Princess Friederike of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (9 October 1811 – 10 July 1902) was a daughter of

Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (; ; 4 January 1785 – 17 February 1831) was a German-Danish prince and officer who was the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck from 1816 to 1825, and the Duke of Schlesw ...

and

Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel (; 28 September 1789 – 13 March 1867) was the consort of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and the matriarch of the House of Glücksburg. Early life Louise Car ...

and an elder sister of

Christian IX of Denmark Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 15 November 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schlesw ...

. Friederike became the

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they a ...

Anhalt-Bernburg Anhalt-Bernburg was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and a duchy of the German Confederation ruled by the House of Ascania with its residence at Bernburg in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It emerged as a subd ...

upon her marriage to

Alexander Karl, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg Alexander Charles, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg (2 March 1805 – 19 August 1863) was a Germans, German prince of the House of Ascania. From 1834 until 1863 he was the last duke of the Anhalt-Bernburg, Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg. Life Early life A ...

, the last Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg. She served as Regent of the Duchy from 1855 to 1863.

Early life

Friederike was born on 9 October 1811 at Gottorp Castle near

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig (; ; ; ; ; ) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been di ...

in the

Duchy of Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig (; ; ; ; ; ) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been div ...

as Princess Friederike of

Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (Schleswig-Holstein-Beck or Beck for short) is a line of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg branch of the House of Oldenburg. It consisted of August Philipp, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Bec ...

, the second-eldest daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, and

. Friederike's father was the head of the ducal house of

, a junior male branch of the

House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a Germans, German dynasty whose members rule or have ruled in Danish Realm, Denmark, Kingdom of Iceland, Iceland, Kingdom of Greece, Greece, Norway, Russian Empire, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom, the United Kingdom, King ...

which had occupied the throne of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

since 1448. Through her father, Friederike was thus a direct male-line descendant of King

Christian III of Denmark 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 ...

. Friederike's mother was a daughter of Landgrave Charles of Hesse, a Danish

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

and Royal Governor of the duchies of

and

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

, and his wife Princess Louise of Denmark, a daughter of

Frederick V of Denmark Frederick V (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Frederik V''; 31 March 1723 – 14 January 1766) was King of Denmark–Norway, Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein from 6 August 1746 until his death in 1766. ...

. On 6 June 1825, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm was appointed Duke of

Glücksburg Glücksburg (; ) is a small town northeast of Flensburg in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is Germany's northernmost town. It is situated on the south side of the Flensburg Fjord, Flensborg Fjord, an inlet ...

by his brother-in-law

Frederick VI of Denmark Frederick VI ( Danish and ; 28 January 1768 – 3 December 1839) was King of Denmark from 13 March 1808 until his death in 1839 and King of Norway from 13 March 1808 to 7 February 1814. He was the last king of Denmark–Norway. From 1784 until h ...

, as the elder Glücksburg line had become extinct in 1779. He subsequently changed his title to Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and founded the younger

line.

Duchess of Anhalt-Bernburg

Friederike married

, son of Alexis Friedrich Christian, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg and Princess Marie Friederike of Hesse-Kassel, on 30 October 1834 at Schloss

Louisenlund Stiftung Louisenlund is a privately run boarding school for boys and girls in Güby, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. History The school's main building is in Louisenlund Palace, which was built by Hermann von Motz between 1772 and 1776 for Prince Ch ...

, near Schleswig. The union was childless. By November 1855 the Duke was confined to Schloss Hoym due to a progressive mental illness (some sources state that he suffered from

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

). There, Alexander Karl spend the rest of his life under medical care in the company of his chamberlain, the painter

Wilhelm von Kügelgen Wilhelm Georg Alexander von Kügelgen (20 November 1802, in St.Petersburg – 25 May 1867, in Ballenstedt) was a German portrait and history painter, writer, and Chamberlain (office), chamberlain at the Court of Anhalt-Bernburg. He is best kn ...

. Due to his incapacity, Friederike acted as

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

Later life

Alexander Karl died at Hoym on 19 August 1863 at age 58. Because the marriage produced no issue, the Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg was inherited by his kinsman Leopold IV, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau-Köthen who merged the duchy with his own to form a united

Duchy of Anhalt The Duchy of Anhalt () was a historical German duchy. The duchy was located between the Harz Mountains in the west and the River Elbe and beyond to the Fläming Heath in the east. The territory was once ruled by the House of Ascania, and is now ...

. The Dowager Duchess Friederike died on 10 July 1902 at

Alexisbad Alexisbad is a small spa town, part of Harzgerode in the Harz (district), district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Alexisbad is located about northwest of the Harzgerode town centre on the Bundesstrasse 185 road to Ballenstedt. It i ...

Ballenstedt Ballenstedt is a town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Geography It is situated at the northern rim of the Harz mountain range, about 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Quedlinburg. The municipal area comprises the vi ...

Ancestry

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg, Princess Friederike of 1811 births 1902 deaths

Friederike Friederike is a feminine given name which may refer to: People *Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1709–1758), Prussian princess and older sister of Frederick the Great *Princess Friederike Luise of Pr ...

People from Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein

Burials at Schlosskirche St. Aegidien (Bernburg) 19th-century women regents 19th-century regents