Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark

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Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark, later Electress of the Palatinate, painting by Johann Georg Wagner

Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark (June 20 July / June 30,  1650 greg. In Copenhagen ; † April 23, 1706 at Lichtenburg Castle near Prettin ) was a Danish princess from the House of Oldenburg and by marriage Electress of the Palatinate .

Life

She was the third daughter of King Friedrich III. of Denmark and Norway and his wife Sophie Amalie , daughter of Duke Georg von Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Calenberg .

She was betrothed to Prince Elector Karl von der Pfalz on April 23, 1670 in Copenhagen and married him on September 20, 1671 in Heidelberg . The marriage was arranged by Karl's father's sister, Sophie von der Pfalz , who later became Electress of Hanover, who Wilhelmine Ernestine picked up in Copenhagen; her husband Ernst August was a brother of Wilhelmine Ernestine's mother.

The groom's sister, Liselotte von der Pfalz , still took part in the celebrations, six weeks later she left for her own wedding forever in France, but corresponded with her sister-in-law for life. The inconspicuous princess with her “sleepy-headed nature” and the pockmarked, somewhat clumsy prince, who was cheerlessly brought up by the dominant father and strict scholars, were not inclined from the start and the marriage remained childless. The aunt, Electress Sophie, remarked in her memoir: “The elector, who was brought up very simply, asked the Duke (Sophie's husband Ernst August ) to help him with his advice on matters of which he understood nothing. But it seems that he was a bad student, because his wife never got pregnant. "Karl felt not only aversion to his wife, he was also a hypochondriac who let his personal doctor Winkler persuade him that" the whole body of it is unhealthy ”. Besides, he seemed to be hoping that his wife would die before him.

Efforts by Elector Karl Ludwig , Karl's father, who was concerned about an heir, to officially divorce his own marriage in 1677 in order to be able to marry again as a dynasty failed due to the resistance of his separated wife, Electress Charlotte .

On August 28, 1680, Karl succeeded his father on the throne as Elector Karl II, but died in 1685 after less than five years of reign, in which he had squandered the state treasure that his father had laboriously saved, and left Wilhelmine Ernestine as a widow. Due to a lack of heirs, the Simmern line died out and the Electoral Palatinate fell to the Catholic Palatinate-Neuburg cousin Philipp Wilhelm , who from 1688 the French King Louis XIV contested his inheritance in the Palatinate War of Succession ; the Palatinate was devastated by French troops.

After the death of her husband, Wilhelmine Ernestine moved to her sister, the Saxon Elector's widow Anna Sophie , mother of Augustus the Strong, to her widow's residence at Lichtenburg Castle , where she lived for another 20 years and was later buried in the sister's crypt created by Balthasar Permoser - her sister was buried next to her five years later. The tomb was moved to the Princely Chapel of Freiberg Cathedral in 1811 .

ancestors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Frederick II, King of Denmark and Norway (1534–1588)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Christian IV. King of Denmark and Norway (1577–1648)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sophie of Mecklenburg (1557–1631)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Friedrich III. King of Denmark and Norway (1609–1670)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Joachim Friedrich Elector of Brandenburg (1546–1608)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Anna Katharina of Brandenburg (1575-1612)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin (1549–1602)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wilhelm the Younger of Braunschweig-Lüneburg , (1535–1592)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Georg von Braunschweig-Calenberg (1582–1641)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dorothea of ​​Denmark (1546-1617)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sophie Amalie of Braunschweig-Calenberg (1628–1685)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ludwig V of Hessen-Darmstadt (1577–1626)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Anna Eleonore of Hessen-Darmstadt (1601–1659)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Magdalena of Brandenburg (1582–1616)
 
 
 
 
 
 

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dirk Van der Cruysse: Being a Madame is a great craft. Liselotte of the Palatinate. A German princess at the court of the Sun King. From the French by Inge Leipold. 14th edition, Piper, Munich 2015, ISBN 3-492-22141-6 , p. 104.
  2. ↑ Dirk Van der Cruysse, ibid. P. 105
  3. ↑ Dirk Van der Cruysse, ibid. P. 285, says Karl himself in a letter.
  4. ↑ Dirk Van der Cruysse, ibid. P. 285
personal data
SURNAME Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wilhelmina Ernestina of Denmark and Norway
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Electress of the Palatinate
DATE OF BIRTH June 30, 1650
PLACE OF BIRTH Copenhagen
DATE OF DEATH April 23, 1706
Place of death Lichtenburg Castle , Prettin