Princess Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen

Luise Dorothea, Princess of Saxe- Meiningen ( born August 10, 1710 in Coburg, † October 22, 1767 in Gotha ) was the wife of Frederick III. Duchess of Saxe- Gotha -Altenburg.

Life

Luise Dorothea was born as Princess of Saxe -Meiningen, her father was Duke Ernst Ludwig I, her mother, Dorothea Maria of Saxe- Gotha -Altenburg, an aunt of her future husband. In 1729 she married her cousin in Gotha, Prince Frederick, 1732 as Frederick III. reigning Duke of Saxe- Gotha -Altenburg was.

The highly educated and subtle Duchess had significant role in ensuring that her husband's duchy became one of the cultural center in Thuringia. Luise Dorothea had great influence on the policies of her husband and regularly attended the meetings of the Privy Council, the government of the duchy. She was a committed fan of the Enlightenment and was in contact with the great spirits corresponded their time, such as Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau.

Voltaire remained at their invitation, from April 15 to May 25, 1753 in Gotha, and then gushed effusively by Luise Dorothea's hospitality and her court: " In the castle to Gotha cultivating peace in the virtue of ", " There is in my eyes nothing more beautiful than your yard [ ... ] I should have never left him. "," I 'm in the temple of the Graces, reason, mind, charity and peace have been. " Voltaire called the Duchess also the "best princess of the earth" and a " German Minerva ". Even with Frederick the Great was Luise Dorothea corresponded in contact; King of Prussia visited on 3 and 4 December 1762 Castle peace stone.

In her will, dated October 21, 1767 Luise Dorothea certain: "I wish and I demand that my lifeless body to be opened without first and everything without pomp as briefly as possible and silence in the Margaret Church at the feet of the Duke Ernst and his wife to the ground will be buried. " A planned tomb in St. Margaret, with its first production of the renowned French sculptor Houdon and later the Gotha court sculptor Friedrich Wilhelm Eugen Doell should be instructed never been realized. Since the grave plate Luise Dorothea's probably disappeared in the past due to renovations, is now no longer know the exact location of their grave lay in the church.

Marriage and issue

The closed in Gotha on September 17, 1729 Louise's marriage with Frederick sprang nine children, of whom only three survived their mother:

  • Friedrich Ludwig (1735-1756), Hereditary Prince of Saxe- Gotha -Altenburg
  • Ludwig ( * / † 1735)
  • Stillborn unnamed son (* / † 1735, twin of Louis )
  • Stillborn male twins (* / † 1739 )
  • Friederike Luise (1741-1776)
  • Ernst II (1745-1804), afterwards Duke of Saxe- Gotha -Altenburg
  • Sophie ( * / † 1746 )
  • August (1747-1806)

Reception

The person Duchess Luise Dorothea is since 2009 one of the main characters of each year in the former residence city of Gotha held two-day Baroque Festival at Schloss peace stone. On the last weekend in August lives in the historic ambience of the castle and the orangery the glorious era of the late Baroque again: The Cast of Frederick III. and Luise Dorothea assume, along with amateur actors formed from court guard parades, hold hearings, take trips to the town and stroll through the orangery garden. In parallel to the second Baroque Festival in 2002 turned historical movie " Vive la joie " ( It the joy live ) Luise Dorothea was one of the main characters.

In August 2010, the city of Gotha praised the Duchess occasion of her 300th birthday for the first time with an official ceremony in Ekhoftheater Castle peace stone, at the same time she was a small exhibition in the historic rooms of the former residence dedicated.

Others

A lasting memorial to the Duchess Francophile, which is considered the most important princess of the House of Saxe -Gotha -Altenburg today, with the investment of the Gotha Orangerie on the French model. 1747 had commissioned the architect Gottfried Heinrich Krohne Weimar with the planning and construction of the plant, the Duke and Duchess. Due to the long construction period ( owing, inter alia delays during the Seven Years' War ), however, did not live to Luise Dorothea the completion of the garden.

Named to the Duchess still reminds a 20 km south of Gotha situated place. Duke Friedrich III. had acquired in 1753, located in the Valley of the Ohra " Black Forest Hammer", an iron smelter, and the settlement contained herein baptized on October 1, 1753 in honor of his wife in the name of Luis valley.

The more than 3,500 -volume private library Luise Dorothea is included to complete today in the stock of Gotha Research Library.

Discount

  • Correspondence with King Frederick II of Prussia = Correspondance avec Frédéric de la Duchesse Louise Dorothée de Saxe -Gotha, in: Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric le Grand. Edited by Johann David Erdmann Preuss, Berlin, 1846-56, Vol 18 ( = Correspondance, vol 3 ), pp. 163-256.
Die Gartenlaube Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Denis Diderot Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Prince August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Residenz Audience (meeting) Ohra (river) Luisenthal Neue Deutsche Biographie Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Integrated Authority File
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