Countess Palatine Christiane Henriette of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld

Christiane Henriette of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (16 November 1725, Ribeauvillé – 11 February 1816, Arolsen) was a Countess of Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld by birth and by marriage a Princess of Waldeck-Pyrmont.

Christiane Henriette
Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Christiane Henriette, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Born	16 November 1725 Ribeauvillé
Died	11 February 1816 (aged 90) Arolsen Castle, Bad Arolsen, Hesse, German Empire
Spouse	Karl August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Father	Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
Mother	Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken

Life

Christiane Henriette was the daughter of the Count Palatine and Duke Christian III of Zweibrücken (1674–1835) from his marriage to Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken (1704–1874), daughter of Louis Crato, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken. Christiane Henriette was the sister of Christian IV, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, the Great Landgravine, and Field Marshal Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken. She was also an aunt of the first Bavarian king Maximilian I.

She married on 19 August 1741 in Zweibrücken, Karl August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1704–1763). After the death of her husband in 1763, she was Regent of the principality and guardian for her first-born son from 1764 to 1766.[1] In the years 1764 to 1778, the New Castle at Arolsen was built as her Wittum by Franz Friedrich Rothweil.

Christiane Henriette was considered highly educated in arts and sciences. She was a close friend of the anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach[2] Christiane collected a comprehensive library,[3] which by 1788 included about 6,000 volumes[4] and in her Arolsen Castle, she maintained an art and natural history collection.[5]

When she died, Christiane left behind a considerable debt,[6] which is why parts of her library and art collection had to be auctioned off in 1820.[7]

Christiane Henriette died in 1816 and was buried in the park of her New Castle at Arolsen.

Offspring

From her marriage with Karl August, Christiane Henriette had the following children:

• Charles (1742–1756)
• Friedrich (1743–1812), Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont
• Christian (1744–1798), Portuguese Field Marshal
• George I (1747–1813), Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

married in 1784 princess Auguste of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1768-1849)

• Caroline Louise (1748–1782)

married in 1765 (divorced 1772) Peter von Biron, Duke of Courland (1724-1800)

• Louise (1751–1816)

married in 1775 Duke Frederick Augustus of Nassau-Usingen (1738-1816)

• Louis (1752–1793), Dutch General, killed in battle

Ancestors

Ancestors of Countess Palatine Christiane Henriette of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld[8]

16. Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld 8. Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler 17. Duchess Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg 4. Christian II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld 18. John II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken 9. Countess Palatine Magdalene Catherine of Zweibrücken 19. Catherine de Rohan 2. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken 20. Eberhard, Count of Rappoltstein 10. Johann Jakob, Count of Rappoltstein 21. Wild- and Rhinegravine Anna of Salm-Kyrburg 5. Countess Katharina Agathe of Rappoltstein 22. Johann Kasimir, Count of Salm-Kyrburg 11. Wild- and Rhinegravine Anna Claudia of Salm-Kyrburg 23. Countess Dorothea of Solms-Laubach 1. Christiane Henriette, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken 24. William Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken 12. Gustav Adolph, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken 25. Margravine Anna Amalia of Baden-Durlach 6. Louis Crato, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken 26. Crato V, Count of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein 13. Countess Eleonore Claire of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein 27. Countess Palatine Sophie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld 3. Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken 28. Philip Ernest, Count of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 14. Henry Frederick, Count of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 29. Countess Anna Maria of Solms-Sonnenwalde and Pouch 7. Princess Philippine Henriette of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 30. Wolfgang Georg I, Count of Castell-Remlingen 15. Countess Juliana Dorothea of Castell-Remlingen 31. Countess Sophie Juliana of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Pfedelbach

References

• Joseph Heinrich Wolf: Das Haus Wittelsbach: Bayern's Geschichte aus Quellen, G. G. Zeh, 1847, p. 482
• Kerstin Merkel, Heide Wunder: Deutsche Frauen der frühen Neuzeit, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2000, p. 211 ff.

Footnotes

1. Society for History and Archaeology of Westphalia: Zeitschrift für vaterländische Geschichte und Altertumskunde, Volume 23, Society for History and Archaeology of Westphalia, 1863, p. 150
2. Rudolf Gaedechens: Die Antiken des fürstlich Waldeckischen Museums zu Arolsen, Speyer, 1862, p. 15
3. Birgit Kümmel: Arolsen: indessen will es glänzen, Bing, 1992, p. 124
4. http://fwhb.uni-kassel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/_temp_/Europa_im_Kleinen2.pdf (PDF, 587 kB)
5. Birgit Kümmel: Arolsen: indessen will es glänzen, Bing, 1992, p. 130
6. Allgemeiner anzeiger und nationalzeitung der Deutschen, p. 3309 Digitized
7. http://dtm.bbaw.de/Waldeck/arolsen-hofbibliothek.htm#Christiane
8. Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 93.