Marie Friederike of Hesse-Kassel

Marie Frederike of Hesse-Kassel (14 September 1768, Hanau – 17 April 1839, Hanau) was a German noblewoman and by marriage Princess and later Duchess of Anhalt-Bernburg.

She was a daughter of William I, Elector of Hesse, and his wife, Princess Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark.

Life On 29 November 1794 she married Alexius Frederick Christian, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg. They had four children, of whom only two survived to adulthood: Princess Katharine Wilhelmine (b. Kassel, 1 January 1796 – d. Kassel, 24 February 1796). Princess Wilhelmine Louise (b. Ballenstedt, 30 October 1799 – d. Schloss Eller, 9 December 1882), married on 21 November 1817 to Prince Frederick William Louis of Prussia, grandson of King Frederick William II of Prussia and maternal half-brother of King George V of Hanover. She was the mother of Prince George of Prussia. Frederick Amadeus, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (b. Ballenstedt, 19 April 1801 – d. Ballenstedt, 24 May 1801). Alexander Karl, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg (b. Ballenstedt, 2 March 1805 – d. Hoym, 19 August 1863).

Shortly after her marriage, Marie Friederike showed signs of mental illness (a disease that eventually her two surviving children inherited), which led to inconsistencies in the Bernburg court. Finally, her husband obtained a divorce on 6 August 1817.

The former Duchess returned to her homeland, Hanau. On her death, she was buried on 22 April 1839 in the Marienkirche in Hanau (then a Reformed church ).