Johanetta of Sayn-Wittgenstein (15 February 1561 – 13 April 1622) was a German

countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of the house of

Sayn-Wittgenstein Sayn-Wittgenstein was a county of medieval Germany, located in the Sauerland of eastern North Rhine-Westphalia. History Sayn-Wittgenstein was created when Count Salentin of Sayn-Homburg (1314-1392), a member of the House of Sponheim, married ...

, who became the third wife of Count

John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg Count John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg (22 November 1536 – 8 October 1606) was the second son of William the Rich and the younger brother of William the Silent. He has a special place in the history of the Netherlands because he is the male-l ...

Live

Johanetta was born in

1561 Year 1561 ( MDLXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 4 – Paolo Battista Giudice Calvi is elected as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa, but serves for only ...

, the first child of Count

Louis I, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein Louis I, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein, nicknamed "the Elder", formally "Louis I of Sayn, Count at Wittgenstein" (7 December 1532 at Wittgenstein Castle, near Bad Laasphe – 2 July 1605, while travelling near Altenkirchen) ruled the County of ...

(1532–1605) and his first wife, Anna of Solms-Braunfels (1538–1565). Anna was a relative of the later

Amalia of Solms-Braunfels Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (31 August 1602 – 8 September 1675) was Princess of Orange by marriage to Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. She acted as the political adviser of her spouse during his reign, and acted as his de facto deputy and regent ...

(1602–1675). She was most likely named after her grandmother Johannetta of

Isenburg-Neumagen Isenburg-Neumagen was the name of a state of the Holy Roman Empire, seated in Neumagen-Dhron in modern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Isenburg-Neumagen was created on the partition of Lower Isenburg in 1502. There were only two counts of Isen ...

(1500–1563), daughter of Salentin VII, lord of Isenburg and Neumagen (1462–1533). His father was raised in Wittgenstein Castle, near

Bad Laasphe Bad Laasphe () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district. Geography Location The town of Bad Laasphe lies in the upper Lahn Valley, near the stately home of Wittgenstein Castle (de) (nowadays a boarding ...

. After his marriage he and his family settled in a Castle in the country near the city of Berleburg. Her mother gave birth to two more children, Juliana in 1562 and George II in 1565, before she died in 1565. Her father Louis I remarried Elisabeth of Solms-Laubach (1549–1599), daughter of

Frederick Magnus I, Count of Solms-Laubach Frederick Magnus I, Count of Solms-Laubach (1521 – 13 January 1561 in Laubach) was regent of Solms-Laubach from 1522 to 1548, and the ruling Count of Solms-Laubach from 1548 until his death. After the early death of his father Otto (1496� ...

. She gave birth to another 19 children, of which some died young.Sayn-Wittgenstein, Ludwig der Aeltere, der Fromme, Graf zu“ von Friedrich Wilhelm Cuno
in: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften'', Band 43 (1898), S. 624–626. They grew up at the ancestral Wittgenstein Castle on a hilltop overlooking

to a former hunting lodge near Berleburg. In

1586 Events January – March * January 3 – Augustus of Wettin, the Elector of Saxony, marries Agnes Hedwig of Anhalt, the 12-year-old daughter of Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt. Augustus dies less than six weeks later. * January ...

at the 14th of June at

Dillenburg Castle Castle Dillenburg, in the provincial town of Dillenburg in Hesse-Nassau, is situated on a hill (elevation 958 feet) above the Dill river, 25 miles northwest from Gießen on the Giessen-Troisdorf railway line. The main building of the old castle w ...

at the age of 25 she married Count John VI, the eldest son of William the Rich and

Juliana of Stolberg Juliana, Countess of Stolberg-Wernigerode (15 February 1506 in Stolberg, Saxony-Anhalt – 18 June 1580) was the mother of William the Silent, the leader of the successful Dutch Revolt against the Spanish in the 16th century. Early life and ...

, who was 50 years old by then.

Family

John and Johanetta had the following children: # George Louis (12 April 1588 – 16 April 1588). # Prince

John Louis of Nassau-Hadamar John Louis of Nassau-Hadamar, (Dillenburg, 6 August 1590 – Hadamar, 10 March 1653) and also known in German as Johann Ludwig, was a German nobleman and member of the House of Nassau who is best known for his role as an aide to the head of the ...

(6 August 1590 – 10 March 1653). # Johannette Elisabeth (13 February 1593 – 13 September 1654), married on 16 December 1616 to Count Conrad Gumprecht of Bentheim-Limburg. # Anna (24 November 1594 – 11 February 1660), married on 19 June 1619 to Count Philip Ernest of Isenburg-Birstein. # Magdalene (13 November 1595 – 31 July 1633), married on 29 May 1624 to Count George Albert I of Erbach. # Anna Amalie (19 July 1599 – 4 May 1667), married on 25 November 1648 to Count William Otto of Isenburg-Birstein. # Juliane (9 June 1602 – 26 August 1602).

References

Countesses in the Holy Roman Empire House of Nassau 1561 births 1622 deaths 16th-century German nobility 16th-century German women Mothers of German monarchs {{Germany-countess-stub