Wild- and Rhinegravine Diana Dorothea of Salm (25 July 1604 in Criechingen – 19 December 1672 in Wörth) was the daughter of Wild- and

Rhinegrave (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

John IX of Salm-Kyrburg-Mörchingen and his wife, Baroness Anna Catherine of Criechingen and Puttigny. An hour after her birth, her

twin sister Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

Anna Amalia, later Countess of Königseck, was born.

Life

Her father died while the twin sisters were still young. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

, their brothers and uncle served in the

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army; her brother Otto Louis rose to the ranke of General. The two girls and their mother often had to flee for the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

troops. Eventually they settled in Strasbourg. Here, Dorothea Diana married twice: # On 1 March 1636, she married Count Philip Louis of Rappoltstein (d. 25 February 1637). However, he died after nearly one year of marriage. This marriage remained childless. # On 18 May 1640, she married Count Philip Wolfgang of Hanau-Lichtenberg. (1595–1641). He, too, died after less than a year of marriage. This marriage also remained childless. After her second marriage, she left Strasbourt. The couple first live at Lichtenberg Castle and later in Buchsweiler, the capital of Hanau-Lichtenberg. Philip Wolfgang died after less than a year after their marriage. At this time, five of the ten children from his first marriage, viz. Frederick Casimir, John Philip, Johann Reinhard II, Sophie Eleonore and Agatha Christine were still alive; they were all minors. Dorothea Diana took up their education and also provided some continuity to the regency of the county, when there were several deaths among the official regents of the county. Initially, the official regents were Count

John Ernest John Ernest (May 6, 1922 – July 21, 1994) was an American-born constructivist abstract artist. He was born in Philadelphia, in 1922. After living and working in Sweden and Paris from 1946 to 1951, he moved to London, England, where he lived and w ...

of Hanau-Münzenberg and Baron George II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl. George II was a grandson of Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, who was a daughter of Count Philip IV. After John Ernest died in 1642, George II acted as the sole regent. After George II died in 1644, Count George Albert of Erbach took up the guardianship. He died in 1647. Since this was only a few months before Frederick Casimir came of age on his 25th birthday, no new regent was appointed. In 1651, Dorothea Diana decided that her step-children were old enough to fend for themselves. She left the residence in Buchsweiler and retired to her widow seat in Wörth, where she lived until she died in 1672.

Death

She died on 19 December 1672 and was buried in Buchsweiler. A funeral sermon was published by Günther Heiler,

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

and Consistorial Councillor of Hanau-Lichtenberg, with contributions by

Philipp Jacob Spener Philipp Jakob Spener (23 January 1635 – 5 February 1705), was a German Lutheran theologian who essentially founded what would become to be known as Pietism. He was later dubbed the "Father of Pietism". A prolific writer, his two main works, '' ...

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, and Georg Wilhelm Spener.

References

* Fritz Roth: ''Restlose Auswertung von Leichenpredigten und Personalschriften für genealogische Zwecke'', vol. 6, self-published, Boppart, 1970 * Reinhard Suchier (ed): ''Genealogie des Hanauer Grafenhauses'', in: ''Festschrift des Hanauer Geschichtsvereins zu seiner fünfzigjährigen Jubelfeier am 27. August 1894'', Hanauer Geschichtsverein, Hanau, 1894 * Ernst J. Zimmermann: ''Hanau Stadt und Land. Kulturgeschichte und Chronik einer fränkisch-wetterauischen Stadt und ehemal. Grafschaft. Mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der älteren Zeit.'', extended edition, self-published, Hanau, 1919, unaltered reprint: Peters, Hanau, 1978

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorothea Diana of Salm Countesses in Germany Salm family 1604 births 1672 deaths 17th-century German people 17th-century German women