Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern
(1715-1797)
BIRTH
November 8, 1715
PLACE
Wolfenbüttel, Germany
DEATH
January 13, 1797
PLACE
Berlin, Germany
FAMILY
HOMES
RELIGIOUS VIEWS
RELIGION NOT DOCUMENTED
DENOMINATION NOT DOCUMENTED
MEMBERSHIPS
AWARDS
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the wife of Frederick the Great of Prussia and Queen of Prussia for 46 years, though the king kept her at a distance throughout his reign. Elisabeth Christine married Frederick on June 12, 1733, at Salzdahlum Palace. After Frederick became king in 1740, he lived largely apart from her. She devoted herself to charity and to writing, and published translations of religious and moral works into French.
EARLY LIFE
Elisabeth Christine was born on November 8, 1715, in Wolfenbüttel, in the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the daughter of Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and Antoinette Amalie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. She was related to the Habsburgs; her aunt was the mother of Empress Maria Theresa. Her marriage to the Prussian crown prince was arranged by King Frederick William I of Prussia, in part to please the emperor. Crown Prince Frederick, who had recently been punished for trying to flee his father, accepted the match reluctantly.
Elisabeth Christine married Frederick on June 12, 1733, at Salzdahlum Palace. The couple lived at Rheinsberg for several years in relative harmony, but they had no children.
After Frederick became king in 1740, he lived largely apart from her. She held court at Schönhausen Palace in the summer and at the Berlin Palace in winter, and the king rarely visited.
She devoted herself to charity and to writing, and published translations of religious and moral works into French. She outlived Frederick by more than ten years and died in Berlin on January 13, 1797.
CAREER
DEATH
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the wife of Frederick the Great of Prussia and Queen of Prussia for 46 years, though the king kept her at a distance throughout his reign. Elisabeth Christine married Frederick on June 12, 1733, at Salzdahlum Palace. The couple lived at Rheinsberg for several years in relative harmony, but they had no children. After Frederick became king in 1740, he lived largely apart from her. She held court at Schönhausen Palace in the summer and at the Berlin Palace in winter, and the king rarely visited. She devoted herself to charity and to writing, and published translations of religious and moral works into French. Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel died on Jan 13, 1797, in Berlin, Germany. The available biographical account does not describe a continuous final medical course. It gives no dependable sequence of treatment and last symptoms from which to reconstruct a more detailed bedside narrative.
POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (1715–1797), Frederick the Great’s wife. Feuerstein-Praßer supplies German-language joint and collective biographies. Editorial selections prioritize biographical coverage; five standalone biographies were not established. Collective biography, family reference, primary writings and related studies are labelled individually. Multi-volume works and series are counted as one selection.
1. “Ich bleibe zurück wie eine Gefangene”: Elisabeth Christine und Friedrich der Große — Karin Feuerstein-Praßer. [Joint biography; German-language work] Find on Amazon
2. Die preußischen Königinnen — Karin Feuerstein-Praßer. [Collective biography; German-language work] Find on Amazon
3. Frederick the Great: King of Prussia — Tim Blanning. [Related biography of her husband] Find on Amazon
4. Frederick the Great: A Life in Deed and Letters — Giles MacDonogh. [Related biography of her husband] Find on Amazon
5. Queenship in Europe, 1660–1815: The Role of the Consort — Clarissa Campbell Orr (editor). [Related collective royal studies] Find on Amazon
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