Dorothea of ​​Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck

Dorothea von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (* November 24, 1685 , † December 25, 1761 ) was a princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck by birth and Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth by marriage since 1709 . The marriage was divorced on December 3, 1716.

family

Dorothea was the eldest daughter of Duke Friedrich Ludwig and Luise Charlotte of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg .

She married the Margrave Georg Friedrich Karl in Berlin on April 17, 1709 . The couple moved to Weferlingen . The following children emerged from the connection:

• Sophie Christine Luise (1710–1739)

⚭ 1731 Prince Alexander Ferdinand von Thurn und Taxis (1704–1773)

• Friedrich (1711–1763), Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth

⚭ 1. 1731 Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709–1758)

⚭ 2. 1759 Princess Sophie Karoline of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1737–1817)

• Wilhelm Ernst (1712–1733)
• Sophie Charlotte Albertine (1713–1747)

⚭ 1734 Duke Ernst August I of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1688–1748)

• Wilhelmine Sophie (1714–1749)

⚭ 1734 Prince Karl Edzard of East Friesland (1716–1744)

Life after divorce

Dorothea von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck was divorced on December 3, 1716 from Margrave Georg Friedrich Karl for "crimes against marital fidelity". After the divorce, Dorothea was first imprisoned in the Ansbach fortress of Wülzburg , then deported to Altendorf near Bamberg, and finally interned at the fortress Lauenstein . The children were raised by their grandmother.

In 1726 Margrave Georg Friedrich Karl succeeded him as Margrave of Bayreuth and moved from Weferlingen to Bayreuth. He was probably uncomfortable that his divorced wife should bear the title of Margravine of Bayreuth-Brandenburg. In any case, Hofmeister von Brehmer, who lived in the Weferling household and later advanced to the Ansbach secret council, brought her to Sweden in 1734 under the pseudonym “Dorothea von Zeidewitz” on the condition that she should stay there forever. Until 1751 she lived in Ingestorp with Brehmer's wife.

In 1751, now 66 years old, Dorothea von Zeidewitz was spent by the Swedish Count Nils Julius von Lewenhaupt, chief steward at the Bayreuth court, on whose estate Stäflö near Kalmar , apparently on the instructions or with the approval of her son, Margrave Friedrich von Bayreuth-Brandenburg , who also increased their annual allowance to 1,000 guilders. However, Friedrich adhered to the harsh instructions of his father's will from 1735, according to which his mother was never again allowed to step on Bayreuth soil.