Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (24 October 173910 April 1807), was a German princess and composer. She became the duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, by marriage, and was also regent of the states of Saxe-Weimar and

Saxe-Eisenach Saxe-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Eisenach) was an Ernestine duchy ruled by the Saxon House of Wettin. The state intermittently existed at three different times in the Thuringian region of the Holy Roman Empire. The chief town and capital of all t ...

from 1758 to 1775. She transformed her court and its surrounding into the most influential cultural center of Germany.

Family

She was born in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest ...

, the ninth child of Karl I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and

Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia (13 March 1716, in Berlin – 17 February 1801, in Brunswick) was Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by marriage to Duke Charles I. Philippine Charlotte was a known intellectual in contemporary Germany. ...

. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick William I of Prussia and

Sophia Dorothea of Hanover Sophia Dorothea of Hanover ( – 28 June 1757) was Queen in Prussia and Electress of Brandenburg during the reign of her husband, King Frederick William I, from 25 February 1713 to 31 May 1740. She was the daughter of King George I of ...

Education

Anna Amalia was well-educated as befitted a princess. She studied music with Friedrich Gottlob Fleischer and Ernst Wilhelm Wolf..

Marriage

In Brunswick, on 16 March 1756, sixteen-year-old Anna Amalia married eighteen-year-old Ernst August II Konstantin, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and they had two sons. Ernst August died in 1758 leaving her regent for their infant son, Karl August. This cites F. Bornhak, ''Anna Amalia Herzogin von Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach'' (Berlin. 1892).

Regency

During Karl August's minori ty she administered the affairs of the duchy with notable prudence, strengthening its resources and improving its position in spite of the troubles of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

.Despite her heavy official responsibilities, she cultivated intellectual interests, especially music. She continued to take lessons in composition and keyboard playing from the leading musician in Weimar. Amalia von Helvig, a German-Swedish artist and writer, later became part of her court. She hired Christoph Martin Wieland, a poet and translator of William Shakespeare, to educate her son. . On September 3, 1775, her son reached his majority, and she retired.

Cultural role

As a patron of the arts, Anna Amalia drew many of the most eminent people in Germany to Weimar. She gathered a group of scholars, poets and musicians, professional and amateur, for lively discussion and music-making at the Wittum palace. In this ‘court of the muses’, as Wilhelm Bode called it, the members included Johann Gottfried Herder,

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

, and Friedrich Schiller. She succeeded in engaging

Abel Seyler Abel Seyler (23 August 1730, Liestal – 25 April 1800, Rellingen) was a Swiss-born theatre director and former merchant banker, who was regarded as one of the great theatre principals of 18th century Europe. He played a pivotal role in the dev ...

theatrical company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. considered the best theatre company in Germany at that time." Anna Amalia herself played a significant part in bringing together the poetry of ‘Weimar Classicism.’ Johann Adam Hiller's most successful Singspiel, Die Jagd (the score of which is dedicated to the duchess), received its first performance in Weimar in 1770, and Weimar was also the scene of the notable première on 28 May 1773 of the ‘first German opera’, Wieland's Alceste in the setting by Anton Schweitzer. Anna Amalia continued the tradition of the Singspiel in later years with performances in the amateur court theatre of her own compositions to texts by Goethe. She also established the

Duchess Anna Amalia Library The Duchess Anna Amalia Library (German: ''Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek'') in Weimar, Germany, houses a major collection of German literature and historical documents. In 1991, the tricentennial of its opening to the public, the Ducal Library ...

, which is now home to some 1,000,000 volumes. The duchess was honored in Goethe's work under the title ''Zum Andenken der Fürstin Anna-Amalia''.

Music

Anna Amalia was a notable composer. . The majority of her works belong stylistically to the ''Empfindsamkeit'', in the manner of Hiller and Schweitzer, combining features of song and of arioso. Her compositions include:

Chamber

*''Divertimento'' (clarinet, viola, violoncello, and piano) c. 1780
ANNA AMALIA von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel
'. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, retrieved February 25, 2011

Harpsichord

*sonatas

Opera

*Das Jahrmarktsfest zu Plundersweilern (text by Goethe) *

Erwin und Elmire ''Erwin und Elmire'' is an opera in two acts by Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, with a libretto by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, after Oliver Goldsmith's ballad of Angelica and Edwin, ''The Hermit'', in his sentimental novel ''The V ...

(text by Goethe) 1776

Orchestra

*Oratorio (1768) *''Sacred Choruses'' (four voices and orchestra) *Symphony (2 oboes, 2 flutes, 2 violins and double bass) 1765

Vocal

*songs

Ancestry

References

External links

PRNewsWire: Goethe's forbidden love for Anna Amalia

Death Mask of Ann Amalia Of Brunswick
* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Anna Amalia Of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel 1739 births 1807 deaths People from Wolfenbüttel House of Brunswick-Bevern 18th-century women rulers German opera composers Women opera composers House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 18th-century German people Duchesses of Saxe-Weimar Duchesses of Saxe-Eisenach German women classical composers Regents German female regents