Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Herzogin Marie Luise Friederike Alexandrine Elisabeth Charlotte Catherine Mecklenburg-Schwerin; 31 March 1803 – 26 October 1862) was the Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg. She was daughter of Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia. In 1825, she married Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and became his consort.

Early life
Marie Louise was born on 31 March 1803, in the Ludwigslust Palace in Ludwigslust, Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was the second child and first daughter of Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1778–1819), and his wife, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (1784–1803). Frederick Louis was the son of Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, while Elena Pavlovna was the daughter of Paul I of Russia and Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.

Marriage
On 7 October 1825 in Ludwigslust, at the age of twenty-two, Marie Louise married twenty-nine-year-old Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg. Georg was the son of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and his wife, Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The newly-wedded couple would live in Charlottenburg Palace in Hildburghausen until 1829.

The marriage was, reportedly, very happy. The local superintendent Klötzner said: "[...] in his love for his wife and sons, he was the model of a real family man."

They had three children:
 * 1) Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (b. Hildburghausen, 16 September 1826 – d. Altenburg, 7 February 1908); married Princess Agnes of Anhalt-Dessau.
 * 2) Prince Albrecht Frederick August (b. Hildburghausen, 31 October 1827 – d. Ludwigslust, 28 May 1835).
 * 3) Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg (b. Eisenberg, 24 October 1829 – d. Arco, Italy, 13 May 1907); married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen.