Eleonore Wilhelmine of Anhalt-Köthen (7 May 1696 in

Köthen Köthen () is a town in Germany. It is the capital of the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, about north of Halle. Köthen is the location of the main campus and the administrative centre of the regional university, Anhalt Univers ...

– 30 August 1726 in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

) was a princess of

Anhalt-Köthen Anhalt-Köthen was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the House of Ascania. It was created in 1396 when the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst was partitioned between Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen. T ...

by births and by marriage successively Princess of

Saxe-Merseburg The Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, with Merseburg as its capital. It existed from 1656 or 1657 to 1738 and was owned by an Albertine secundogeniture of the Saxon House of Wettin. History The Wettin Elector J ...

and Duchess 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 ...

Life

Eleonore Wilhelmine was the eldest daughter of Prince Emmanuel Lebrecht of Anhalt-Köthen (1671-1704) from his marriage with

Gisela Agnes of Rath Gisela Agnes of Rath (9 October 1669, in Kleinwülknitz, now part of Köthen – 12 March 1740, in Nienburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Nienburg) was Duchess of Anhalt-Köthen by marriage from 1698. In 1694, she was created Countess of Nienburg. From 1704 to ...

, Countess of Nienburg (1669-1740). Eleonore Wilhelmine married first on 15 February 1714 in Köthen to Prince Frederick Erdmann of

(1691-1714), son of

Christian II, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg Christian II of Saxe-Merseburg (19 November 1653 – 20 October 1694), was a duke of Saxe-Merseburg and member of the House of Wettin. He was the second (but eldest surviving) son of Christian I, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg, and Christiana of Sch ...

. On the occasion of this marriage, he received the district of Dieskau as an

apanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

. However, fourteen weeks after his marriage he suddenly died. On 24 January 1716 in

Nienburg, Saxony-Anhalt Nienburg () is a town in the district of Salzlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is located in the lower Saale valley, approx. 5 km northeast of Bernburg. In January 2010 it absorbed the former municipalities Gerbitz, Latdorf, Neugat ...

, Eleonore Wilhelmine married for the second time, to Duke Ernest Augustus I of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach (1688-1748). Eleonore Wilhelmine's brother met

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

during the wedding festivities, and later invited Bach to become

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

at the princely court in Köthen. Eleonore Wilhelmine later became the godmother of Bach's son Leopold Augustus. Her marriage to Ernest Augustus was described as happy. During her ten years of marriage, she gave birth to seven children. After the birth of the Hereditary Prince,

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

was introduced in his two duchies.Karl Helmrich: ''Geschichte des Grossherzogthums Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach für Schule und Haus'', Albrecht'schen privaten Hof-Buchdruckerei, 1852, p. 107 Eleonore Wilhelmine died on 30 August 1726. She was buried in the ducal crypt at the Historical Cemetery in Weimar. Her widower was affected badly by her death. He left Weimar and started travelling.

Issue

From her second marriage, to Ernest Augustus I of Saxe-Weimar, Eleonore Wilhelmine had the following children: * William Ernest (1717–1719), Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weimar * Wilhelmine Auguste (1717–1752) * John William (1719–1732), Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weimar * Charlotte Agnes Leopoldina (1720–1724) * Johanna Eleonore Henriette (1721–1722) * Ernestine Albertine (1722–1769), married in 1756 to Count Philip II Ernst of

Schaumburg-Lippe Schaumburg-Lippe, also called Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807 and a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present-day state of Lower Saxony, with its capi ...

(1723–1787) * Bernardina Christina Sophia (1724–1757), married in 1744 to Prince John Frederick of

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of House of Schwarzburg, Schwarzburg dy ...

(1721–1767) * Emmanuel Frederick William Bernard (1725–1729)

Notes

References

* August Benedict Michaelis: ''Einleitung zu einer volständigen geschichte der chur- und fürstlichen häuser in Teutschland'', vol. 3, 1785, p. 667 {{DEFAULTSORT:Eleonore Wilhelmine of Anhalt Kothen House of Ascania Duchesses in the Holy Roman Empire Princesses in the Holy Roman Empire 1696 births 1726 deaths 18th-century German people ⚭Eleonore Wilhelmine of Anhaltköthen Daughters of princes regnant