Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark and Norway ( da, Vilhelmine Ernestine; 20 or 21 June 1650 – 22 or 23 April 1706) was an Electress of the Palatinate. She was the third of five daughters of King Frederick III of Denmark and

Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Calenberg (24 March 1628 – 20 February 1685) was Queen of Denmark and Norway as the consort of the King Frederick III of Denmark. She is known for her political influence, as well as for her cultural impact: she act ...

Biography

Her aunt,

Electress Sophia of Hanover Sophia of Hanover (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; 14 October 1630 – 8 June 1714) was the Electress of Hanover by marriage to Elector Ernest Augustus and later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and Scotland (later Gre ...

, arranged a marriage between Wilhelmina Ernestine and Sophia's nephew Charles, heir to the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

. The negotiations of the marriage started in 1669.''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'', 1933-44. Wilhelmina Ernestine was betrothed at

Sophie Amalienborg Sophie Amalienborg was a Lustschloss, pleasure palace roughly located where Amalienborg stands today in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built by Queen Consort Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Sophie Amalie who lived there until her death in 1685 a ...

Palace in Denmark in the presence of Charles on 24 June 1671. On 14 August, Wilhelmina Ernestine left Denmark with a large Danish retinue for

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, where the wedding ceremony was conducted on 20 September 1671. Wilhelmina Ernestine was granted a large dowry from Denmark, and she also received the towns of

Germersheim Germersheim () is a town in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, of around 20,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the Germersheim district. The neighboring towns and cities are Speyer, Landau, Philippsburg, Karlsruhe and Wörth. Coat ...

and

Oppenheim Oppenheim () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is a well-known wine center, being the home of the German Winegrowing Museum, and is particularly known for the wines from the Oppenheimer Krötenbru ...

from her father-in-law, Elector Charles I Louis. During the Scanian War between Denmark and Sweden in 1679, Wilhelmine Ernestine loaned funds to her brother to finance the war. The marriage was very unhappy. Charles had been forced by his father to marry her against his will and disliked the marriage from the beginning. Her shy behavior and physical appearance - she was said to have been somewhat crippled - only widened the distance between them. Wilhelmina Ernestine is not noted to have had any particular interests, she preferred solitude and a reclusive quiet life style in contrast to the active social life preferred by Charles, and she reportedly offended him by her pride over her royal status. By 1677, Charles' dislike made his father consider serious plans of a divorce, although these plans were never realized. They had no children. On 28 August 1680, they became Elector and Electress of the Palatinate. Charles' reign was marked by his dependency on favorites. The Elector died 26 May 1685. As a widow, she lived with her sister, Dowager Electress Anna Sophie of Saxony, at

Castle Lichtenburg A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Ancestors

References

Dansk biografisk Lexikon / XVIII. Bind. Ubbe - Wimpffen /
(in Danish) , - 1650 births 1706 deaths House of Oldenburg in Denmark House of Palatinate-Simmern Danish princesses Norwegian princesses Electresses of the Palatinate Princesses of the Palatinate Burials at Freiberg Cathedral 17th-century German women 17th-century German people 18th-century German women Daughters of kings {{Germany-noble-stub