William II, Elector of Hesse

William II (German: Wilhelm II; 28 July 1777 – 20 November 1847) was the penultimate Elector of Hesse.

William was the eldest surviving son of William I, Elector of Hesse and Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark and Norway. With the Hessian troops, he was involved in the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon in 1813. He succeeded as Elector of Hesse (a title that was moribund after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806) on his father's death in 1821.

Marriage and issue

On 13 February 1797 in Berlin, William married Princess Augusta of Prussia, fourth daughter of Frederick William II of Prussia. They had six children:

• Wilhelm (9 April 1798 – 25 October 1800)
• Karoline (29 July 1799 – 28 November 1854)
• Luise (3 April 1801 – 28 September 1803)
• Friedrich (20 August 1802 – 6 June 1875), later Frederick William, Elector of Hesse
• Marie Fredericka (6 September 1804 – 4 January 1888), married Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
• Ferdinand (9 October 1806 – 21 November 1806)

Morganatic marriages

William also had eight children by his second wife, Emilie Ortlöpp (1791–1843), daughter of Johann Christian Ortlöpp and wife Agnese Luise Sophie Wiessenberg, created (1821) Countess of Reichenbach-Lessonitz. The children bore the title Count/Countess of Reichenbach-Lessonitz:

Emilie Ortlöpp, Countess of Reichenbach-Lessonitz

• Luise Wilhelmine Emilie (26 February 1813 – 3 October 1883), married Karl Count von Bose
• Julius Wilhelm Albrecht (4 October 1815 – 15 January 1822)
• Gustav Karl (24 August 1818 – 26 September 1861), married Clementine Richter
• Amalie Wilhelmine Emilie (21 December 1816 – 28 December 1858), married Wilhelm Count von Lückner, then Karl Baron von Watzdorf
• Emilie (8 June 1820 – 30 January 1891), married Felix Count Zichy-Ferraris
• Friederike (16 December 1821 – 23 February 1898), married Wilhelm Baron von Dungern
• Wilhelm (29 June 1824 – 19 January 1866), married Helene Amelie Baroness Goeler von Ravensburg (ancestors of Ameli, Duchess of Oldenburg and Count Luitpold of Castell-Castell)
• Helene (8 August 1825 – 14 March 1898), married Oswald Baron von Fabrice (4x great grandparents of Princess Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark)

Several months after Augusta's death on 19 February 1841, William morganatically married his mistress and their children were legitimated. Emilie Ortlöpp died less than two years after the marriage in 1843.

Again, months after his second wife's death, William married (morganatically) Caroline, Baroness of Berlepsch (1820–1877), daughter of Ludwig Hermann, Baron of Berlepsch (Speckswinkel, 25 January 1782 – Kassel, 5 April 1845) and wife Melusine Jul. Chr. von Kruse (4 August 1780 – 29 September 1856), created Countess of Bergen in 1846. This marriage was childless. She later married on 28 October 1851 Karl Adolf Graf von Hohenthal (27 November 1811 – 1875), by whom she had two sons: Karl Adolf (b. 1853) and Karl Ludwig (b. 1857).

Princess Tatiana of Greece and Denmark, the wife of Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark, son of King Constantine II of Greece is a descendant of William II of Hesse.

Titles and styles

• 28 July 1777 - 31 October 1785 His Serene Highness Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel
• 31 October 1785 - 15 May 1803 His Serene Highness The Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Kassel
• 15 May 1803 - 27 February 1821 His Serene Highness The Electoral Prince of Hesse
• 27 February 1821 - 20 November 1847 His Royal and Serene Highness The Elector of Hesse