Luise Henriette of Orange

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Princess Luise Henriette von Oranien-Nassau, later Electress of Brandenburg (oil painting by Willem van Honthorst ; 1643; today Centraal Museum Utrecht ).

Luise Henriette's signature:
Signature Luise Henriette von Oranien.PNG

Luise (also Louise) Henriette of Orange-Nassau (born November 27, jul. / 7. December  1627 greg. In The Hague ; † June 8 jul. / 18th June  1667 greg. In Cölln in contemporary documents, the data with November 26th and June 8th still specified in the Julian calendar ) was Electress of Brandenburg and the first wife of the Great Elector .

Life

Princess Luise Henriette of Orange
Monument in Oranienburg

Luise Henriette, born Princess of Orange-Nassau , was the eldest daughter of the Prince and Governor of the Netherlands Friedrich Heinrich von Orange and his wife Amalie zu Solms-Braunfels , who had followed her princess into exile in the Netherlands as Elisabeth Stuart's maid .

At the age of 19 Luise Henriette married the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg , who later became known as the "Great Elector". Friedrich Wilhelm had got to know Luise Henriette's home as electoral prince during a long stay and knew about the outstanding position of the Orange, the richest and politically leading family in the prosperous and progressive Netherlands. With the connection he hoped to be able to decide the political struggle over Pomerania in his favor.

In the almost 21 years that Luise Henriette was Electress of Brandenburg, she made numerous trips between The Hague , Königsberg , Berlin and Kleve , followed her husband on the Northern War campaigns to Warsaw and to Jutland in Denmark. She also accompanied him to the hunt and on long rides through her Brandenburg possessions. Luise Henriette suffered several miscarriages and gave birth to six children, of which only three sons survived the mother: Prince Elector Karl Emil (1655–1674), Friedrich and Ludwig (1666–1687). Only one of their children was able to survive and inherit his father: Friedrich , who later became the first king in Prussia .

Luise Henriette was “a pragmatic thinking and acting political advisor to her husband. With great commitment she campaigned for reconciliation with Poland and, through her correspondence with the Polish Queen Luisa Maria Gonzaga, influenced the coalition change of Brandenburg in the Northern War in favor of Poland and thus the recognition of the sovereignty of the Electors of Brandenburg over the Duchy of Prussia. Few princesses have been allowed so much influence. "

In 1650, Friedrich Wilhelm gave his wife a farm on the banks of the Spree beyond Berlin, the site of what would later become Monbijou Castle . With great commitment, she set up a model estate with agriculture and dairy farming based on the Dutch model and grew the first potatoes as ornamental plants and curiosities in the Mark Brandenburg. At the same time he gave her the Bötzow office north of Berlin. There Luise Henriette had a new castle built in the Dutch style by the architect Johann Gregor Memhardt in place of a former Ascanian castle, which the later Hohenzollern Elector Joachim II "Hector" converted into a hunting lodge . In 1652 it was named Schloss Oranienburg . Shortly afterwards, the whole of Bötzow joined the new name and from then on called itself Oranienburg . The office was also renamed Amt Oranienburg .

In 1663 Luise Henriette had the first European porcelain cabinet set up in Oranienburg . In doing so, she was guided by the custom in her Dutch homeland of decorating fireplace mantles with porcelain. Two years later, it was there that she fulfilled her vow to found an orphanage for the successful birth of her son Karl Emil with space for 24 children. She drew up the statutes for this herself and provided the house with donations that guaranteed good care for the pupils.

Thank you from the citizens of Oranienburg on the monument to the Electress

Around 1650, the Great Elector had the west wing of the enclosure in Lehnin Monastery lengthened and turned into a hunting lodge. This led to a modest courtly life in the former Cistercian monastery in the Zauche , especially since Luise Henriette Lehnin increasingly made her favorite summer residence . On May 9, 1667, the electoral family said goodbye to Luise Henriette, who was seriously ill with tuberculosis (TB) . A few weeks later she died in Berlin-Cölln.

The Electress is buried in the crypt of the Berlin Cathedral . Her name lives on to this day in the church Luise-Henrietten-Stift on the monastery grounds in Lehnin.

posterity

Since June 18, 1858, the 191st anniversary of her death, a memorial to Luise Henriette has stood on Oranienburg Palace Square. The sculptor was Friedrich Wilhelm Wolff (1816–1887) from Fehrbellin. There is also a monument on Henriettenplatz in Berlin-Wilmersdorf (Halensee), which was named after her. The stele was a gift from various Dutch companies for Berlin's 750th birthday. In addition, there has been a decorative wall with her portrait in the park at Glienicke Palace since 1988 . The original of this illustration, which was made in 1647, is now in the Doorn house , the exile of the former German Emperor Wilhelm II. The Luise-Henriette-Gymnasium and Luise-Henriette-Strasse in Berlin-Tempelhof were also named after the Electress named.

Richard George wrote Zeit about Luise Henriette and her marriage in 1899: “A woman of inner piety, true kindness, genuinely feminine gentleness and a keen understanding. The elector's advice was soon indispensable in all government affairs, and the electoral couple's extremely happy marriage became a model for the whole country. Luise Henriette worked tirelessly wherever there was a need to alleviate the misery and heal the wounds that the war had inflicted on the country. Her work has benefited the little town of Bötzow, which was named Oranienburg in her honor and in which the memory of Luise Henriette lives on as a blessed one to this day. "

literature

Web links

Commons : Luise Henriette von Oranien  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerhild Komander: Louise Henriette - With charm, diplomacy and capital for the good of Brandenburg . 2007
  2. ↑ Sofia Mareschow: The namesake of Henriettenplatz , on the page "To the west of Berlin" on 3 September 2017 called on 27 January 2018th
  3. ↑ Richard George: The first years of reign of the great elector. In: Richard George (Hrsg.): Hie good Brandenburg all way! Historical and cultural images from the past of the Mark and from old Berlin up to the death of the Great Elector. W. Pauli's Nachf. Jerosch & Dünnhaupt et al., Berlin 1900, pp. 374-380, quotation p. 378 .
personal data
SURNAME Luise Henriette of Orange
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Louise Henriette of Orange; Luise Henriette Countess of Nassau-Orange
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Wife of the Great Elector
DATE OF BIRTH December 7, 1627
PLACE OF BIRTH The hague
DATE OF DEATH June 18, 1667
Place of death Cölln