Ludmilla Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (also ''Ludomilla'' or ''Ludämilie''; 7 April 1640 – 12 March 1672 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 v ...

) was a German noblewoman and a

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

poet. She was a Countess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt by birth.

Life

Ludmilla Elizabeth was a daughter of Count Louis Günther I of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and his wife Countess Emilie of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst. Her father died in 1646 and she was raised in a strictly

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

fashion by her mother. Ludmilla had talents for the arts and sciences. She lived with her mother at Friedensburg Castle. Her sister-in-law Emilie Juliana inspired her to write

s. She was also influenced by Ahasverus Fritsch, who later became the Chancellor of her brother Albert Anton. After her mother died in 1670, Ludmilla and her three sisters moved to their brother's residence in

. In 1671, she was engaged to Count Christian William I of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. However, before she could marry, Lumilla and two of her sisters died during a measles epidemic in 1672. Her hymns were published in Rudolstadt in 1687 under the title ("The voice of a friend, i.e. spiritual songs in memory of the Honourable Ludämilia Elizabeth, Countess of Schwarzburg and Baroness of Hohenstein, who fervently and persistently loved Jesus, her Saviour"). Her hymn "Jesus, Jesus, nichts als Jesu" was translated as "Jesus, Jesus, Only Jesus".translated by August Crull, it is #216 in Ambassador Hymnal: for Lutheran Worship, #379 in Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, and #348 in Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal, see also th
entry for the hymn on hymnary.org
/ref>

References

* House of Schwarzburg Christian hymnwriters 1640 births 1672 deaths German countesses 17th-century hymnwriters Daughters of monarchs {{Germany-countess-stub