Louise Henrietta of Nassau ( nl, Louise Henriëtte

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

Nassau, german: Luise Henriette von Nassau; 7 December 1627 – 18 June 1667) was a Countess of Nassau, granddaughter of

William I, Prince of Orange William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Rev ...

, "William the Silent", and an Electress of Brandenburg.

Biography

Louise Henriëtte was born in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, the eldest daughter of

Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange Frederick Henry ( nl, Frederik Hendrik; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1625 until his death in 1647. In the last ...

, and

Amalia of Solms-Braunfels Amalia may refer to: People *Amalia (given name), feminine given name (includes a list of people so named) *Princess Amalia (disambiguation), several princesses with this name Films and television series * ''Amalia'' (1914 film), the first ...

. She grew up at the court of her father, the ''

Stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

'' of

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders ( nl, Gelre, french: Gueldre, german: Geldern) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in p ...

and

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the Episcopal principality of U ...

Marriage

Louise Henriëtte had to abandon her love for Henri Charles de La Trémoille, Prince of Talmant, son of Henry de La Trémoille, as her mother had royal ambitions for her. However, attempts to conclude an engagement with King

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child o ...

came to nothing. Finally she was forced to marry

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, h ...

(1620-1688), "the Great Elector," at The Hague on 7 December 1646, her nineteenth birthday. The

Electorate of Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...

regarded this marriage as beneficial by reason of the connections with the Orange family it created in the hope of obtaining assistance for Brandenburg's struggle for influence in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

Electress

The couple lived in

Cleves Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...

for the first years of their marriage, but they moved to Brandenburg, Frederick William's seat, in 1648. During her marriage, Louise Henriëtte followed her spouse and traveled between The Hague,

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

and Cleves on campaigns, inspections, war and battle fields in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. She acted as her husband's political adviser and was described as a pragmatist. She managed, through correspondence with the Queen of Poland, Marie Louise Gonzaga, to make an alliance with Poland in exchange for the Polish recognition of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

as a province of Brandenburg. It was said of her : "Few Electresses had been allowed so much influence". Louise Henriëtte had a new castle in Dutch style built in Bötzow in 1650-52 and called it

Oranienburg Oranienburg () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel. Geography Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin. Division of the town Oranienburg ...

, which became the name for the entire town in 1653. She was also involved in the design and development of the

Lustgarten The ' () is a park on Museum Island in central Berlin, near the site of the former () of which it was originally a part. At various times in its history, the park has been used as a parade ground, a place for mass rallies and a public park. Th ...

in Berlin. In 1663, she installed the first porcelain cabinet in Europe. In 1665, she founded an orphanage with places for 24 children. She was described as truly kind and gentle with a sharp intellect: her advice was vital for her spouse, and their marriage was considered a role model. During time of war, she made great efforts to soften the damages upon society. A Protestant religious community known as the ''Luise-Henrietten-Stift'' in nearby

Lehnin Abbey Lehnin Abbey (german: Kloster Lehnin) is a former Cistercian monastery in Lehnin in Brandenburg, Germany. Founded in 1180 and secularized during the Protestant Reformation in 1542, it has accommodated the ''Luise-Henrietten-Stift'', a Protestant ...

was named after her.

Children

With Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, she had six children. * William Henry (1648-1649) *

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

(1655-1674) * Frederick (1657-1713), the first King in Prussia * Amalie (1664-1664) * Henry (1664-1664) * Louis (1666-1687), married

Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł Princess Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł ( lt, Liudvika Karolina Radvilaitė; 27 February 1667 – 25 March 1695) was a magnate Princess of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and an active reformer. Life Ludwika K ...

Luise Henriette died in

and was buried in the Berliner Dom.

Ancestry

External links

* http://www.spsg.de/index.php?id=129 * coloured painting of Prinzessin Luise Henriette von Oranien-Nassau, later Kurfürstin von Brandenburg , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Luise Henriette, Countess of Nassau 1627 births 1667 deaths 17th-century Dutch women Nobility from The Hague House of Orange-Nassau Consorts of Brandenburg Prussian royal consorts Electresses of Brandenburg Countesses of Nassau Duchesses of Prussia House of Hohenzollern Burials at Berlin Cathedral