by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2018
Marie of Hesse-Kassel, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel was the wife of Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was born Princess Marie Wilhelmine Friederike on January 21, 1796, in Hanau, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany. She was the second daughter of Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Karoline of Nassau-Usingen. Marie had seven siblings:
- Prince Wilhelm (1787 – 1867) – married Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark, had issue including Louise of Hesse-Kassel, wife of King Christian IX of Denmark
- Prince Karl Friedrich (1789-1802) – died in childhood
- Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (1790 – 1876) – unmarried
- Prince Ludwig Karl (1791 – 1800) – died in childhood
- Prince Georg Karl (1793 – 1881) – unmarried
- Princess Luise Karoline (1794 – 1881) – married Count Georg von der Decken, had issue
- Princess Augusta (1797 – 1889) – married Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, had issue including Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, the mother of Queen Mary, wife of King George V of the United Kingdom
Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
On August 12, 1817, Marie married Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, in Kassel. They had four children:
- Princess Luise (1818 – 1842) – unmarried
- Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1819 – 1904) – married Princess Augusta of Cambridge, had issue
- Princess Caroline Mariane (1821 – 1876) – married the future King Frederik VII of Denmark, no issue
- Prince Georg August (1824 – 1876) – married Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna of Russia, had issue
Marie’s copy of Raphael’s ‘Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary’, painted in 1856, used on the altar at the town church in Neustrelitz. photo: Von Concord – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20264996
A talented painter, Marie often painted copies of famous paintings. Many were used as altarpieces in churches within Mecklenburg, including the town churches in Schönberg and Neustrelitz – both of which still exist. Another, which was used in the Johanniterkirche in Mirow, was destroyed when the church burned in 1945.
Marie in her later years. source: Wikipedia
Having survived her husband by just three months, the Dowager Grand Duchess Marie died in Neustrelitz, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Střelice u Stoda, the Czech Republic on December 30, 1880. She is buried in the New Crypt at the Johanniterkirche in Mirow, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
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