Quick Facts
VirgoBiography
Duke Louis of Württemberg (Ludwig Friedrich Alexander) (Treptow an der Rega, 30 August 1756 – Kirchheim unter Teck, 20 September 1817) was the second son of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg (1732–1797) and Margravine Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1736–1798). His elder brother was Frederick I, the first King of Württemberg, his sister was the Russian Empress consort, Maria Feodorovna. Louis retained the pre-royal title of Duke.
Biography
Life in military
Louis Frederick was a general in the cavalry. He was briefly a high ranking commander the Army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth appointed the commander of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's army, but betrayed the Commonwealth, refusing to fight against Russian troops throughout the Polish–Russian War of 1792, while feigning illness. For his betrayal he was dismissed from his post, but never prosecuted. His Polish wife, Duchess Maria, divorced him shortly afterward after his treason became public knowledge.
Marriages and issue
He married on 28 October 1784 Princess Maria Czartoryska (1768–1854), daughter of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and Countess Isabella von Flemming.
They had one child before they divorced in 1793 (Maria initiated the divorce upon the news of his betrayal of Poland):
- Duke Adam Karl Wilhelm Stanislaus Eugen Paul Ludwig of Württemberg (16 January 1792 - 27 July 1847); granted the style Royal Highness on 26 December 1805.
On 28 January 1797 in Hermitage, near Bayreuth, Louis Frederick was married to Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg (then of Nassau), daughter of Charles Christian, Duke of Nassau-Weilburg and Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau. The couple had five children:
- Duchess Maria Dorothea Luise Wilhelmine Karoline of Württemberg (1 November 1797 - 30 March 1855); granted the style Royal Highness on 26 December 1805; married in 1819 Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary (9 March 1776 - 13 January 1847).
- Duchess Amalie Therese Luise Wilhelmine Philippine of Württemberg (28 June 1799 - 28 November 1848); granted the style Royal Highness on 26 December 1805; married in 1817 Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (27 August 1789 - 25 November 1868).
- Duchess Pauline Therese Luise of Württemberg (4 September 1800 - 10 March 1873); granted the style Royal Highness on 26 December 1805; married in 1820 her first cousin, William I of Wurttemberg.
- Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine Konstanze of Württemberg (27 February 1802 - 5 December 1864); granted the style Royal Highness on 26 December 1805; married in 1830 Prince Wilhelm, Grand-Ducal Prince and Margrave von Baden (8 April 1792 - 11 October 1859).
- Duke Alexander Paul Ludwig Konstantin of Württemberg (9 September 1804 - 4 July 1885); granted the style Royal Highness on 26 December 1805; married, morganitically, on 2 May 1835, Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde, and had issue (21 September 1812 – 1 October 1841); founded the second branch of the House of Württemberg, known as the Dukes of Teck.
He is an ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Philip, King Felipe VI of Spain and Charles Napoléon.
Between 1807 and 1810, Duke Louis employed the composer Carl Maria von Weber as his secretary with no musical duties.Weber and the duke's older brother Frederick mutually disliked each other, and the composer was banished from Württemberg after accusations of misappropriating some of the duke's money.