Dorothea von Medem

Dorothea of Courland, born as Countess Anna Charlotte Dorothea von Medem ( born February 3, 1761 Mesothen; † August 20, 1821 in Löbichau ) was a Duchess of Courland, diplomat and salonière.

Life

Her parents were Imperial Count Friedrich von Medem from old Courland nobility and Louise Charlotte von Manteuffel. On November 6, 1779, she married the senior by 37 years, Peter von Biron, Duke of Courland and Semgallen. The marriage produced six children, two of whom died in childhood.

Due to its beauty and its position as Duchess of Courland Dorothea had access to the highest social circles. Because of political difficulties with the Courland nobility and the feudal lord, the King of Poland, Dorothea was commissioned by the Duke repeatedly for many months on a diplomatic mission in Warsaw, but also travel undertook, inter alia, to Berlin, St. Petersburg and Karlovy Vary, 1791 Count Christian Clam Gallas to Dorothee temple was built in her honor. At the same time the sorrel lying nearby was named as Dorothee source. Due to the long absences to an alienation to Duke Peter revealed. After the birth of the youngest daughter Dorothea (1793) the duchess lived primarily in the Palais Kurland in Berlin and led an aristocratic salon there. 1794, it acquired Gutsherrschaft Löbichau in the Old Freiburgische. In the newly built castle, she spent the summer months and redesigned it to the center of their lives. Due to the invitation of poets, philosophers, relatives and friends Löbichau was soon referred to as Musenhof the Duchess of Courland. Even your older step sister Elisa von der Recke talked with Christoph August Tiedge on several occasions in Löbichau. Tsar Alexander I of Russia, Frederick William III. , Napoleon, Talleyrand, Metternich, Goethe, Schiller, and other personalities of the time knew the Duchess personally.

After her youngest daughter Dorothea - probably an illegitimate daughter of Count Alexander Batowski, the Duke Peter, however, had recognized as his child - 1809 Count Edmond de Talleyrand -Périgord, married a nephew of Foreign Minister Talleyrand, Dorothea of Courland lived regularly in Paris and had an intense relationship with Talleyrand. Under its influence, their initial enthusiasm for Napoleon walked in a determined opposition. In 1814 she traveled to the Congress of Vienna, where she met Talleyrand again.

Dorothea of Courland, died on August 20, 1821 in Löbichau. Her body was a few years later transferred to the family vault to Sagan, where Duke Peter von Biron was buried in 1800.

Descendants

From the marriage Dorothea of ​​Courland with Peter von Biron five children:

  • Wilhelmine von Sagan (1781-1839), beloved by Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich
  • Pauline von Sagan (1782-1845)
  • Johanna Catherine of Acerenza (1783-1876)
  • Peter (1787-1790)
  • Another, deceased young child

Probably came from the extramarital relationship with Alexander Batowski

  • Dorothea von Sagan, Duchess of Talleyrand and of Sagan, but this was recognized by Peter von Biron as their own child.
Mežotne Zemgale Altenburger Land Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord Friedrich Schiller Anton Graff Ducal hat Princess Pauline, Duchess of Sagan Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Neue Deutsche Biographie Integrated Authority File
292030
de