Christiane Henriette of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (16 November 1725,

Ribeauvillé Ribeauvillé ( is the French name of Ràppschwihr (), a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a sub-prefecture of the department until 2015. Geography The town is located around north of Colmar a ...

– 11 February 1816,

Arolsen Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck (state), Waldeck-Pyr ...

) was a Countess of Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld by birth and by marriage a Princess of

Waldeck-Pyrmont The County of Waldeck (later the Principality of Waldeck and Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gained Imperial immediacy and ...

Life

Christiane Henriette was the daughter of the Count Palatine and Duke

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

of Zweibrücken (1674–1735) from his marriage to

Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (singer) (born 1981), Japanese glitch pop musician * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (1933–2017), American football player * Jamie Caroline (born 1999), British racing driv ...

(1704–1774), daughter of

Louis Crato, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken Louis Crato, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken (; 28 March 1663 in Saarbrücken – 14 February 1713 in Saarbrücken) was a German aristocrat and soldier who succeeded his father as Nassau-Saarbrücken, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken. Early life Louis ...

. Christiane Henriette was the sister of Christian IV, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, the Great Landgravine, and Field Marshal

Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld ( Ribeauvillé, Alsace, 27 February 1724 – 15 August 1767 in Schwetzingen) was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty. He was the son of Christian III of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and ...

. She was also an aunt of the first Bavarian king Maximilian I. She married on 19 August 1741 in

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; ; , ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach (Blies), Schwarzbach River. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; older forms of the name include Middl ...

Karl August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont Karl August Friedrich of Waldeck and Pyrmont (24 September 1704 – 29 August 1763) was Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and commander of the Dutch forces in the War of Austrian Succession. Royal life and military career Karl was the second son of ...

(1704–1763). After the death of her husband in 1763, she was Regent of the principality and guardian for her first-born son from 1764 to 1766. In the years 1764 to 1778, the New Castle at Arolsen was built as her

Wittum Wittum (), Widum or Witthum is a medieval Latin legal term, known in marital and ecclesiastical law. Provide for a widow at the wedding The term referred initially to steps taken by a husband to provide for his wife if she became a widow. The wi ...

by Franz Friedrich Rothweil. Christiane Henriette was considered highly educated in arts and sciences. She was a close friend of the anthropologist

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (11 May 1752 – 22 January 1840) was a German physician, naturalist, physiologist and anthropologist. He is considered to be a main founder of zoology and anthropology as comparative, scientific disciplines. He has be ...

Christiane collected a comprehensive library, which by 1788 included about 6,000 volumes and in her

Arolsen Castle Arolsen Castle () is a baroque-style ''schloss'' in Bad Arolsen, Hesse, Germany. The castle is now a museum, and is still inhabited by Carl-Anton, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and his family. As a result, it continues to serve as a residence ...

, she maintained an art and natural history collection. When she died, Christiane left behind a considerable debt, which is why parts of her library and art collection had to be auctioned off in 1820. Christiane Henriette died in 1816 and was buried in the park of her New Castle at

Offspring

From her marriage with Karl August, Christiane Henriette had the following children: * Charles (1742–1756) * Friedrich (1743–1812), Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont *

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

(1744–1798), Portuguese Field Marshal *

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George of Beltan (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

(1747–1813), Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont : married in 1784 princess Auguste of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1768-1849) * Caroline Louise (1748–1782) : married in 1765 (divorced 1772)

Peter von Biron Peter von Biron (15 February 1724 – 13 January 1800) was the last duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1769 to 1795, when it was annexed by the Russian Empire. Life and reign Peter was born in Jelgava () as the oldest son of Ernst Johann ...

, Duke of

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

(1724-1800) * Louise (1751–1816) : married in 1775 Duke Frederick Augustus of Nassau-Usingen (1738-1816) * Louis (1752–1793), Dutch General, killed in battle

Ancestors

References

* Joseph Heinrich Wolf: ''Das Haus Wittelsbach: Bayern's Geschichte aus Quellen'', G. G. Zeh, 1847, p. 482 * Kerstin Merkel, Heide Wunder: ''Deutsche Frauen der frühen Neuzeit'', Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2000, p. 211 ff.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christiane Henriette, Countess Palatine Of Zweibrucken 1725 births 1816 deaths People from Ribeauvillé House of Wittelsbach Countesses Palatine of Zweibrücken Princesses of Waldeck and Pyrmont Daughters of counts Mothers of German monarchs