Johanna Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf

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Johanna Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf as Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst; Painting by Antoine Pesne , around 1746
Johanna Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf as Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst; Painting by Anna Rosina de Gasc

Johanna Elisabeth von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (born October 24, 1712 in Gottorf Castle , Schleswig ; † May 30, 1760 in Paris ) was princess and from 1747 to 1752 she was regent of Anhalt-Zerbst as well as the mother of the Russian tsarina Katharina II. and younger sister of Adolf Friedrich , King of Sweden .

Life

Johanna Elisabeth was the youngest surviving daughter of Christian August (1673–1726) of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf and his wife Albertine Friederike (1682–1755), daughter of Margrave Friedrich VII. Magnus of Baden-Durlach . She was a sister of the Swedish King Adolf Friedrich.

On November 8, 1727, the fifteen-year-old married Prince Christian August von Anhalt-Zerbst (1690–1747) in Vechelde . In 1729 her husband became the commander of Stettin in the Prussian service , where three of the five children of this marriage were born.

In January 1744, as Countess von Reinbek , she accompanied her daughter Sophie Auguste Friederike to Russia, where she became the wife of the Russian heir to the throne Peter the following year . Johanna Elisabeth lived for two years at the Russian court of Tsarina Elisabeth and was involved in numerous intrigues here, was suspected of espionage and was finally no longer allowed to communicate with her daughter in writing by order of the Tsarina.

After returning from Russia, after the death of her husband in 1747, Johanna Elisabeth became regent for her son Friedrich August in Anhalt-Zerbst. Even before that, the princess had a considerable share in the state government. In 1751 the brother Johanna Elisabeths Adolf Friedrich became King of Sweden. From 1750 she had the new Dornburg Castle built on the Elbe in order to have a baroque residence à la mode appropriate for the reception of her imperial and royal relatives (her daughter, Tsarina Catherine the Great , however, never came to visit).

Despite the neutrality of Anhalt at the beginning of the Seven Years' War , Johanna Elisabeth hosted the French Marquis de Fraigne , who was accused of espionage. For Friedrich II. Of Prussia this was the reason to occupy Anhalt militarily. The princess fled to Paris in 1758, where she died as Countess of Oldenburg two years later.

progeny

⚭ 1. 1753 Princess Caroline of Hessen-Kassel (1732–1759)
⚭ 2. 1764 Princess Friederike von Anhalt-Bernburg (1744–1827)
  • Auguste Christine Charlotte (* / † 1736)
  • Elisabeth Ulrike (1742–1745)

ancestors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Friedrich III. of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (1597–1659)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Christian Albrecht of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (1641–1695)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Maria Elisabeth of Saxony (1610–1684)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Christian August of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (1673–1726)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Friedrich III. King of Denmark (1609–1670)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Friederike Amalie of Denmark (1649–1704)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sophie Amalie of Braunschweig-Calenberg (1628–1685)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Johanna Elisabeth
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Friedrich VI. of Baden-Durlach , (1617–1677)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Friedrich VII. Magnus of Baden-Durlach (1647–1709)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Christine Magdalena of Pfalz-Zweibrücken-Kleeburg (1616–1662)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Albertine Friederike von Baden-Durlach (1682–1755)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Friedrich III. of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (1597–1659)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Augusta Maria of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (1649–1728)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Maria Elisabeth of Saxony (1610–1684)
 
 
 
 
 
 

Note: Due to inter-family weddings, Friedrich III von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf and his wife Maria Elisabeth are two-time great-grandparents of Johanna Elisabeth.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hubertus Neuschäffer: Castles and mansions in Südholstein , page 267. Weidlich, 1984