1851) married Princess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1778-1841). When he became King of Hannover in 1837, she became Queen of Hannover.

When Princess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1776-1810) married the crown prince of Prussia, she was only 17. Two days after their marriage, Ludwig (L0uis),  a brother of the crown prince, married the fifteen year old Princess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. After only a few years Friederike became a war widow, she married again and then was widowed again. When she married the Duke of Cumberland this was her third marriage. She was 36 at the time and the Duke was 43. She had a long and happy marriage with the Duke who became King of Hannover. Friederike died aged 63 whereas Louise  died when she was  34. She had  born ten children. Of these only seven did survive.

About Louise’s marriage to the crown prince of Prussia who became Friedrich Wilhelm III  and about her early death  I am going to write a bit more in my next post.