Countess Palatine Barbara of Zweibrücken-Neuburg (27 July 1559 – 5 March 1618) was a Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken by birth and by marriage Countess of Oettingen-Oettingen.

Life

Barbara was born in Neuburg, a daughter of Duke and Count Palatine Wolfgang of Zweibrücken (1526–1569) from his marriage to

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...

(1529–1591), the daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. On 7 November 1591, she married Count Gottfried of Oettingen-Oettingen (1554–1622) in

Oettingen Oettingen in Bayern (Swabian: ''Eadi'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is situated northwest of Donauwörth, and northeast of Nördlingen. Geography The town is located on the river Wörnitz, a tributary ...

. She was his second wife. She brought a

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

of into the marriage. In 1594, Barbara gave birth to a daughter named Jakobina, but she died later that year. Countess Barbara of Oettingen studied

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

intensively and is considered one of the most important women who worked in this field. She employed several alchemists and corresponded extensively on this subject with her nephew,

Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach Augustus (german: August von Pfalz-Sulzbach; 2 October 1582 – 14 August 1632) was Count Palatine of Sulzbach from 1614 until 1632. Life Augustus was born in Neuburg in 1582 as the second son of Philip Louis of Palatinate-Neuburg and Anna of ...

. Barbara also performed numerous experiments for Emperor

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...

in his residence in Prague, until she was expelled from the court.Rudolf Werner Soukup: ''Chemie in Österreich'', Böhlau, 2007, p. 296 Barbara died in

in 1618 was buried beside her husband in the Castle Church of St. Michael in Harburg. Their tomb is decorated with a larger than life-size figure of the Countess at the side of her husband and his first wife.

Ancestry

References

* Franz Joseph Mone: ''Anzeiger für Kunde der deutschen Vorzeit'', Artistisch-literarische Anstalt des Germanischen Museums, 1863, S. 357

External links

* http://geneall.net/D/per_page.php?id=54549 German countesses German alchemists House of Wittelsbach 1559 births 1618 deaths 16th-century German people 16th-century alchemists 17th-century alchemists House of Oettingen-Oettingen Daughters of monarchs {{Germany-countess-stub