Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia (13 March 1716, in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

– 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. She is listed as a female composer as she is thought to have written marches and other music.

Life

Philippine Charlotte was the fourth child and third daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and his wife

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 o ...

(those who reached adulthood; she was otherwise seventh child and fourth daughter). On 2 July 1733 in Berlin, Princess Philippine Charlotte married Duke Charles of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, eldest son of

Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Ferdinand Albert (German ''Ferdinand Albrecht''; 29 May 1680 (O.S.), Bevern – 2 September 1735 (O.S.), Salzdahlum), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was an officer in the army of the Holy Roman Empire. He was prince of Wolfenbüttel during 173 ...

. Charles inherited the dukedom on his father's death in 1735, making her Duchess consort. The double marriage alliance between Prussia and Brunswick by her marriage to Charles I, and that of her brother Frederick to Charles' sister Elisabeth Christine, led to a permanent alliance of the most important North German Protestant houses Prussia and Brunswick. The family ties of the two dynasties resulted the alliance of Brunswick and Prussia in 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 (1754� ...

, and the career of Philippines sons in the Prussian service. Alte Dame mit Spitzenumhang und Muff Gotha

Philippine Charlotte was described as subtle, highly educated and a child of the enlightenment. She worked independently of an extract of the philosophical writings of

Christian von Wolff Christian Wolff (less correctly Wolf, ; also known as Wolfius; ennobled as Christian Freiherr von Wolff in 1745; 24 January 1679 – 9 April 1754) was a German philosopher. Wolff is characterized as the most eminent German philosopher between Le ...

in French. The Duchess pursued, partly because of the influence of the ducal adviser

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Jerusalem Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Jerusalem (22 November 1709 - 2 September 1789) was a German Lutheran theologian during the Age of Enlightenment. He was also known as "Abt Jerusalem". He was court-preacher and a major advisor to Charles I, Duke of Bru ...

, the German intellectual life very closely. She appreciated the poet

Salomon Gessner Salomon Gessner (1730–1788) was a Swiss painter, graphic artist, government official, newspaper publisher and poet; best known in the latter instance for his ''Idylls''. Biography His father, Hans Konrad Gessner (1696–1775), was a printer, ...

and maintained a personal relationship

Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (; 2 July 1724 – 14 March 1803) was a German poet. His best known work is the epic poem ''Der Messias'' ("The Messiah"). One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outside ...

. The dramatist Lessing were also among her circle. As Duchess consort, Philippine Charlotte's court life focused on the circle of conversation she held before and after dinner in her state apartments in the Grauer Hof, to which she attracted scholars and men of letters with positions at court. The Brunswick court attended a few opera performances and public balls a year in accordance with court etiquette, but the large expenditure of her spouse soon made it necessary to have a more economic court life. She raised her son Charles in reverence of her brother, Frederick of Prussia, gave him a humanist education with Abbé Jerusalem among his tutors, and sent him on a Grand Tour with the archaeologist Winckelmann as his companion. In 1773, Charles I was obliged to make his son regent, and in 1780, he died, and was succeeded by her son. The Swedish Princess

Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp ( sv, Hedvig Elisabet Charlotta; 22 March 1759 – 20 June 1818) was Queen of Sweden and Norway as the consort of King Charles XIII and II. She was also a famed diarist, memoirist and wit. She is k ...

described her, as well as her family, at the time of a visit in August, 1799:

Our cousin, the Duke, arrived immediately the next morning. ..After he left us, I visited the Dowager Duchess, the aunt of my consort. She is an agreeable, highly educated and well respected lady, but by now so old that she has almost lost her memory.
search for all versions on WorldCat

Philippine Charlotte left to the Wolfenbüttel Library her own collection of 4,000 volumes.

Issue

Ancestry

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippine Charlotte of Prussia, Princess 1716 births 1801 deaths House of Hohenzollern House of Brunswick-Bevern Prussian princesses People from Berlin Duchesses of Brunswick-Lüneburg Duchesses of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Daughters of kings