Dorothea of ​​Denmark (1546-1617)

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Portrait of Dorothea of ​​Denmark on the right wing of the altar in the Celle castle chapel

Dorothea of ​​Denmark (born June 29, 1546 in Koldinghus ; † January 6, 1617 in Winsen (Luhe) ) was Princess of Denmark and as the wife of Wilhelm the Younger Duchess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg .

Life

Youth and marriage

She was a daughter from the marriage of King Christian III. of Denmark (1503–1559) with Dorothea von Sachsen-Lauenburg . On October 12, 1561 she married Wilhelm the Younger of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, a son of Duke Ernst the Confessor . Dorothea had brought a gilded bridal carriage made in Denmark along with her furnishings to her wedding. This car came to Coburg 38 years later because it was again being used as a bridal car for her daughter Margarethe when her supplement with Duke Johann Casimir von Sachsen-Coburg was completed in September 1599 . The car was preserved and is now part of the art collections of the Veste Coburg . From her marriage to Duke Wilhelm, Dorothea had 15 children, which, very unusual for the time, all reached adulthood. The upbringing in the sense of Lutheranism took the parents into their own hands, which was also unusual for princely families of this time.

From autumn 1577, Duke Wilhelm the Younger suffered from a mental illness, which initially improved, but reappeared in 1582. Duchess Dorothea sought advice from relatives and doctors, in fact no one could help. Because of her demand that the duke be locked up for his own safety and that of the family, she fell out with the duke's senior officials. Eventually, even Emperor Rudolf II had to intervene, an imperial commission recommended strict custody. The mental health problems fortunately disappeared for several years, but started again in 1587. Duke Wilhelm the Younger could no longer exercise his office and was placed under room arrest in his residence in Celle . Since the sons were still minors, the governors and councilors took over the administration of the Principality of Lüneburg. Margrave Georg Friedrich von Brandenburg , who had been married to Dorothea's eldest daughter Sophie since 1579, was appointed regent. However, the actual supervision of the state administration was carried out by Dorothea, who in fact had to take over the duke's duties.

Dorothea spent most of her time with her children in the Medingen Monastery, which had been converted into a women's monastery, and in her Wittum Castle in Winsen . Because of the difficult living conditions at the court in Celle, where the plague raged in 1577, 1583 and 1590, and in Winsen, the eldest daughter Sophie took the youngest daughter Sybille (* 1584) with her to Ansbach when she visited her mother in 1589, where she stayed until her marriage in 1617. Despite the duchess's austerity measures, the principality ran into economic difficulties because of the dual management of the court.

Widowhood

Coat of arms of Dorothea Princess of Denmark at the old town hall in Celle

In 1592 Duke Wilhelm the Younger died and the eldest son Ernst II took over the government. Dorothea was a widow at the age of 46 and finally had to retire to her widow's residence in Winsen in 1593. She energetically took over the administration of the Winsen Office. She had the chapel of Winsen Castle painted according to the theological program of Lutheran Orthodoxy . According to Schulz , Dorothea saw the thirty public witch burnings that took place in the years 1611–1614 in front of the "Luhdorfer Tore" and describes one of these cases from 1614 in more detail, referring to the files of the Winsen District Court, where Dorothea was the public I saw the burn "from the window of her castle ". Of her eight daughters, only four were married, three lived with their mother in Winsen, some of the sons in Celle am Hof ​​or in Winsen.

In 1599 there was a big family reunion in Heldburg when Dorothea traveled to Heldburg and Coburg with the ruling son Ernst II, accompanied by their children Margaretha, August, Magnus and Christian with a large court . In September Margaretha's side camp with Duke Johann Casimir von Sachsen-Coburg took place there. Dorothea's eldest daughter Sophie also traveled to the festival with her husband, Margrave Duke Georg Friedrich I of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Dorothea's youngest daughter, Sybille, from Ansbach.

Duke Ernst died in 1611 without any descendants. His six brothers agreed not to allow any further division of the estate. Only the youngest brother Georg was allowed to marry in accordance with his status, which is why the second oldest brother Christian, who succeeded Ernst, remained without an heir.

Dorothea fell ill in 1616 and died on January 6, 1617 at the age of 71. The body was transferred to Celle. The burial did not take place until February 16 in the ducal crypt under the choir of the Celle town church . Melchior Franck , court conductor with Dorothea's son-in-law Duke Johann Casimir in Coburg, wrote a four-part lament for the duchess's death. Two contemporary works of art also commemorate the Duchess: a portrait on an altar wing of the Celle palace chapel and an epitaph for the couple Wilhelm and Dorothea in the choir of the Celle town church.

progeny

The marriage, which is considered to be harmonious, resulted in 15 children:

ancestors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 King Christian I (1426–1481)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 King Friedrich I (1471–1533)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dorothea of ​​Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1430–1495)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 King Christian III (1503–1559)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Johann Cicero Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Anna of Brandenburg (1487–1514)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Margaret of Saxony (1449–1501)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dorothea of ​​Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Johann IV of Saxony-Lauenburg (1439–1507)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Magnus I of Saxony-Lauenburg (1470–1543)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dorothea of ​​Brandenburg (1446–1519)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dorothea of ​​Saxony-Lauenburg (1511–1571)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Heinrich I of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1463–1514)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Katharina of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1488–1563)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Catherine of Pomerania (d. 1526)
 
 
 
 
 
 

Web links

Commons : Dorothea of ​​Denmark (1546–1617)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Duke Johann Casimir's royal supplement at Heldburg Castle and in Coburg. see: Norbert Klaus Fuchs: Das Heldburger Land - a historical travel guide. Rockstuhl Publishing House, Bad Langensalza 2013, ISBN 978-3-86777-349-2
  2. ^ Peter Kuhlbrodt: Clara grevin undt fraw zu Schwartzburgk wittwe (1571–1658). Life and work of a born duchess in Heringen (helmets) ; 2008, p. 6 [1] (pdf accessed on June 30, 2013; 903 kB)
  3. ^ Kuhlbrodt: Clara grevin undt fraw zu Schwartzburgk wittwe (1571–1658) , p. 9f
  4. ↑ Dorothea in Paradiesgärtlein (pdf, accessed on June 30, 2013)
  5. ^ Heinrich Schulz: Chronicle of Wilsede . Edited by the Naturschutzpark e. V. Association of Nature Conservation Park e. V., Stuttgart / Hamburg 1967, p. 49 .
  6. ^ Heinrich Schulz-Egestorf: Chronicle of Sahrendorf in the district of Harburg. History of the courtyards under the rule of the Michaeliskloster in Lüneburg (=  publications of the Helms-Museumerein Naturschutzpark e.V. No. 15 ). Helms-Museum, Hamburg-Harburg 1963, p. 32 .
  7. ↑ Duke Johann Casimir's royal supplement at Heldburg Castle and in Coburg. see: Norbert Klaus Fuchs: Das Heldburger Land - a historical travel guide. Rockstuhl Publishing House, Bad Langensalza 2013, ISBN 978-3-86777-349-2
personal data
SURNAME Dorothea of ​​Denmark
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duchess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg
DATE OF BIRTH June 29, 1546
PLACE OF BIRTH Kolding
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 1617
Place of death Wince