Hedwig von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel

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Hedwig von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Pomerania

Hedwig von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (born February 19, 1595 in Wolfenbüttel ; † June 26, 1650 in Neustettin ) was a princess of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and by marriage Duchess of Pomerania .

Life

Coffin of Duchess Hedwig, b. Braunschweig

Hedwig was a daughter of Duke Heinrich Julius von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1564-1613) from his second marriage to Elisabeth (1573-1626), eldest daughter of King Friedrich II of Denmark . One of Hedwig's brothers was Christian , “the great Halberstadt”.

Hedwig married Duke Ulrich von Pommern (1589-1622), Bishop of Cammin , on February 7, 1619 in Wolfenbüttel . The wedding was very lavishly celebrated in the presence of 16 ruling princes. The marriage, which lasted only three years, remained childless. Christoph von Hoym , who was court marshal of the last Pomeranian Duke Bogislaw XIV , was in the princess' suite . Ulrich von Pommern died as a result of excessive alcohol consumption at the age of 33.

Described as brave, beautiful and witty, after the death of her husband, Hedwig moved into her Wittum in Neustettin , where she lived in the castle for 28 years. She retained the lavish court management that she is used to from Braunschweig and her husband's court. In 1649 65 people belonged to her court. She no longer took off the mourning clothes and devoted herself to charity. She organized the poor and donated substantial financial and material resources to the local church.

Hedwig was considered a talented lute player and hymn poet . She probably wrote the song Up, Up Zion, Daughter Don't Delay . She saw the death of almost all of her siblings, the extinction of the gryphon house whose last duke she had supported with funds, and the raging of the Thirty Years' War . Both imperial and Swedish troops devastated and confiscated their goods. Her complaints to her cousin King Christian IV of Denmark and Queen Christina of Sweden were unsuccessful. In 1630 she temporarily moved to Bublitz during a plague epidemic in Neustettin . In 1631, against the resistance of Bogislaw XIV , she pushed through the appointment of the rector of the Kolberg Latin School, Gregor Lagus , as a prepositus to Neustettin. Lagus became her leading collaborator in setting up an evangelical education center. In 1640 she founded the Princess Hedwig School, which was later named after her . In a will, the foundation linked it to the continued existence of the school in Neustettin, which prevented later relocations to other locations.

In 1642 Hedwig was injured in an attack carried out by the Polish nobles Bartholomäus Tarno (Turno) from Strantz and Pipilowski from Tzarnikau . The Culmer Voivode Melchior Weiher was also involved. The attempted hostage-taking, which was discovered in good time, was probably related to the negotiations that the Duchess conducted over her inheritance because of the dwindling income. In her last will from May 8, 1650, she appointed Elector Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg as heir.

Hedwig died of the leaves at the age of 56 and was finally buried in 1654 in the royal crypt of the Pomeranian dukes in Rügenwalde .

literature

  • Friedrich Wilhelm Barthold : History of Rügen and Pomerania , Volume 4, Part 2, F. Perthes, 1845, p. 503 f.
  • Johannes Hildisch : Publications of the Historical Commission for Pomerania , Volume 9, Böhlau, 1980, p. 211
  • Julius Adolph Wilcke: Chronicle of the City of Neu-Stettin , FA Eckstein, 1862, p. 114 ff.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Hugo Gerhard Bloth:  Princess Hedwig of Pomerania and the preacher Gregor Lagus. Comments on the foundation of the Neustettiner Gymnasium in the age of the Counter Reformation . In: Society for Pomeranian History and Archeology (Hrsg): Baltic studies . New series, Vol. 67, NG Elwert, Marburg 1981, pp. 26-46 ( digitized version ).
  2. ^ Provincial Landtag in the Duchy of Pomerania and the Principality of Rügen: Negotiations of the ... Provincial Landtag in the Duchy of Pomerania and Principality of Rügen , Volume 4, 1831, p. 48, digitized
personal data
SURNAME Hedwig von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hedwig of Pomerania
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Princess of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, by marriage Duchess of Pomerania
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1595
PLACE OF BIRTH Wolfenbüttel
DATE OF DEATH June 26, 1650
Place of death Neustettin