Landgravine Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt

Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt (German: Marie Auguste Wilhelmine von Hessen-Darmstadt) (14 April 1765 – 30 March 1796) was Duchess consort of Zweibrücken by marriage to Maximilian, Duke of Zweibrücken, and the mother of King Ludwig I of Bavaria.

Augusta Wilhelmine was born at Darmstadt, the fourth daughter and ninth child of Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt (second son of Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt) and Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg.

Marriage

On 30 September 1785, in Darmstadt, Augusta Wilhelmine 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.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 [de]. She was buried in the Schlosskirche in Darmstadt.

She had five children:

• Prince Ludwig (1786–1868), married Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
• Princess Augusta Amalia Ludovika, (21 June 1788 – 13 May 1851), married Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, Prince of Eichstätt.
• Princess Amalie Marie Auguste (9 October 1790 – 24 January 1794), died in infancy.
• Princess Caroline Augusta (8 February 1792 – 9 February 1873), married William I of Württemberg, and then Francis II of Austria.
• Prince Karl Theodor Maximilian (7 July 1795 – 16 August 1875).