Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt

Portrait by Johann Friedrich Dryander.

On 30 September 1785, in Darmstadt, Augusta Wilhelmina married Maximilian, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (later King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria).

Maximilian was an officer in the French army stationed at Strasbourg, but the couple also often visited Paris.[1] There, Augusta Wilhelmina met Queen Marie Antoinette, with whom she maintained an ongoing correspondence.

In 1789, Maximilian's regiment rose in revolt and he and Augusta Wilhelmina fled to her parents' home in Darmstadt.[2] For the next five years, they lived mostly in the neighboring town of Mannheim. In December 1794, the French army attacked Mannheim. Augusta Wilhelmina fled the city when her home was shelled by French artillery.[3]

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 Wilhelmina, who had always had delicate lungs, finally succumbed and died at Rohrbach. Her death plunged Maximilian into deep mourning. He wrote some poems in memory of his wife.[4] She was buried in the Schlosskirche in Darmstadt.[5]