Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (24 October 173910 April 1807), was a German princess and composer. She became the duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach by marriage, and was also regent of the states of

Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant branch of the House of W ...

and Saxe-Eisenach from 1758 to 1775. She transformed her court and its surrounding into the most influential cultural center of Germany. Her invitation of Abel Seyler's

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

in 1771 marked the start of

Weimar Classicism Weimar Classicism () was a German literary and cultural movement, whose practitioners established a new humanism from the synthesis of ideas from Romanticism, Classicism, and the Age of Enlightenment. It was named after the city of Weimar in th ...

, that would include such figures such as Wieland,

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

Herder A herder is a pastoralism, pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on extensive management, open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic pastoralism, nomadic or transhuma ...

and Schiller working under her protection.

Family

She was born in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

, the third child of Karl I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia. Her maternal grandparents were

Frederick William I of Prussia Frederick William I (; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the Soldier King (), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel. Born in Berlin, he was raised by the Hugu ...

and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. Her niece was Queen Caroline, wife of King George IV.

Education

Anna Amalia was well-educated as befitted a princess. She studied music with Friedrich Gottlob Fleischer and Ernst Wilhelm Wolf.

Marriage

In Brunswick, on 16 March 1756, sixteen-year-old Anna Amalia married eighteen-year-old Ernst August II Konstantin, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and they had two sons. Ernst August died in 1758 leaving her regent for their infant son, Karl August. This cites F. Bornhak, ''Anna Amalia Herzogin von Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach'' (Berlin. 1892).

Regency

During Karl August's minority she administered the affairs of the duchy with notable prudence, strengthening its resources and improving its position in spite of the troubles of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. Despite her heavy official responsibilities, she cultivated intellectual interests, especially music. She continued to take lessons in composition and keyboard playing from the leading musician in Weimar. Amalia von Helvig, a German-Swedish artist and writer, later became part of her court. She hired Christoph Martin Wieland, a poet and translator of William Shakespeare, to educate her son. . On 3 September 1775, her son reached his

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

, and she retired.

Cultural role

As a patron of the arts, Anna Amalia drew many of the most eminent people in Germany to Weimar. She gathered a group of scholars, poets and musicians, professional and amateur, for lively discussion and music-making at the Wittum palace. In this ‘court of the muses’, as Wilhelm Bode called it, the members included

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( ; ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a Prussian philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. He wa ...

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

, and

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

. She succeeded in engaging Abel Seyler's theatrical company, considered the best theatre company in Germany at that time." Anna Amalia herself played a significant part in bringing together the poetry of 'Weimar Classicism'. Johann Adam Hiller's most successful Singspiel, Die Jagd (the score of which is dedicated to the duchess), received its first performance in Weimar in 1770, and Weimar was also the scene of the notable première on 28 May 1773 of the ‘first German opera’, Wieland's Alceste in the setting by Anton Schweitzer. Anna Amalia continued the tradition of the Singspiel in later years with performances in the amateur court theatre of her own compositions to texts by Goethe. She also established the

Duchess Anna Amalia Library The Duchess Anna Amalia Library () in Weimar, Germany, houses a major collection of German literature and historical documents. In 1991, the tricentennial of its opening to the public, the Ducal Library was renamed for Duchess Anna Amalia. Toda ...

, which is now home to some 1,000,000 volumes. The duchess was honored in Goethe's work under the title ''Zum Andenken der Fürstin Anna-Amalia''.

Music

Anna Amalia was a notable composer. The majority of her works belong stylistically to the ''Empfindsamkeit'', in the manner of Hiller and Schweitzer, combining features of song and of arioso. In 2021-2023, further works of Anna Amalia were discovered by the academic Stephen Husarik in the collection of

Archduke Rudolf of Austria Rudolph Johann Joseph Rainier, Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Cardinal-Archbishop of Olomouc (8 January 1788 – 24 July 1831), was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine () origin ...

. Her compositions include:

Chamber

*''Divertimento'' (clarinet, viola, violoncello, and piano) c. 1780
ANNA AMALIA von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel
'. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, retrieved 25 February 2011

Harpsichord

*sonatas

Opera

*Das Jahrmarktsfest zu Plundersweilern (text by Goethe) * Erwin und Elmire (text by Goethe) 1776

Orchestra

*Oratorio (1768) *''Sacred Choruses'' (four voices and orchestra) *Symphony (2 oboes, 2 flutes, 2 violins and double bass) 1765

Vocal

*songs

Ancestry

References

External links

PRNewsWire: Goethe's forbidden love for Anna Amalia

Death Mask of Ann Amalia Of Brunswick
* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Anna Amalia Of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel 1739 births 1807 deaths Duchesses of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel House of Brunswick-Bevern 18th-century women regents German opera composers Women opera composers House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 18th-century German nobility Duchesses of Saxe-Weimar Duchesses of Saxe-Eisenach German women classical composers 18th-century regents German female regents Daughters of dukes Mothers of Saxon monarchs 18th-century German women musicians 18th-century German composers