Biography
The daughter of Louis VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt and Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau, she married on January 28, 1751 to Charles Frederick, Margrave of Baden.
Louis VIII was the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1739 to 1768. He was the son of Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Margravine Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach.
Charles Frederick was Margrave, Elector and later Grand Duke of Baden from 1738 until his death.
She is described as learned, spoke five languages, corresponded with Voltaire and made Karlsruhe to a cultural centre in Germany where she counted Johann Gottfried von Herder, Johann Caspar Lavater, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, Christoph Willibald Gluck and Christoph Martin Wieland among her guests. She was a member of Markgräflich Baden court orchestra and the Danish Academy of Fine Arts, draw, painted in water colours and had a laboratory set up in the Karlsruhe palace. Carl von Linné named Glückskastanie Carolinea Princeps L. after her, and Friedrich Wilhelm von Leysser was hired to gather plants for her. She supported herself and managed a soap- and candle-factory. Her health was ruined by a fall in 1779, and she died by a stroke during a trip with her son.
François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plumeVoltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit, his criticism of Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and separation of church and state.
Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe was a German writer and statesman. His works include four novels; epic and lyric poetry; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; and treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour. In addition, there are numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters, and nearly 3,000 drawings by him extant.
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was a German poet. His best known work is the epic poem Der Messias. One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outside of French models.
Her collections were the foundation of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe and the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe.
The Staatliche Kunsthalle is an art museum in Karlsruhe, Germany.
The State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe, abbreviated SMNK, is one of the two state of Baden-Württemberg's natural history museums. Together with the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart it is one of the most important repositories for state-owned natural history collections.
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Princess Wilhelmine of Baden, was by birth Princess of Baden and by marriage Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and the Rhine.
Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt was Landgravine consort of Hesse-Homburg by marriage to Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg.
Friedrich August, Duke of Nassau, Prince of Nassau-Usingen was the last Prince of Nassau-Usingen and, jointly with his cousin, Friedrich Wilhelm of Nassau-Weilburg, first Duke of Nassau. He died without surviving male issue and was succeeded by his cousin's son, Wilhelm.
