Anna Elisabeth of Saxe-Lauenburg (23 August 1624 in

Ratzeburg Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the district Herzogtum Lau ...

– 27 May 1688 in Butzbach), was a duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg by birth and by marriage landgravine of

Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt; it was to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668. It was briefly divided into Hesse-Homburg and H ...

Life

Anna Elizabeth was a daughter of Duke

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

of Saxe-Lauenburg (1577-1656) and his first wife Elisabeth Sophie (1599-1627), the daughter of the Duke John Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp. She married on 2 April 1665 in Lübeck to Landgrave William Christoph of Hesse-Homburg (1625-1681). For William Christoph, it was his second marriage. Only two daughters from his first marriage to

Sophia Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt Sophia Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt (7 January 1634 in Darmstadt – 7 October 1663 in Bingenheim, now part of Echzell), was Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt by birth and by marriage Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg. She was a daughter of Landgrave Geo ...

had survived and it was hoped that the marriage with Anna Elisabeth would produce an heir. The princess, whom the Landgrave only knew from a portrait, was annoyed to learn that she was physically challenged and unable to bear children. He married her, as he had promised, but soon sought a divorce. The divorce was pronounced in 1672. According to some source, he had hoped for a huge dowry, however, the dowry she brought in was rather modest. According to this theory, when her money had been used up, William Christoph called her ''unfit'' and filed for a divorce. Anna Elisabeth received Philippseck Castle near Butzbach as her residence. She engaged in poor relief and founded schools in Bodenrod and Maibach. She died in Butzbach on 27 May 1688, at the age of 64, and was buried in the crypt below the choir of the church in Münster (a district of Butzbach).

References

* ''Archiv für hessische Geschichte und Altertumskunde'', p. 408 ff
Online
* Peter von Kobbe: ''Geschichte und Landesbeschreibung des Herzogthums Lauenburg'', vol. 3, Harro von Hirschheydt, 1837, p. 35 ff House of Ascania 1624 births 1688 deaths German duchesses Landgravines of Hesse-Darmstadt Daughters of monarchs {{Germany-duchess-stub