Wilhelmine Dorothee von der Marwitz (April 1718 – 16 January 1787) was the mistress of

Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth Frederick (Friedrich) Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (10 May 1711 in Weferlingen – 26 February 1763 in Bayreuth), was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. He was the eldest son of Georg Frederick K ...

from the late 1730s until 1744. In the 1780s, she hosted an influential salon in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Life

She was the eldest of the three daughters of the Prussian nobleman (1680–1744), and

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Breslau (today Wrocław,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) and Albertine Eleonore (1693–1721). After her mother's death, she and her sisters were raised by their maternal aunt, Flora von Sonsfeld, the '' Hofmeisterin'' of Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia. The Princess married the Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in 1731, and her aunt wanted to bring fourteen-year-old Wilhelmine Dorothee to Bayreuth to finish her education. However, the three girls were heiresses to their father's fortune, and King Frederick William I had forbidden such women to leave the country, confiscating their wealth if they did so. In 1732, to help her ''Hofmeisterin,'' the Princess gained permission from her father to employ Wilhelmine Dorothee as her reader. At some point in the 1730s, Wilhelmine's husband, Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, made her his official

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

. It is considered likely that he abused his position to force Wilhelmine Dorothee into the relationship. In 1744, her employer, the Margravine, arranged for her to marry an Austrian

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, Otto Ludwig Conrad von Burghauß (1713–1795). She left Bayreuth to settle in Austria, ending her position as royal favourite. She lived in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

with her spouse. In 1780, she moved to Vienna, where she hosted an influential

literary salon A salon is a gathering of people held by a host. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to please or to educate" (Latin: ''aut delectare aut prodesse''). Salons in the tradition of the Fren ...

frequented by

Georg Forster Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (; 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German geography, geographer, natural history, naturalist, ethnology, ethnologist, travel literature, travel writer, journalist and revol ...

Henry Swinburne Henry Swinburne (1743–1803) was an English travel writer. Early life and marriage He was born at Bristol on 8 July 1743, into a Catholic recusant family: he was the fourth son of Sir John Swinburne, 3rd Baronet of Capheaton, Northumberland ...

, Graf Karl von Zinzendorf and Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz. She supported Josephinist reforms and acted as benefactor of

Benjamin Thompson Colonel (United Kingdom), Colonel Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 March 175321 August 1814), was an American-born British military officer, scientist and inventor. Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, he sup ...

and Johann Hunczowski.

References

* Karl Graf von Zinzendorf: Wien von Maria Theresia bis zur Franzosenzeit: aus den Tagebüchern des Grafen Karl von Zinzendorf. Wiener Bibliophilen Ges., 1972, S. 167. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marwitz, Wilhelmine Dorothee von der Mistresses of German royalty 1718 births 1787 deaths Austrian salon-holders Wilhelmine Dorothee 18th-century people from the Holy Roman Empire