Juliane ''Wilhelmine'' Ditlefine von Plüskow (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

von Witzleben; 1793 –1872) was a German noblewoman and Greek court office holder. Von Plüskow was the principal lady-in-waiting of the queen of Greece

Amalia of Oldenburg Amalia of Oldenburg (; 21 December 181820 May 1875) was a Bavarian princess who became Queen of Greece from 1836 to 1862 as the wife of King Otto Friedrich Ludwig. She was loved widely by the Greeks due to her patriotic love for the countr ...

from 1839 to 1862. Von Plüskow was considered to have a strong influence with the queen. Von Plüskow was described in the diary of

Christiane Lüth Christiane Lüth (1817–1900), was a Danish-German diarist. She is known for her diary, regarded as a valuable source on the Greek Royal court under King Otto. Life Lüth was born on Nordsjælland, the daughter of the Danish official Heinr. Fr. ...

Early years

Juliane ''Wilhelmine'' Ditlefine von Witzleben was born as the youngest of four daughters of Christoph Burkhardt Reiniger von

Witzleben Witzleben is a municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis in Thuringia, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ...

(1760-1815) and his wife, Hedwig Dorothea von Rumohr (1764-1844). Wilhelmine married Baron Karl Philipp von Plüskow (1788-1821), and was the mother of Josias von Plüskow (1815-1894). She was from Oldenburg in what is today Germany.

Court life

Oldenburg was also the home of Duchess Amalia of Oldenburg, who married King Otto in 1836, becoming the queen consort. In 1839, Von Plüskow left for Greece to become the grand mistress of the newly formed Greek royal household. Von Plüskow's predecessor, "Madame Willy" (Dorothea von und zu Weichs an der Glon), had been dismissed by Queen Amelia due to

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

Greece

The Greek Royal Household was new as Greece had just became an independent monarchy and there was no tradition of a royal court before. The

ladies-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

of the first queen of independent Greece was organized in one Grande-Maitresse, followed by three second rank ''dame d'honneur'', and two ''dame de palais''. When von Plüskow arrived in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, she took over from the dame d'honneur

Julie von Nordenpflycht Julie von Nordenpflycht (1786–1842), was a Greek-German noblewoman, letter writer and court office holder. She was the lady-in-waiting of the queen of Greece, Amalia of Oldenburg.Lüth C. Fra Fredensborg til Athen: Fragment af en Kvindes Liv'. Co ...

, the acting grand mistress.Lüth C.
Fra Fredensborg til Athen: Fragment af en Kvindes Liv
'. Copenhagen; Gyldendalske; 1926. Von Plüskow and grand marshal P. Notaras imposed a strict court etiquette in the royal household.
La Grèce du roi Othon: correspondance de m. Thouvenel avec sa famille et ses
' She acted as the intermediary of the queen and the foreign ambassadors of Athens. Von Plüskow was a favorite and confidant of Queen Amelia. Due to this, von Plüskow was widely rumored to influence state affairs, particularly in matters relating to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, through both the queen and the king, of which exposed her to controversy.Marysville Daily Appeal, Number 14, 17 January 1863. During this time period, there was an ongoing crisis around the childlessness of the royal couple. The queen loved to dance and ride, and Plüskow advised her to stop these activities in order to conceive, but was contradicted by the queen's influential ''dame d’honneur'' Julie von Nordenpflycht, known in Greece as "The Queen's Nurse". Von Nordenpflycht said that the queen was a young woman who deserved her few pleasures.

Later life

In 1862, King Otto was deposed and the royal family was forced to flee Greece. During this period of upheavel, the press reported that the royal

courtiers A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...

were generally unmolested. However, the exception was von Plüskow, who experienced “hecking” while boarding a British ship to leave the kingdom. Von Plüskow moved with the royal family to

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, where she continued to serve as Queen Amalia's principal lady-in-waiting.
Adressbuch Stadt Bamberg: 1872
'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pluskow, Wilhelmine von 1793 births 1872 deaths Ladies-in-waiting Greek courtiers 19th-century Greek women Royal favourites History of Greece (1832–1862)