Luise Amalie of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel

Portrait of Luise Amalie by Bernhard Rode (1780)

Luise Amalie von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (born January 29, 1722 in Wolfenbüttel , † January 13, 1780 in Berlin ) was a princess of Prussia through her marriage to Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia .

Life

Luise Amalie was born as the daughter of Ferdinand Albrecht II , Prince of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern and his wife Princess Antoinette Amalie of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . The father's farm was very modest for the conditions at the time, but Luise Amalie had a happy childhood at Salzdahlum Castle . Her sister Elisabeth Christine married Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia, later King Friedrich II. , In 1733 , while on January 6, 1742, she was married to his brother August Wilhelm. With this second marriage, the (now deceased) “soldier king” Friedrich Wilhelm I tried to prove his loyalty to the imperial family in Vienna. Since Frederick II remained childless, her husband was considered the king's successor , which made her de facto Crown Princess of Prussia . As such, the couple carried the title princess or prince of Prussia from 1744 .

On September 25, 1744 Luise Amalie's first son, Friedrich Wilhelm , was born, who was separated from his parents at the age of three in order to be prepared for the office of king after the death of his father and uncle at the king's court in Berlin . In 1747 he left his parents' castle in Oranienburg , which his mother regretted very much. Luise Amalie's husband was a good-natured and soft character. However, the marriage turned out to be rather unhappy. August Wilhelm asked his brother to separate the marriage so that he could marry the lady-in-waiting Sophie Marie von Pannwitz , which Friedrich II refused. August Wilhelm finally fought for his brother as a general in the Silesian Wars , but suffered a bad defeat in the Battle of Kolin on June 18, 1757. His brother - the king - then humiliated him deeply, so that it is said that August Wilhelm died on June 12th, 1758 "out of pure genius" (because he was so embarrassed).

From then on, Luise Amalie lived alone with her servants at Oranienburg Castle until she died in Berlin in 1780. Her son Friedrich Wilhelm ascended the Prussian throne after the death of Friedrich II. As King Friedrich Wilhelm II. , Which neither his mother nor his father experienced.

progeny

• Friedrich Wilhelm II. (1744–1797)
• Heinrich (1747–1767)
• Wilhelmine (1751–1820) ∞ Wilhelm V , governor of the Netherlands
• Georg Karl Emil (1758–1759)