Princess Johanna Charlotte of Anhalt-Dessau

Princess Johanna Charlotte of Anhalt-Dessau

Johanna Charlotte as Princess-Abbess of Herford
Spouse(s) Philip William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt
Noble family House of Ascania
Father John George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
Mother Henriette Catherine of Nassau
Born (1682-04-06)6 April 1682
Dessau
Died 31 March 1750(1750-03-31) (aged 67)
Herford

Johanna Charlotte of Anhalt-Dessau (6 April 1682 – 31 March 1750) was a princess of Anhalt-Dessau from the House of Ascania by birth and Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt by marriage. From 1729 until her death she was Abbess of Herford Abbey.

Life

Johanna Charlotte was the youngest daughter of John George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (1627-1693), from his marriage to Henriette Catherine of Nassau (1637-1708), daughter of Prince Frederick Henry of Orange. The princess was able to take advantage of a careful and comprehensive education.

On 25 January 1699 she married Philip William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1669-1711), in Oranienbaum. Although the couple had their own palace in Berlin, they lived mostly in Schwedt. After the death of her husband, Johanna Charlotte went back to Berlin and looked after the education of her children.

In 1729, she had herself elected abbess of Herford Abbey, which stood under Prussian protection. She was sworn in as the new abbess on 10 October 1729, but lived at first in Buchholz, Schaumburg. It was not until 1735 that she took up permanent residence in Herford. Later in 1729, she added a secular order to her abbey[1] and accepted 17 canonesses. She appointed Hedwig Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp as her coadjutor. Hedwig Sophie later became her successor.

Johanna Charlotte died of an "apoplexy", without being ill, in the night of 30 to 31 March 1750. She was buried in the crypt of the Collegiate Chapel of Herford, which had just been renovated.

Issue

From their marriage, Charlotte Johanna had the following children:

married in 1734 princess Sophie of Prussia (1719-1765)
married in 1716 Prince Frederick Louis of Württemberg (1698-1731)
married in 1739 princess Leopoldine Marie of Anhalt-Dessau (1716-1782)

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Leopold Zedlitz-Neukirch: Der preussische staat in allen seinen beziehungen, vol. 3, p. 259, A. Hirschwald, 1837


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