Sophie or Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1 December 1561 at Hessen Castle – 30 January 1631 in Loitz) was a princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by birth and by marriage a Duchess of

Pomerania-Wolgast The Duchy of Pomerania-Wolgast, also known as the Duchy of Wolgast, and the Duchy of Wołogoszcz, was a feudal duchy in Western Pomerania within the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Wolgast. It was ruled by the Griffin dynasty.Edward Rymar, ''Rod ...

Life

Sophia Hedwig was the eldest child of the Duke

Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the c ...

(1528-1589) from his marriage to Hedwig (1540-1602), the daughter of Elector

Joachim II Joachim II may refer to: * Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (1505–1571) * Patriarch Joachim II of Constantinople Joachim II (1802 – 5 August 1878) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Ο� ...

of Brandenburg. Her parents provided her with a comprehensive and thorough education and started marriage negotiations when she was young. She married as a 16-year-old on 20 October 1577 in

Wolgast Wolgast (; csb, Wòłogòszcz) is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river (or strait) Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom on the Baltic coast that can be ...

to Duke Ernst Ludwig of Pommern-Wolgast (1545-1592). Her father sent Lutheran theologicians to the court at Wolgast, who tried to move the court to accept the Formula of Concord as the authoritative formulation of the Lutheran

creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

. The court did not accept this formula. Ernst Ludwig ordered structural changes to Wolgast Castle, replacing the medieval northeast wing by a new residential wing. Like her mother, Sophia Hedwig was described as high spirited. She took care of the poor and the needy and was not deterred by a

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

epidemic. Ernst Ludwig died in 1592, after 15 years of marriage. In addition to her

jointure Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the dea ...

, the castle and district of Loitz, he left her Ludwigsburg estate near Greifswald, which he had already given to her in 1586, and the Jamitsow estate at the Peenestrom. She soon swapped the latter for the Zerpenzyn estate, opposite the city of Loitz. She change the name Zerpenzyn to Sophienhof ("Sophie's Court") in 1594. Her children moved with her to her widow seat at Loitz. She wrote a hymn to commemorate her husband's death. It was published by

Ambrosius Lobwasser Ambrosius Lobwasser (1515–1585) was a German humanist and translator, born in Saxony. He served as professor of jurisprudence at the University of Königsberg from 1563 until his retirement in 1580, but is best known for his ''Psalter des Köni ...

. Between 1597 and 1601, she accompanied her son, who was introduced into the business of government by his guardian and regent Duke

Bogislaw XIII Bogislaw XIII (Bogusław XIII) of Pomerania (9 August 1544 – 7 March 1606, Stettin; ''Polish'': Szczecin), son of Philip I and Maria of Saxony, was a prince of Stettin and Wolgast, and a member of the Griffins. Bogislaw studied at the Univer ...

. During her husband's lifetime, Sophia Hedwig had rebuilt the castle at Loitz as a

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

château. After his death, she embellished it further. She also remodeled and extended the St. Mary's Church in Loitz. The château has since been demolished and no trace of it remains. Some of her contributions to the church, however, are still there, among them the ducal seats, a double portrait of herself and her husband, and numerous coats of arms of their ancestors. Her husband also gave her an estate in Dersin near

Loissin Loissin () is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...

, where she built a castle named ''Schloss Ludwigsburg'', after her husband. Loitz and Ludwigsburg remained her dowager residences until her death. When the inventory of her court was taken in 1593, an ''Amtshauptmann'' was present, as were a treasurer, a comptroller, a '' Hofmeister'', a governess, a lady-in-waiting and several chamber staff, kitchen staff, cellar staff and stable hands. Sophia Hedwig was described as interested in economic processes, but also as wasteful and overbearing. She is considered one of the more influential duchesses in Pomerania. Her son survived her by nearly six years; he died in the turmoil of 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 ...

. The war delayed her funeral by almost two years. She was buried in the ducal crypt in the St. Peter's Church in

. Her tomb was restored a few years ago, as were the tombs of her son, her husband and her in-laws. SchlossWolgastMM.1652.JPG, Wolgast Castle Loitz-Schloss-1652-03.jpg, Loitz Castle Schloss Ludwigsburg (Vorpommern; 1577-1592).jpg, Ludwigsburg Castle

Issue

From her marriage, Sophia Hedwig had three children: * Hedwig Maria (1579–1606) : was engaged to Duke John Adolph of Holstein.Julius H. Biesner: ''Geschichte von Pommern und Rügen'', Koch, 1839, p. 397 However, she died before it came to a marriage. * Elisabeth Magdalena (1580–1649) : married in 1600

Friedrich Kettler Friedrich Kettler ( Latvian: Frīdrihs Ketlers, 25 November 1569 in Mitau (now Jelgava) – 17 August 1642) was Duke of Courland and Semigallia (Latvian: ''Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste'', now part of Latvia) from 1587 to 1642. He was the son ...

, Duke of Courland and Zemgale (1569–1642) * Philip Julius (1584–1625), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast : married in 1604 to Princess

Agnes of Brandenburg (1584–1629) Agnes of Brandenburg (born 17 July 1584 in Berlin; died 26 March 1629 in Amt Neuhaus) was a Princess of Brandenburg by birth and by marriage successively Duchess of Pomerania and of Saxe-Lauenburg. Life Agnes, a member of the house of Hohenzoll ...

References

* Dirk Schleinert: ''Herzogin Sophia Hedwig von Pommern-Wolgast - ein Lebensbild'', in: Dirk Schleinert and Ralf-Gunnar Werlich: ''Loitz - Stadt an der Peene. Beiträge zur Geschichte und zu ihren Bau- Kunstdenkmalen (Beiträge zur pommerschen Landes-, Kirchen- und Kunstgeschichte, Bd. 10)'', Schwerin, 2008, p. 101-114. * Dirk Schleinert: ''Das Amt Loitz von 1592 bis 1631. Zu den wirtschaftlichen und finanziellen Grundlagen eines fürstlichen Witwensitzes'' in: Martina Schattkowsky (ed.): ''Witwenschaft in der frühen Neuzeit. Fürstliche und adlige Witwen zwischen Fremd- und Selbstbestimmung'', Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2003, p. 378-402. * Dirk Schleinert: ''Die Hochzeit des Herzogs Ernst Ludwig von Pommern mit Sophia Hedwig von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel im Jahre 1577'', in: ''Pommern. Zeitschrift für Kultur und Geschichte'', vol. 37, 1999, issue 4, p. 7-15. * Albrecht Classen: ''Mein Seel fang an zu singen'', Peeters Publishers, 2002, p. 363 ff.

External links

Biography

The Correspondence of Sophia Hedwig von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel
i
EMLO

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sophie Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel Middle House of Brunswick House of Griffins German princesses German duchesses 1561 births 1631 deaths People from Osterwieck 16th-century German people 17th-century German people Duchesses of Brunswick-Lüneburg Daughters of monarchs