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Friederike Charlotte Leopoldine Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt (also often referred to as the Princess of Prussia; 18 August 1745 in Schwedt – 23 January 1808 in Altona) was a German
aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient R ...
who lived as a secular canoness and ruled as the last Princess-abbess of
Herford Abbey Herford Abbey (german: Frauenstift Herford) was the oldest women's religious house in the Duchy of Saxony. It was founded as a house of secular canonesses in 789, initially in Müdehorst (near the modern Bielefeld) by a nobleman called Waltger, ...
.


Life

Friederike Charlotte was a member of the
Brandenburg-Schwedt Brandenburg-Schwedt was a secundogeniture of the Hohenzollern margraves of Brandenburg, established by Prince Philip William who took his residence at Schwedt Castle in 1689. By appanage, they administered the manors of Schwedt and Vierraden on th ...
line of the Prussian royal family, the daughter of
Frederick Henry, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt Frederick Henry, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (21 August 1709, in Schwedt – 12 December 1788, in Schwedt) was the last owner of the Prussian secundogeniture of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Early life His was the son of Margrave Philip Wil ...
and his wife
Leopoldine Marie of Anhalt-Dessau Leopoldine Marie, Princess of Anhalt-Dessau (12 December 1716, in Dessau – 27 January 1782, in Kołobrzeg) was the ninth child of Prince Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau and his wife, Anna Louise Föhse. She married on 13 February 1739 the last m ...
. After the breakup of her parents' marriage, King
Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...
sent her mother to
Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg ( ; csb, Kòlbrzég; german: Kolberg, ), ; csb, Kòlbrzég , is a port city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast ...
in Pomerania and Friederike Charlotte received a place in
Herford Abbey Herford Abbey (german: Frauenstift Herford) was the oldest women's religious house in the Duchy of Saxony. It was founded as a house of secular canonesses in 789, initially in Müdehorst (near the modern Bielefeld) by a nobleman called Waltger, ...
. In 1755, she became
coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...
to Abbess Hedwig Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, whom she later succeeded. Friederike Charlotte was partly educated in Prussia, together with her sister Louise. Between 1760 and 1762, the mathematician
Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries ...
sent her numerous letters in French about mathematical and philosophical subjects. These letters were published between 1769 and 1773 under the title " Letters to a German Princess" and were printed in
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
and St. Petersburg. The French edition alone enjoyed 12 printings. It was the
Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
and Euler tried to explain physical issues and in particular their philosophical background in a generally understandable manner. Euler may have been employed as her teacher. On 13 October 1764, Friederike Charlotte became Abbess of Herford. As head of an imperial abbey, she ranked as an
Imperial Prince Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. '' Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors ...
ss. She administered the abbey and defended its rights against the city of Herford. She resided in Herford and maintained her court in a manner befitting a royal household. In 1766 Princess Christine Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel was appointed as coadjutor abbess, serving alongside Friederike Charlotte. In 1790, she donated an emblem to the St. Mary on the Mountain convent in her territory. Recent research suggests that the economic situation in her territory deteriorated during her reign.Gisa Kleinebenne: ''Die wirtschaftliche Situation der Fürstabtei Herford in den letzten Jahren ihres Bestehens bis zum Beginn der Säkularisation (1773–1802)'', in: ''Der Remensnider'', vol. 1, 2005, p. 10 She also tried to preserve the right of her abbey against the Prussian state. However, in case of doubt, the King of Prussia had the last word. In 1798, criminal proceedings were initiated against leading officials of the abbey for forging a will and King Frederick William III appointed a mediatisation commission "to execute the guardianship over the assets of the Lady Abbess". The commission was disbanded in 1799. Although Frederike Charlotte claimed jurisdiction over her subjects, the defendants were convicted in a Prussian court in 1800. The abbey was secularized on 15 August 1802. Its assets were seized by the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
. The abbess and the collegiate ladies received a pension from the kingdom. Friederike Charlotte fled the advancing army of the
First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...
to Altona, where she died in 1808. She was buried in the collegiate church in Herford.


Notes and references


External links


Short biography at lwl.orgEntry at lwl.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friederike Charlotte of Brandenburg Schwedt 1745 births 1808 deaths People from Schwedt People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg Abbesses of Herford House of Hohenzollern Margravines of Germany 18th-century German people Calvinist abbesses