Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin () (10 August 1549 – 30 September 1602) was a Margravine of

Brandenburg-Küstrin The Neumark (), also known as the New March ( pl, Nowa Marchia) or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945. Calle ...

by birth and Electress of Brandenburg by marriage.

Life

Catherine was the younger of two daughters of

John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin John of Brandenburg-Küstrin (german: Johann von Brandenburg-Küstrin, or ; 3 August 1513 – 13 January 1571), was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and a Margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin. Life John was the younger son of Joachim I Nes ...

(1513–1571) from his marriage to

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

(1518–1574), daughter of

Henry II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

. On 8 January 1570, she married Joachim of Brandenburg, later Elector Joachim III Frederick of Brandenburg (1546–1608) in Küstrin. Due to the marriage, her husband no longer had a legitimate claim on the position of bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

and Pope

Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...

put in a request to Emperor

Maximilian Maximilian, Maximillian or Maximiliaan (Maximilien in French) is a male given name. The name " Max" is considered a shortening of "Maximilian" as well as of several other names. List of people Monarchs *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459� ...

for his dismissal. Catherine tried to improve the fate of the poor and the needy. She built a

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

Wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

and sold its produce on the Molkenmarkt ("Milk Market"), a square in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. She used the proceeds to finance a pharmacy in the Stadtschloss that provided medicine free of charge to those in need.K. W. Kutschbach: ''Chronik der Stadt Küstrin'', Enslin, 1849, p. 118 Catherine died on 30 September 1602. On 13 October, she was buried in the Hohenzollern crypt (now part of the

Berliner Dom The Berlin Cathedral (german: link=yes, Berliner Dom), also known as the Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, is a monumental German Evangelical church and dynastic tomb (House of Hohenzollern) on the Museum Island in central ...

Descendants

From her marriage with Joachim Frederick, Catherine had the following children: *

John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg John Sigismund (german: Johann Sigismund; 8 November 1572 – 23 December 1619) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He became the Duke of Prussia through his marriage to Duchess Anna, the eldes ...

(8 November 1572 – 23 December 1619), Elector of Brandenburg : married in 1594 Priness

Anna of Prussia Duchess Anna of Prussia and Jülich-Cleves-Berg (3 July 1576 – 30 August 1625) was Electress consort of Brandenburg and Duchess consort of Prussia by marriage to John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg. She was the daughter of Albert Frederic ...

(1576–1625) * Anne Catherine (26 June 1575 – 29 March 1612) : married 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 monar ...

(1577–1648) * Daughter (1576–1576) * John George, Duke of

Jägerndorf Krnov (; german: Jägerndorf, pl, Karniów or ''Krnów'') is a town in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts The town is made up of town parts of Pod Bezru� ...

(16 December 1577 – 2 March 1624) : married Eva Christina of Württemberg (1590 - 1657), daughter of

Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg Friedrich I of Württemberg (19 August 1557 – 29 January 1608) was the son of George of Mömpelgard and his wife Barbara of Hesse, daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. Several references are made to him in Shakespeare's '' The Merry ...

and

Sibylla of Anhalt Sibylla of Anhalt (28 September 1564 – 26 October 1614) was a German princess from the House of Ascania who became Duchess of Württemberg as the wife of Duke Frederick I. Life Sibylla of Anhalt was born in Bernburgon 28 September 1564, as the ...

* August Frederick (16 February 1580 – 23 April 1601) * Albert Frederick (29 April 1582 – 3 December 1600) * Joachim (13 April 1583 – 10 June 1600) * Ernest (13 April 1583 – 18 September 1613) * Barbara Sophie (16 November 1584 – 13 February 1636) : married in 1609 Duke John Frederick of Württemberg (1582–1628) * Daughter (1585 – 1586) * Christian William (28 August 1587 – 1 January 1665) Archbishop and later Administrator of Magdeburg : married firstly, in 1615, Princess

Dorothea of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Dorothea (also spelled Dorothée, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift". It may refer to: People * Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war cri ...

(1596–1643) : married secondly, in 1650, Countess Barbara Eusebia of Martinice (d. 1656) : married thirdly, in 1657, Countess Maximiliane of Salm-Neuburg (1608–1663)

References and sources

* * Ernst Daniel Martin Kirchner: ''Die Kurfürstinnen und Königinnen auf dem Throne der Hohenzollern'', part 2: ''Die letzten acht Kurfürstinnen'', Berlin, 1867
pp. 68–106
* Ludwig Hahn: ''Geschichte des preussischen Vaterlandes'', W. Hertz, 1858, p. 132 * Adolf Müller: ''Preußens Ehrenspiegel'', Gebauer, 1851, p. 65

Footnotes

External links

Portrait of Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin
in Google books * {{DEFAULTSORT:Catherine of Brandenburg-Kustrin House of Hohenzollern 1549 births 1602 deaths People from Kostrzyn nad Odrą Electresses of Brandenburg Burials at Berlin Cathedral