Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern
Elisabeth Christine
Queen consort of Prussia
Spouse	Frederick II of Prussia
House	House of Brunswick-Bevern
Father	Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Mother	Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Born	8 November 1715(1715-11-08) Schloss Bevern, Wolfenbüttel
Died	13 January 1797(1797-01-13) (aged 81) Stadtschloss, Berlin, Prussia

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (8 November 1715 – 13 January 1797) was a Queen of Prussia as wife of Frederick the Great. By birth, she was a duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

Biography

Elisabeth Christine was born the daughter of Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

Marriage

In 1733, Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, having failed in his attempt to flee from his father's tyrannical regime, was ordered to marry a daughter of the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Elisabeth Christine was the niece of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI's wife Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel; the match had thus been arranged by the Austrian court in the hopes of securing influence over Prussia for another generation.

Life in Prussia

On 12 June 1733, she married Frederick at her father's summer palace, Schloss Salzdahlum. She then moved with him to Neuruppin and later to the palace at Rheinsberg. The story goes that before the wedding, a pastoral was enacted. The best flute player of three shepherds featuring in the play got Elisabeth's hand, and Frederick was the winner.

Elisabeth Christine, c. 1739, the year before she became Queen

Due to the circumstances behind their betrothal, Frederick was well known to have resented the marriage from the very beginning. Frederick almost completely ignored Elizabeth and the marriage did not result in children. In 1740, Frederick's father died and he succeeded to the throne of Prussia as Frederick II. He then initiated the separation between the two. Elisabeth began living separately from him, taking up her residence at Schönhausen Palace, nowadays in the north of Berlin. It should be mentioned that throughout his life, Frederick did not show any interest in women. He had no known affairs and presided over a very spartan, almost military court, where women rarely appeared and never held any influence.

Her summer palace in Schönhausen, Berlin

Frederick never came to see his wife and she was never invited to his palace of Sanssouci in Potsdam. The couple usually met only at family reunions. In 1757-58 and again in 1760-63, both times during the Seven Years' War, Elisabeth was forced to flee her home and move to Magdeburg. It was on the first of these occasions that she saw Sanssouci for the first time. In 1763, when Frederick saw his wife for the first time in six years, he only commented: "Madame has grown quite fat."

Elisabeth was interested in literature. She also wrote books herself, about morals, in French, and introduced silk cultivation to Prussia.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 8 November 1715 - 12 June 1733 Her Highness Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
• 12 June 1733 - 31 May 1740 Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Prussia
• 31 May 1740 – 19 February 1772 Her Majesty The Queen in Prussia
• 19 February 1772 – 17 August 1786 Her Majesty The Queen of Prussia
• 17 August 1786 - 13 January 1797 Her Majesty The Dowager Queen

Sources

• Biskup, Thomas. (2004). "The Hidden Queen: Elisabeth Christine of Prussia and Hohenzollern Queenship in the Eighteenth Century" in Queenship in Europe 1660-1815: The Role of the Consort. Clarissa Campbell Orr (ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521814227.
• Hans-Henning Grote (2005) Schloss Wolfenbüttel. Residenz der Herzöge zu Braunschweig und Lüneburg. S. 228. ISBN 3-937664-32-7.
• Paul Noack: Elisabeth Christine und Friedrich der Große. Ein Frauenleben in Preußen. 2. Auflage. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2002, S. 185, ISBN 3-608-94292-0

External links

• Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern at Find-A-Grave

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern House of Brunswick-Bevern Born: 8 November 1715 Died: 13 January 1797
German royalty
Preceded by Sophia Dorothea of Hanover	Queen consort in Prussia 31 May 1740 – 19 February 1772	Title abolished elevated to Queen consort of Prussia
New title	Queen consort of Prussia 19 February 1772 - 17 August 1786	Succeeded by Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt
Preceded by Sophia Dorothea of Hanover	Electress consort of Brandenburg 31 May 1740 - 17 August 1786
	Princess consort of Neuchâtel 31 May 1740 - 17 August 1786