Countess Luise Henriette of Nassau

Luise Henriette of Nassau

Luise and her sisters

Luise Henriette of Nassau, 1643

Luise Henriette of Nassau as a statue.

Louise Henrietta of Nassau (Dutch: Louise Henriëtte van Nassau, German: Luise Henriette von Nassau; December 7, 1627 – June 18, 1667) was a Countess of Nassau, granddaughter of William I, Prince of Orange, "William the Silent", and an Electress of Brandenburg.

Biography

Louise Henriëtte was born in The Hague, the eldest daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. She grew up at the court of her father, the Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel.

Marriage

Louise Henriëtte had to abandon her love for Henri Charles de La Trémoille, Prince of Talmant, son of Henry de La Trémoille, as her mother had royal ambitions for her. However, attempts to conclude an engagement with King Charles II of England came to nothing. Finally she was forced to marry Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (1620-1688), "the Great Elector," at The Hague on 7 December 1646, her nineteenth birthday.

The Electorate of Brandenburg regarded this marriage as beneficial by reason of the connections with the Orange family it created in the hope of obtaining assistance for Brandenburg's struggle for influence in Pomerania.

Electress

The couple lived in Cleves for the first years of their marriage, but they moved to Brandenburg, Frederick William's seat, in 1648. During her marriage, Luise Henriette followed her spouse and traveled between The Hague, Königsberg, Berlin and Cleves on campaigns, inspections, war and battle fields in Poland and Denmark. She acted as her husband's political adviser and was described as a pragmatist. She managed, through correspondence with the Queen of Poland, Marie Louise Gonzaga, to make an alliance with Poland in exchange for the Polish recognition of Prussia as a province of Brandenburg. It was said of her : "Few Electresses had been allowed so much influence". Luise Henriette had a new castle in Dutch style built in Bötzow in 1650-52 and called it Oranienburg, which became the name for the entire town in 1653. She was also involved in the design and development of the Lustgarten in Berlin. In 1663, she installed the first porcelain cabinet in Europe. In 1665, she founded an orphanage with places for 24 children. She was described as truly kind and gentle with a sharp intellect: her advice was vital for her spouse, and their marriage was considered a role model. During time of war, she made great efforts to soften the damages upon society.

A Protestant religious community known as the Luise-Henrietten-Stift in nearby Lehnin Abbey was named after her.

Children

On a stamp from the series Women in German History

With Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, she had six children.

• William Henry (1648-1649)
• Charles (1655-1674)
• Frederick (1657-1713), the first King in Prussia
• Amalie (1656-1664)
• Henry (1664-1664)
• Louis (1666-1687), married Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł

Luise Henriette died in Berlin and was buried in the Berliner Dom.

Ancestry

Luise Henriette of Nassau's ancestors in three generations

Luise Henriette, Electress of Brandenburg	Father: Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange	Paternal Grandfather: William I of Orange	Paternal Great-grandfather: William, Count of Nassau
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Juliana of Stolberg
		Paternal Grandmother: Louise de Coligny	Paternal Great-grandfather: Gaspard de Coligny
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Charlotte de Laval (1530-1568)
	Mother: Amalia of Solms-Braunfels	Maternal Grandfather: John Albert I of Solms-Braunfels (1592-1623)	Maternal Great-grandfather: Conrad Graf of Solms-Braunfels
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg
		Maternal Grandmother: Agnes of Sayn-Wittgenstein	Maternal Great-grandfather: Ludwig Graf of Sayn-Wittgenstein
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Elisabeth of Solms-Laubach

Sources

• This page is a translation of its German equivalent.

External links

• http://www.spsg.de/index.php?id=129
• coloured painting of Prinzessin Luise Henriette von Oranien-Nassau, later Kurfürstin von Brandenburg

Countess Luise Henriette of Nassau House of Orange-Nassau Born: 7 December 1627 Died: 18 June 1667
German nobility
Vacant Title last held by Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate	Electress consort of Brandenburg 7 December 1646 – 18 June 1667	Vacant Title next held by Sophia Dorothea of Holstein
	Duchess consort of Prussia 7 December 1646 - 18 June 1667