Elisabeth Charlotte Melander (29 February 1640 – 17 March 1707), was

Countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty'' ...

Holzappel Holzappel is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, with a population in 2006 of 1100. It belongs to the association community of Diez. Holzappel was a county and state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1643 until 171 ...

from 1648 to 1707 and

Schaumburg Schaumburg is a district (''Landkreis'') of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (clockwise from the north) the districts of Nienburg, Hanover and Hamelin-Pyrmont, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (districts of Lippe and Minden-Lübbe ...

from 1656 to 1707.

Early life and background

Elisabeth Charlotte was the only child of

Peter Melander, Count of Holzappel Peter Melander, Count of Holzappel (8 February 1589 – 17 May 1648) was a German general who was a Protestant military leader in the Thirty Years' War until 1640 when he switched sides and even became Chief of the imperial army from 1647 unt ...

and Agnes von Efferen. Peter Melander was an imperial

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

who had become rich due to his position in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

and had been appointed Count of Holzappel in 1641. In 1643, he purchased the Lordship of Esterau along with the

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on th ...

of Isselbach from John Louis of Nassau-Hadamar, who was in considerable financial difficulty.

Emperor Ferdinand III Ferdinand III (Ferdinand Ernest; 13 July 1608, in Graz – 2 April 1657, in Vienna) was from 1621 Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary from 1625, King of Croatia and Bohemia from 1627 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 until his death in 1657. Fe ...

subsequently raised the small Lordship to the Imperial

County of Holzappel The County of Holzappel (German: ''Grafschaft Holzappel'') was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was centered on the town of Holzappel. It was founded in 1643 by Peter ...

as a reward for the services Melander had performed while in the imperial army.

Countess of Holzappel

Melander died on 17 May 1648 in Augsburg, as a result of the wounds he had received in

Battle of Zusmarshausen The Battle of Zusmarshausen was fought on 17 May 1648 between Bavarian-Imperial forces under von Holzappel and an allied Franco-Swedish army under the command of Carl Gustaf Wrangel and Turenne in the modern Augsburg district of Bavaria, Germa ...

. The County of Holzappel was inherited by Elisabeth Charlotte as his only child, in spite of a suit by Melander's nephews. Peter Melander left a fortune that allowed his widow Agnes to purchase the

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and

Lordship of Schaumburg Schaumburg Castle (German: ''Schloss Schaumburg'') is a schloss in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, south of Balduinstein near Limburg an der Lahn. It was owned by the former ruling family of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and it served as the retirement re ...

near

Balduinstein Balduinstein is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country ...

in 1656. When Agnes died later the same year, the Lordship of Schaumburg was also inherited by Elisabeth Charlotte and merged with Holzappel, thus forming the County of Holzappel-Schaumburg. In 1658, Elisabeth Charlotte married Count

Adolph Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

of Nassau-Dillenburg. After the marriage he took the title ''Count of Nassau-Schaumburg'' and founded the cadet line of the House of Nassau with this name.Meyers Konversationslexikon, vol. 14, pp. 411–412
In 1685, Elisabeth Charlotte changed the name of the county seat from ''Esten'' into ''Holzappel''. She allowed refugee

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s and

Waldensians The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...

to settle in the county, and in 1699 founded the Waldensian settlement Charlottenberg near Holzappel which was named after her.

Succession

As all her sons died in her lifetime, by a contract of 1 September 1690 concluded with

Victor Amadeus, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg Victor Amadeus of Anhalt-Bernburg (6 October 1634 in Harzgerode – 14 February 1718 in Bernburg), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Bernburg. He was the sixth (but second surviving) son of Chri ...

, Elisabeth Charlotte left Holzappel to the youngest of her three daughters,

Charlotte of Nassau-Schaumburg Charlotte of Nassau-Dillenburg-Schaumburg of Anhalt-Bernburg-Hoym (1672–1700) was the wife of Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Zeitz-Hoym, a German prince of the House of Ascania. Life Charlotte of Nassau-Dillenburg-Schaumburg was born on 25 Septemb ...

, who married Victor Amadeus' younger son Lebrecht of Anhalt-Dernburg in 1692. Thus, after the death of Elisabeth Charlotte in 1707, the county passed to a

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

line of the princely house of

Anhalt-Bernburg Anhalt-Bernburg was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and a duchy of the German Confederation ruled by the House of Ascania with its residence at Bernburg in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It emerged as a subdivision from the Principality of ...

, the Princes of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym.

Issue

* Agnes (b. and d. 13 June 1659). * Wilhelm Ludwig (b. 8 February 1661 – d. 5 April 1661). * Ernestine Charlotte (b. 20 May 1662 – d. 21 February 1732), married firstly on 6 February 1678 to William Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen (d. 1691) and secondly to Friedrich Philipp von Geuder genannt von Rabensteiner (d. 1727). * Johanna Elisabeth (5 September 1663 – 9 February 1700), married on 16 June 1692 to

Frederick Adolphus, Count of Lippe-Detmold Frederick Adolphus of Lippe-Detmold (''Friedrich Adolf zur Lippe-Detmold''; 2 September 1667 – 18 July 1718) was a German nobleman and the Count of Lippe-Detmold from 1697 to 1718. Born in Detmold Palace, Frederick Adolphus was the eldest of si ...

(d. 1718). * Louise Henriette (b. 17 February 1665 – d. 17 April 1665). * Karl Heinrich (b. and d. 6 September 1670). *

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

(25 September 1673 – 31 January 1700), married on 12 April 1692 to

Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Zeitz-Hoym Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Zeitz-Hoym (Bernburg, 28 June 1669 – Bad Ems, 17 May 1727), was a German prince of the House of Ascania. The second son of Victor Amadeus, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg and Elizabeth of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, he married ...

(d. 1727).

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Elisabeth Charlotteof Holzappel 1640 births 1707 deaths German countesses People from former German states in Rhineland-Palatinate