Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (26 June 1575 – 8 April 1612) was

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

from 1597 to 1612 as the first spouse of King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mon ...

Life

Anne Catherine of Denmark with Christian, Prince Elect, 1611

Anne Catherine was born in Halle (Saale) and raised in

Wolmirstedt Wolmirstedt () is a town in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is located 14 km north of Magdeburg, on the river Ohre. The town Wolmirstedt consists of Wolmirstedt proper and the ''Ortschaften'' (municipal divisions) Elbeu, F ...

. Her parents were Joachim Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg and his first wife Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin. Christian met her on his journey in Germany in 1595 and decided to marry her. In 1596, Anne Catherine and her parents were present at his coronation, and the next year, the marriage was arranged. Her personal motto - which can be seen on top of the gate to the court yard of Frederiksborg Castle - was: "Rege me Jehova spirito sanctu tuo" ("Guide me, Jehovah, with your holy spirit.") Anne Catherine became Queen of Denmark on 27 November 1597 when she was married to Christian IV. The wedding took place in the castle of

Haderslevhus Haderslevhus (or Hansborg) is the name of a castle that once stood in the Danish city of Haderslev, until destroyed by a fire in 1644. History Like most of the medieval cities of trade, Haderslev had a royal castle, which was called Haderslevh ...

in South Jutland the year after the coronation of Christian IV. She was crowned queen in 1598. She was given

Beate Huitfeldt Beate Huitfeldt (Copenhagen, 27 November 1554 – 1626), was a Danish noble and court official. She served as maid of honour to queen of Denmark Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow in 1572–1574, as Principal lady-in-waiting to queen Anne Catherine ...

as the head of her ladies-in-waiting. She had six children, among them Christian, the Prince-Elect, who died a year before his father, and Frederik III who introduced absolute monarchy in Denmark. Her son,

Ulrik Ulrik is a male name, a Scandinavian form of Ulrich. Ulrik may refer to: * Ulrik Frederik Christian Arneberg (1829–1911), Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party * Albert Ulrik Bååth (1853–1912), Swedish poet * Ulrik Balling (born 197 ...

, was murdered in 1633. Their two daughters, Sophia and Elisabeth, and the elder son, Frederick, died at a very young age. Queen Anne Catherine does not seem to have had much political influence. She often accompanied King Christian on his travels. In her time, she was praised for her modesty and deep religious feelings. There is no mention as to whether the marriage was happy or not, but her spouse took mistresses at the end of their marriage, notably with Kirsten Madsdatter. The building of the

Rosenborg Castle Rosenborg Castle ( da, Rosenborg Slot) is a renaissance castle located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The castle was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and is an example of Christian IV's many architectural projects. It was built in the D ...

began while she was queen, but the extent of her influence on the building and its interior is not known. Despite her good relationship with the Lutheran bishop, she called upon a Calvinist vicar to give her the last sacrament on her death bed. She died in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and was buried in the

Roskilde Cathedral Roskilde Cathedral ( da, Roskilde Domkirke), in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church of Denmark. The cathedral is the most importan ...

Issue

#Stillborn son (1598).''Son Oldenburg 1598-1598'' in Gen.cookancestry.com
etrieved 16 June 2014 #Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (15 August 1599 – 9 September 1599) died in infancy. # Christian, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (10 April 1603 – 2 June 1647) married Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony. #Princess Sophie (4 January 1605 – 7 September 1605) died in infancy. #Princess Elisabeth (16 March 1606 – 24 October 1608) died in infancy. # Frederick III (18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670) married Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg and had issue. # Ulrik, Prince-Bishop of Schwerin (2 February 1611 – 12 August 1633) died unmarried.

Ancestry

References

Article in the Dansk biografisk Lexikon

External links

Queen Anna Cathrine
at the website of the Royal Danish Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Anne Catherine Of Brandenburg 1575 births 1612 deaths People from Halle (Saale) Danish royal consorts Norwegian royal consorts House of Hohenzollern Denmark–Norway Burials at Roskilde Cathedral Christian IV of Denmark Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire to Denmark-Norway