Name Princess Wilhelmine | ||
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Born 14 April 1765Darmstadt ( 1765-04-14 ) Issue Ludwig I of BavariaPrincess Augusta, Duchess of LeuchtenbergPrincess Amalie of BavariaCaroline, Empress of AustriaPrince Karl Theodor of Bavaria Mother Maria Luise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg Died March 30, 1796, Rohrbach, Palatinate, Germany Spouse Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (m. 1785) Children Ludwig I of Bavaria, Princess Augusta of Bavaria, Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, Prince Karl Theodor of Bavaria Parents Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt, Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg Similar People Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, Princess Augusta of Bavaria, Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, Ludwig I of Bavaria, Caroline of Baden | ||
Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt (German: Marie Auguste Wilhelmine von Hessen-Darmstadt) (14 April 1765 – 30 March 1796) was the mother of King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
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Augusta Wilhelmine was born at Darmstadt, the fourth daughter and ninth child of Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt (second son of Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt) and Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg.
Marriage and children
On 30 September 1785, in Darmstadt, Augusta Wilhelmine married Maximilian, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (later King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria). They had five children:
Maximilian was an officer in the French army stationed at Strasbourg, but the couple also often visited Paris. There Augusta Wilhelmine met Queen Marie Antoinette with whom she maintained an ongoing correspondence.
In 1789, Maximilian's regiment rose in revolt and he and Augusta Wilhelmine fled to her parents' home in Darmstadt. For the next five years, they lived mostly in the neighboring town of Mannheim. In December 1794, the French army attacked Mannheim. Augusta Wilhelmine fled the city when her home was shelled by French artillery.
Duchess of Zweibrücken
In April 1795 Maximilian succeeded his brother as reigning Duke of Zweibrücken; however, his duchy was entirely occupied by the French. In March 1796 Augusta Wilhelmine, who had always had delicate lungs, finally succumbed and died at Rohrbach. She was buried in the Schlosskirche in Darmstadt.