Eleanor of Prussia (German: Eleonore von Preußen; 21 August 1583 – 9 April 1607) was a princess of the
Duchy of Prussia
The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...
by birth and
Electress of Brandenburg by marriage.
Life
Eleanor was the fourth daughter of
Albert Frederick of Prussia (1553–1618), from his marriage to
Marie Eleonore (1550–1608), daughter of Duke
William "the Rich" of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. The princess grew up with her sisters in
Königsberg Castle
The Königsberg Castle (german: Königsberger Schloss, russian: Кёнигсбергский замок, Konigsbergskiy zamok) was a castle in Königsberg, Germany (since 1946 Kaliningrad, Russia), and was one of the landmarks of the East Prussi ...
.
She married
Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg
Joachim Frederick (27 January 1546 – 18 July 1608), of the House of Hohenzollern, was Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1598 until his death.
Biography
Joachim Frederick was born in Cölln to John George, Elector of Branden ...
(1546–1608), in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
on 2 November 1603 as his second wife. They married for political reasons: on the one hand, Joachim Frederick hoped to strengthen his influence on Prussia, where he acted as regent for Eleanor's insane father; on the other hand, he hoped to gain control of
Jülich-Cleves-Berg, Eleanor's maternal inheritance.
Eleanor died at the age of 23 shortly after giving birth to her only child. She was buried on 26 April 1607 in the family crypt of the
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenbu ...
in the
Berlin Cathedral
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 centra ...
.
Children
From her marriage Eleanor had one daughter,
Marie Eleonore, who married Count Palatine
Louis Philip, Count Palatine of Simmern-Kaiserslautern
Louis Philip (German: Ludwig Philipp) (23 November 1602 – 6 January 1655) was the Count Palatine of Simmern-Kaiserslautern from 1610 until 1655. Philip acted as Administrator of the Palatinate between 1632 and 1648.
Philip was born in Heid ...
in 1631.
References and sources
* Friederike Bornhak: ''Eleonora von Preussen: Kurfürstin von Brandenburg, zweite Gemahlin des kurfürsten Joachim Friedrich von Brandenburg, geboren 1583, gestorben 1607'', S. Geibel, 1889
* Brozat, Dieter: ''Der Berliner Dom'', Berlin, 1985,
* Ernst Daniel Martin Kirchner: ''Die Kurfürstinnen und Königinnen auf dem Throne der Hohenzollern'', part 2: ''Die letzten acht Kurfürstinnen'', Berlin, 1867
pp. 107-130(with a portrait of Eleanor of Prussia).
External links
Portrait of Eleanor of Prussia.*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eleonore Of Prussia
Electresses of Brandenburg
House of Hohenzollern
16th-century German people
17th-century German people
1583 births
1607 deaths
Burials at Berlin Cathedral
People from the Duchy of Prussia
Daughters of monarchs