Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (5 May 1724 in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

– 5 June 1757 in

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...

), was a Princess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach by birth and Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt by marriage.

Life

She was a daughter of

Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (German: ''Ernst August I''; 19 April 1688 – 19 January 1748), was a duke of Saxe-Weimar and, from 1741, of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Biography He was the second but eldest surviving son of Johann Ernst ...

(1688-1748) from his first marriage with Princess Eleonore Wilhelmine of

Anhalt-Köthen Anhalt-Köthen was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the House of Ascania. It was created in 1396 when the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst was partitioned between Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen. The first creation lasted until 1562 ...

(1696-1726), the daughter of Emmanuel Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. She married on 19 November 1744 in Eisenach to

John Frederick, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt John Frederick, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (8 January 1721 in Rudolstadt – 10 July 1767 in ibid) was the ruling Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from 1744 to 1767. Life John Frederick von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was the only son of ...

(1721-1767). The princess, who was described as particularly benevolent, acquired the ''Handwerkerhof'' in Rudolstadt in 1756 and founded the Bernardina Abbey for noblewomen in this building. Her coat of arms at the entrance to the building are a reminder of her. The building was extended to house six noblewomen. To this end, Bernhardine purchased a neighbouring building and incorporated it into the abbey. She personally wrote the constitution of the abbey. She did not live to see the inauguration of the abbey in 1757, because she died at age 33. She was deeply mourned by her husband, who never remarried. Paintings of Berhardina and her husband by

Johann Ernst Heinsius Johann Ernst Heinsius (; 21 May 1731, Ilmenau - 18 October 1794, Erfurt) was a German portrait painter and miniaturist. Biography His father was Johann Christian Heintz (c.1706-1756), a gunsmith who had become an artist at the court of Rudol ...

are on display in the green room of

Heidecksburg Heidecksburg is a Baroque palace in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, and served as the residence of the princes to Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. It is located prominently approximately 60 m above the old town. After a fire in 1735 and its reconstruction, it has ...

Castle.

Issue

From her marriage Bernhardina Christiana Sophia had the following children: * Princess Frederika of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1745-1778); married in 1763

Frederick Charles, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Prince Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (7 June 1736 – 13 April 1793) was a German Natural History collector, and from 1790 until his death the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Life Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rud ...

(1736-1793) * Unnamed child (1746-1746) * Unnamed child (1747-1747) * Princess Sophia Ernestina of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1749-1754) * Princess Wilhelmina of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1751-1780); married in 1766 Louis, Prince of Nassau-Saarbrücken (1745-1794) * Princess Henrietta Charlotte of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1752-1756)

References

* L. Renovanz: ''Chronik der fürstl. Schwarzburgischen Residenzstadt Rudolstadt'', Rudolstadt 1860, p. 41
Online

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20180503042703/http://www.rudolstadt.de/cms/website.php?id=%2Fde%2Fkultur_tourismus%2Fsehenswuerdigkeiten%2Fbesondere_bauten.htm Princesses of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 1724 births 1757 deaths German duchesses 18th-century German people Princesses of Schwarzburg {{Germany-duchess-stub