Regency

When her husband died on 24 December 1803, she took over as regent of the duchy for their son Bernhard II. She ruled with energy, courage, and good sense during the Napoleonic Wars, which for the next decade ravaged the Saxon states.^[1]

The duchy was forced to join the Confederation of the Rhine during these Wars and provide it with troops; afterwards the duchy was struck with famine, which Luise sought to prevent by importing wheat. French armies, and later those of Russia, marched back and forth across the country, but Luise refused to flee; she stayed with her infant son and two daughters inside their castle.^[1]

She used every strategy to preserve the autonomy of her regency, so that when she joined the Allies in 1813, she had saved the duchy for her son. He became the ruling Duke of Meiningen eight years later.^[1]

By adjustments in the duchy's administration she ensured the duchy was better managed and in 1821 opened the Gymnasium Bernhardinum in Meiningen (already begun by her husband).

Her children were carefully educated, with a grand tour to Italy under their tutor Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. After her son came of age, Luise retired as regent and went on several foreign trips, including one to England to visit her daughter Adelaide.