Marie Friederike of Hesse-Kassel


Marie Frederike of Hesse-Kassel was a German noblewoman and by marriage Princess and later Duchess of Anhalt-Bernburg.
She was a daughter of William I, Elector of Hesse, and his wife, Princess Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark.

Life

On 29 November 1794 she married Alexius Frederick Christian, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg. They had four children, of whom only two survived adulthood:
  1. Princess Katharine Wilhelmine.
  2. Princess Wilhelmine Louise, married on 21 November 1817 to Prince Frederick William Louis of Prussia, grandson of King Frederick William II of Prussia and maternal half-brother of King George V of Hanover. She was the mother of Prince George of Prussia.
  3. Frederick Amadeus, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg.
  4. Alexander Karl, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg.
Shortly after her marriage, Marie Friederike showed signs of mental illness, which led to inconsistencies in the Bernburg court. Finally, her husband obtained a divorce on 6 August 1817.
The former Duchess returned to her homeland, Hanau. On her death, she was buried on 22 April 1839 in the Marienkirche in Hanau.