View source for Marie of Prussia

{{Short description|Queen of Bavaria from 1848 to 1864}}
{{other uses}}
{{one source|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox royalty
| consort = yes
| image           =Hanfstaengl, Franz - Königin Marie von Bayern (1825-1889) (Zeno Fotografie).jpg
| caption         = Queen Marie in middle age, 1860s
| image_size = 
| succession = [[List of Bavarian consorts|Queen consort of Bavaria]]
| reign                =28 March 1848 – 10 March 1864
| spouse               ={{marriage|[[Maximilian II of Bavaria]]|1842|1864|end=died}}
| issue                =[[Ludwig II of Bavaria|Ludwig II]]<br />[[Otto, King of Bavaria|Otto I]]
| house          =[[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]] (by birth)<br/>[[House of Wittelsbach|Wittelsbach]] (by marriage)
| father               =[[Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1783–1851)|Prince Wilhelm of Prussia]]
| mother               =[[Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg|Princess Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg]]
| birth_date        ={{Birth date|1825|10|15|df=y}}
| birth_place       =[[City Palace, Berlin|Berlin City Palace]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]
| death_date        ={{death date and age|1889|5|17|1825|10|15|df=y}}
| death_place       =[[Hohenschwangau Castle]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]]
| burial_place =[[Theatinerkirche (Munich)|Theatine Church]]
| religion    = [[Prussian Union of churches|Evangelical Christian Church]], later [[Catholicism]]
|}}
{{House of Hohenzollern (Prussia)|frederickwilliam2g}}

'''Marie of Prussia''' ({{langx|de|Marie Friederike Franziska Auguste Hedwig von Preußen}}; 15 October 1825 – 17 May 1889) was [[List of Bavarian royal consorts|Queen of Bavaria]] by marriage to [[Maximilian II of Bavaria]], and the mother of Kings [[Ludwig II of Bavaria|Ludwig II]] and [[Otto, King of Bavaria|Otto]] of Bavaria.

==Life==
Born and raised in [[Berlin]], she was the daughter of [[Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1783–1851)|Prince Wilhelm of Prussia]], a younger brother of [[Frederick William III of Prussia|King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia]], and his wife, [[Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg]]. The family spent half of the year at Fischbach (today [[Karpniki]]) Castle in Silesia, where they loved to hike in the [[Giant Mountains]]. 

In her youth, Marie was seriously considered as a wife for [[Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], until her engagement to Maximilian was announced.

===Queen===
[[File:Marie of prussia queen of bavaria.jpg|thumb|left|Marie of Prussia as Crown Princess of Bavaria, by [[Joseph Karl Stieler]], 1843, ''[[Gallery of Beauties]]'', [[Nymphenburg Palace]]]]

[[File:Marie of Prussia, Queen of Bavaria.jpg|thumb|260px|upright|Queen Marie of Bavaria, 1864]]
On 12 October 1842, she married the [[Crown Prince]], and later [[List of rulers of Bavaria|King of Bavaria]], [[Maximilian II of Bavaria|Maximilian II]].

Marie was loved equally by both the [[Catholic]] and [[Protestant]] populations. (At that time, Bavaria was mostly Catholic, whilst Prussia was mostly Evangelical.) A specific emphasis of her "great social engagement" was a reactivation of the Bavarian Women's Association, which took place on 18 December 1869 with the aid of her son, [[Ludwig II of Bavaria|Ludwig II]]. Its aim was "Pflege und Unterstützung der im Felde verwundeten und erkrankten Krieger" (''Care and support of soldiers wounded and injured in the field''). The Bavarian [[List of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies|Red Cross]] was officially founded as a result of the Bavarian Women's Association. The Red Cross eventually took over for the Queen.

===Queen dowager===
With the sudden death of Maximilian II on 10 March 1864, Marie became a widow. On 12 October 1874, she converted to [[Catholicism]].

As a widow she lived at [[Nymphenburg Palace]]. She spent her summer holidays at [[Schloss Hohenschwangau]] near [[Füssen]], a castle her husband had redecorated in [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] style, and at her country estate in Elbigenalp in the Lechtal Alps. She enjoyed hiking the mountains, which she had often done with her sons when they were young. Marie looked after her second son Otto, who was declared insane. She outlived her elder son, Ludwig II, by nearly three years; his unusual death occurring on 13 June 1886. Marie died in 1889 in [[Hohenschwangau Castle|Hohenschwangau]].

She is interred in the [[Theatinerkirche (Munich)|Theatine Church]] in [[Munich]] in a side chapel opposite her husband.

==Issue==

*[[Ludwig II of Bavaria]] (25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886); succeeded as King of Bavaria as Ludwig II. Declared mentally incompetent without examination and deposed in a coup in favour of his uncle, Prince Luitpold, on 10 June 1886; [[Ludwig II of Bavaria#Deposition and death|died under disputed circumstances]].
*[[Otto, King of Bavaria|Otto I of Bavaria]] (27 April 1848 – 11 October 1916); succeeded as King of Bavaria as Otto I, but reigned only in name due to the regency of his uncle, [[Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria|Prince Luitpold]]. Declared mentally incompetent and deposed on 5 November 1913 by his cousin Prince Ludwig, later King [[Ludwig III of Bavaria]].

==Honours==
* {{Flag|Kingdom of Bavaria}}: Grand Mistress of the [[Order of Theresa]]<ref name = "HofUndStaat">''Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Preußen'' (1886/7), Genealogy p. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_lHkOAAAAYAAJ/page/n37/mode/2up 4]</ref>
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1803-1892).svg}} [[Kingdom of Prussia]]:<ref name = "HofUndStaat"/>
** Dame of the [[Order of Louise]], 1st Division
** [[Cross of Merit for Women and Girls]]
* {{flagcountry|Restoration (Spain)}}: [[Order of Queen Maria Luisa|Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa]], ''17 June 1856''<ref>{{cite book|url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000941464&search=&lang=es|chapter=Real orden de Damas Nobles de la Reina Maria Luisa|title=Guía Oficial de España|date=1887|accessdate=21 March 2019|pages=166|language=es}}</ref>
* {{flag|Kingdom of Saxony}}: Dame of the [[Order of Sidonia]], ''1871''<ref>{{cite book|title=Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen: 1873|year=1873|publisher=Heinrich|page=[http://opacplus.bsb-muenchen.de/title/9530888/ft/bsb11041169?page=177 155]}}</ref>

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
| boxstyle_5 = background-color: #9fe;
| 1 = 1. '''Marie of Prussia'''
| 2 = 2. [[Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1783–1851)|Prince Wilhelm of Prussia]]
| 3 = 3. [[Princess Maria Anna of Hesse-Homburg]]
| 4 = 4. [[Frederick William II of Prussia]]
| 5 = 5. [[Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt|Princess Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt]]
| 6 = 6. [[Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg]]
| 7 = 7. [[Princess Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt]]
| 8 = 8. [[Prince Augustus William of Prussia]]
| 9 = 9. [[Duchess Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]]
| 10 = 10. [[Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt]]
| 11 = 11. [[Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken]]
| 12 = 12. [[Frederick IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg]]
| 13 = 13. [[Ulrike Louise of Solms-Braunfels|Princess Ulrike Louise of Solms-Braunfels]]
| 14 = 14. [[Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt]] (= 10)
| 15 = 15. [[Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken]] (= 11)
}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{commons category|Marie of Prussia}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Hohenzollern]]|15 October|1825|17 May|1889}}
{{S-roy|de}}
{{s-bef|before|before=[[Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Queen of Bavaria|Queen consort of Bavaria]]|years=28 March 1848 – 10 March 1864}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (1849–1919)|Maria Theresa of Austria-Este]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Prussian princesses by birth}}
{{Bavarian princesses by marriage}}
{{Queens of Bavaria}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marie Of Prussia}}

[[Category:Prussian princesses]]
[[Category:1825 births]]
[[Category:1889 deaths]]
[[Category:Royalty from Berlin]]
[[Category:House of Hohenzollern]]
[[Category:House of Wittelsbach]]
[[Category:Queens consort of Bavaria]]
[[Category:Bavarian princesses by marriage]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism]]
[[Category:German Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Burials at the Theatine Church, Munich]]
[[Category:Bavarian queen mothers]]
[[Category:Gallery of Beauties]]
[[Category:Immigrants to the Kingdom of Bavaria]]