Tenure 1782–1803 Name Princess Eleonore | ||
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Born 11 August 1763Langenburg ( 1763-08-11 ) Issue Adelaide, Queen of the United KingdomIda, Princess Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-EisenachBernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Died April 30, 1837, Meiningen, Germany Children Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Princess Ida of Saxe-Meiningen Parents Caroline of Stolberg-Gedern, Christian Albrecht, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg Similar People Adelaide of Saxe‑Meiningen, Georg II - Duke of Saxe‑Meiningen, William IV of the United Ki, Ellen Franz | ||
Princess Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (11 August 1763, in Langenburg – 30 April 1837, in Meiningen) was a German noblewoman. She was duchess and (from 1803 to 1821) Regent of Saxe-Meiningen.
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Family
Louise Eleonore was a daughter of Prince Christian Albert Louis of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife Princess Caroline of Stolberg-Gedern (1732–1796).
Marriage
On 27 November 1782, in Langenburg, she married George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. They had four children:
Regency
When her husband died on 24 December 1803, she took over as regent of the duchy for their son Bernhard II. She ruled with energy, courage, and good sense during the Napoleonic Wars, which for the next decade ravaged the Saxon states. The duchy was forced to join the Confederation of the Rhine during these Wars and provide it with troops; afterwards the duchy was struck with famine, which Luise sought to prevent by importing wheat. Despite the fact that French and later Russian armies marched back and forth across the country, Luise refused to flee; she stayed with her infant son and two daughters inside their castle. She used every strategy to preserve the autonomy of her regency, so that when she joined the Allies in 1813, she had saved the duchy for her son. He became the ruling Duke of Meiningen eight years later. By adjustments in the duchy's administration she ensured the duchy was better managed and in 1821 opened the Gymnasium Bernhardinum in Meiningen (already begun by her husband).
Her children were carefully educated, with a grand tour to Italy under their tutor Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. After her son came of age, Luise went on several foreign trips, including one to England to visit her daughter Adelaide.