- Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
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Anna Amalia Duchess of Saxe-Weimar/ Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach Duchess consort of Saxe-Weimar/ Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Tenure 1756-1758 Regent of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach Tenure 1758-1775 Spouse Ernest Augustus II Issue Charles Augustus
Prince Frederick FerdinandHouse House of Brunswick-Bevern
House of Saxe-Weimar-EisenachFather Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Mother Philippine Charlotte of Prussia Born 24 October 1739
WolfenbüttelDied 10 April 1807 (aged 67)
WeimarAnna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (24 October 1739 – 10 April 1807), was a German princess and composer. She became the duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, by marriage, and was also regent of the states of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach from 1758 to 1775. She transformed her court and its surrounding into the most influential cultural center of Germany.
Contents
Family
She was born in Wolfenbüttel, the ninth child of Karl I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick William I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover.
Life
Marriage
In Brunswick on 16 March 1756 she married Ernst August II Konstantin, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Ernst August died in 1758 leaving her regent for their infant son, Karl August.
Regency
During Karl August's minority she administered the affairs of the duchy with notable prudence, strengthening its resources and improving its position in spite of the troubles of the Seven Years' War.
As a patron of art and literature she drew many of the most eminent men in Germany to Weimar including Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Friedrich Schiller. Amalia von Helvig was also later to be a part of her court. She hired Christoph Martin Wieland, a poet and translator of William Shakespeare, to educate her son. She also established the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, which is now home to some 1,000,000 volumes.
In 1775, with her son having attained his maturity, she retired. She died in Weimar. The duchess was honoured in Goethe's work under the title Zum Andenken der Fürstin Anna-Amalia.
Composition
Anna Amalia was a notable composer. Among her significant works is a symphony for two oboes, two flutes, two violins, and double bass (1765), a tripartite oratorio (1768), a Singspiel called Erwin und Elmire (1776), based on a text by Goethe, and a divertimento for piano, clarinet, viola, and violoncello (around 1780).[1]
Ancestry
References
- ^ ANNA AMALIA von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, retrieved February 25, 2011
Further reading
- F. Bornhak, Anna Amalia, Herzogin von Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Berlin, Germany: 1892
- Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 1, p. 886-887
External links
- PRNewsWire: Goethe's forbidden love for Anna Amalia
- Death Mask of Ann Amalia Of Brunswick
- Free scores by Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel at the International Music Score Library Project
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-WolfenbüttelCadet branch of the House of WelfBorn: 24 October 1739 Died: 10 April 1807German royalty Vacant Title last held bySophie Charlotte of Brandenburg-BayreuthDuchess consort of Saxe-Weimar
16 March 1756 – 28 May 1758Vacant Title next held byLouise of Hesse-DarmstadtDuchess consort of Saxe-Eisenach
16 March 1756 – 28 May 1758Categories:- 1739 births
- 1807 deaths
- People from the District of Wolfenbüttel
- House of Brunswick-Bevern
- Female regents
- Women classical composers
- House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
- 18th-century German people
- Duchesses of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
- Duchesses of Saxe-Weimar
- Duchesses of Saxe-Eisenach
- German composers
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