Marie Luise von Degenfeld

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Luise von Degenfeld

Maria Susanne Loysa von Degenfeld (mostly called Luise von Degenfeld ), Raugräfin zu Pfalz since 1667 , (born November 28, 1634 in Strasbourg ; † March 18, 1677 in Friedrichsburg Palace , Mannheim ) was the morganatically wedded wife of Elector Karl I. Ludwig von der Pfalz (1618–1680), the son of Frederick V , the so-called Winter King, who was rehabilitated by the Peace of Westphalia , and Elisabeth Stuart .

biography

Marie Luise von Degenfeld was the daughter of the well-known general Christoph Martin von Degenfeld (1599–1653) and Anna Maria Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden (1610–1651). In 1650 she came to the court of Elector Karl Ludwig von der Pfalz in Heidelberg , probably as the lady-in-waiting of Electress Charlotte , the daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel . Karl Ludwig married her in the same year.

Marie Luise von Degenfeld and the Elector Karl Ludwig

The beautiful baroness Degenfeld soon exerted an irresistible attraction on the elector, who at last shrank from any obstacle to owning her. Her brother Ferdinand von Degenfeld demanded his sister's marriage and threatened to remove Luise from the court. On January 6, 1658, the elector married Luise morganatically without being divorced from his first wife in any form, based on an opinion by the Heidelberg lawyer Friedrich Böckelmann , which declared electoral bigamy to be legal . As lord of his church, he pronounced his own divorce on October 25, 1658; a highly dubious company even then. In 1667 Luise was appointed Raugräfin by Karl.

Marie Luise had not without reluctance returned the Elector's affection. Their marriage was a happy one, although their situation was not easy due to the whims of their husband and many others in their unfavorable circumstances.

In her honor, Elector Karl Ludwig had the Providence Church, the first Lutheran church in the royal seat, built in Heidelberg's old town from 1659 to 1661 .

Marie Luise von Degenfeld and the Electress Charlotte

The Electress Charlotte continued to live at the court in Heidelberg and did not return to Kassel until 1662 , after all her attempts to oust her rival had failed.

Marie Luise von Degenfeld did not have a quiet life in the service of her mistress, who was unbearably moody. In 1686, Sophie von der Pfalz wrote about the preparations for Charlotte's funeral:

“ That was the only time she was dressed without running over or punching people. "

In her memoir, Sophie vividly tells of the disputes at the electoral court:

“ Because by rummaging through the Degenfeld cabinet, she found not only all of the elector's love letters, but also all of the jewelry he had given her. This infuriated her and she called for me and my sister. For its part, Degenfeld had informed the Elector, and when we arrived we saw a very unusual scene. The elector stood in front of his mistress to fend off the blows she might have received from his wife, the elector walked back and forth in the room and had all the jewelry of the Degenfeld in her hands. She came up to us full of anger and shouted: Princesses, look here, all of this is the whore's wages, none of this is meant for me. When the elector told her to return the jewels of those to whom they belonged, she tossed everything across the room and screamed: If they shouldn't be mine, then they are there, and there, and here! "

Children from the marriage with Karl Ludwig

Marie Luise gave birth to 13 children, eight of whom the parents survived. The most important of the daughters was Luise Raugräfin zu Pfalz . Through the correspondence that her half-sister Elisabeth Charlotte - known as Liselotte von der Pfalz - carried with her from the French court, an immortal monument has been set for her.

As early as 1667, Marie Luise had renounced all hereditary claims to the Palatinate in the name of her descendants and Karl Ludwig granted her and her children the title of Raugrafen and Raugräfinnen and they at the same time with the fiefs of the dignity of the Raugrafschaft, which had been extinguished for centuries but has now been renewed fitted.

Marie Luise died while she was expecting her 14th child on March 18, 1677. Her bones are now buried in the crypt of the Konkordienkirche in Mannheim .

Five of the 13 children died in early childhood. Of the survivors, all five sons died unmarried and childless, four died as soldiers, one in a duel. Of the three daughters, only Karoline, the eldest, married. She had no surviving male offspring.

  1. Karl Ludwig Raugraf zu Pfalz (1658–1688), killed at Negroponte
  2. Karoline Elisabeth (1659–1696), ⚭ 1683 Meinhard von Schomberg (1641–1719), 3rd Duke of Schomberg and 1st Duke of Leinster
  3. Luise (1661–1733)
  4. Ludwig (1662–1662)
  5. Amalie Elisabeth (1663–1709)
  6. Georg Ludwig (1664–1665)
  7. Frederike (1665–1674)
  8. Friedrich Wilhelm (1666–1667)
  9. Karl Eduard (1668–1690)
  10. Sofie (1669–1669)
  11. Karl Moritz (1670–1702), lieutenant colonel in Brandenburg
  12. Karl August (1672–1691)
  13. Karl Kasimir (1675–1691), died in a duel in Wolfenbüttel "from excessive drink"

see also: Counts of Degenfeld

literature

swell

  1. ↑ Heidelberg and its Electors, Wolfgang von Moers-Messmer, Verlag Regionalkultur 2001, ISBN 3-89735-160-9 .
personal data
SURNAME Degenfeld, Marie Luise von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Degenfeld, Maria Susanne Loysa von; Degenfeld, Luise von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Raugräfin zu Pfalz
DATE OF BIRTH November 28, 1634
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH March 18, 1677
Place of death Friedrichsburg Palace , Mannheim