Louise Henriette Wilhelmine of Brandenburg-Schwedt (24 September 1750 in Różanki – 21 December 1811 in

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

), was a

Margravine Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Em ...

of Brandenburg by birth and by marriage a princess, and later Duchess, of

Anhalt-Dessau Anhalt-Dessau was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and later a duchy of the German Confederation. Ruled by the House of Ascania, it was created in 1396 following the partition of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, and finally merged into t ...

Life

Louise was the daughter of Margrave Frederick Henry of Brandenburg-Schwedt and his wife Leopoldine Marie (born Princess of Anhalt-Dessau) from the line

Brandenburg-Schwedt Brandenburg-Schwedt was a secundogeniture of the Hohenzollern margraves of Brandenburg, established by Prince Philip William who took his residence at Schwedt Castle in 1689. By appanage, they administered the manors of Schwedt and Vierraden on ...

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, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzol ...

. She was educated in Prussia, together with her sister,

Friederike Charlotte of Brandenburg-Schwedt Friederike Charlotte Leopoldine Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt (also often referred to as the Princess of Prussia; 18 August 1745 in Schwedt – 23 January 1808 in Altona) was a German aristocrat who lived as a secular canoness and ruled a ...

. Between 1760 and 1762, the mathematician

Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...

sent her sister numerous letters in French about

mathematical Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and philosophical subjects. These letters were published between 1769 and 1773 under the title ''

Letters to a German Princess ''Letters to a German Princess, On Different Subjects in Physics and Philosophy'' (French: ''Lettres à une princesse d'Allemagne sur divers sujets de physique et de philosophie'') were a series of 234 letters written by the mathematician Leonhar ...

'' and were printed in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. The French edition was printed twelve times. She married her cousin Leopold III of Anhalt-Dessau on 25 July 1767 in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

. By this marriage, she was Princess, and later Duchess, of Anhalt-Dessau. She was considered educated and well-read and was artistically gifted and was friends with famous artists, among them

Angelica Kauffman Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, K ...

, who painted some portraits of Louise. She travelled to England in 1775, and later to Switzerland and Italy.

Children

#A daughter (b. and d. Dessau, 11 February 1768). #

Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau Frederick of Anhalt-Dessau (27 December 1769 – 27 May 1814), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and heir to the principality (and from 1807 the duchy) of Anhalt-Dessau. He was born in Dessau, the only surviving child of Leopold III, ...

(b. Dessau, 27 December 1769 – d. Dessau, 27 May 1814).

References

* Johanna Geyer-Kordesch (ed.): ''Die Englandreise der Fürstin Louise von Anhalt-Dessau im Jahre 1775'', Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin, 2006, * Wilhelm Haefs, Holger Zaunstöck (ed.): ''Hof – Geschlecht – Kultur. Luise von Anhalt-Dessau (1750–1811) und die Fürstinnen ihrer Zeit'' = ''Das achtzehnte Jahrhundert'', vol. 28, issue 2, Wallstein, Göttingen 2004, * Simone Hübner: ''Luise von Anhalt-Dessau — eine aufgeklärte Fürstin? Versuch einer Lebensbeschreibung'' thesis, Humboldt University, Berlin, 1993 * William and Ulrike Sheldon (eds.): ''Im Geist der Empfindsamkeit. Freundschaftsbriefe der Mösertochter Jenny von Voigts an die Fürstin Luise von Anhalt-Dessau 1780–1808'', Wenner, Osnabrück, 1971

External links

* German duchesses German princesses House of Hohenzollern 1750 births 1811 deaths 18th-century German people Duchesses of Anhalt Princesses of Anhalt-Dessau Royal reburials {{Germany-duchess-stub