The Johanneskirche in Erbach, which was founded by the deeply religious Marianne after the tragic death of her 12-year-old illegitimate son, is closely linked to her fate.

Born in Berlin, Marianne was the youngest child and second daughter of Prince William Frederick of Orange-Nassau by his wife Wilhelmine of Prussia.

Marianne was born there on 9 May 1810 as the Nesthäkchen (Baby of the Family) in the Niederländisches Palais; named after her maternal aunt-by-marriage Princess William of Prussia.

As the new King and Queen of the Netherlands and Belgium, her parents had little time for their daughter; this distant and non-authoritarian upbringing was decisive in Marianne's character.

[2] In Noordeinde Palace at The Hague on 14 September 1830, Marianne married her first cousin Prince Albert, the fourth son of her mother's brother, King Frederick William III of Prussia.

The couple lived in Berlin, initially in Schönhausen Palace in Pankow, and from 1832 in the Prinz-Albrecht-Palais in Friedrichstadt, built by Karl Friedrich Schinkel; Marianne also bought the Schloss Kamenz in 1838 for her family in the village of Kamieniec Ząbkowicki, Lower Silesia, in southwestern Poland.

However, soon the marriage became unhappy: the sensitive, deeply religious, artistically and socially interested Marianne and the militarily educated, Prussian drill-loving Albert did not match each other's characters; he was also prone to extramarital adventures.

When it was found that she was expecting a child from van Rossum, in order to prevent an even bigger scandal, both courts of The Hague and Berlin finally gave their permission for the divorce that Marianne and Albert had longed for.

On 28 March 1849, the divorce was officially pronounced,[5] and on 30 October Marianne gave birth to a son, Johannes Wilhelm von Reinhartshausen in Cefalù, during one of her trips to Sicily.

The courts of The Hague and Berlin then broke off all contact with Marianne: in the Kingdom of Prussia, there was even an official exile decree that allowed her to stay on Prussian soil for only 24 hours at a time.

With her decision to raise her illegitimate child herself and not, as is customary in the aristocracy, to silently give it into the hands of someone else as a "misstep", she once again attracted the disapproval of the royal families.

For Marianne, the banishment decree meant that she could only meet her children (and later grandchildren), with whom she remained closely connected throughout her life, outside of Prussia or during a 24-hour stay.

In search of permanent residence near the Prussian border, which would make it easier for her to visit her children, Marianne moved back from Italy to her homeland in 1855.

Marianne reconstructed part of the Schloss as a museum to house her art collection, probably consisting of more than 600 paintings, graphics and numerous marble statues, most of which she had brought with her from Rome.

From October 1861 onward, Johannes Wilhelm von Reinhartshausen was no longer taught by private tutors, but attended a boarding school in nearby Dauborn.

Stöver also created three Carrara marble statues based on motifs by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, which were placed in the chancel and symbolize faith, love and hope.

On 10 May 1873 Johannes van Rossum, Marianne's partner for 25 years and the love of her life, died from comsumpition aged 63 at Schloss Reinhartshausen.

However, reference is made to Marianne's marriage to Prince Albert of Prussia, from whom she had been divorced since 1849 and who was morganatically married to Rosalie von Rauch from 1853 until his death in 1872.

zu Reinhartshausen bei Erbach Whose roughly translation in English is: Here in God rests in the expectation of a happy resurrection Wilhelmine Friederike Luise Charlotte Marianne of Nassau Orange, Princess of the Netherlands, born in Berlin on May 9, 1810, married in The Hague on September 14.

A second grave slab on the base of the Christ statue mentions Elisabeth Mees, born Princess of Prussia and great-granddaughter of Marianne, who died in 1961 at the age of 42 and was buried there.