Princess Dorothea Friederike of Brandenburg-Ansbach

Countess of Hanau-Münzenberg

Dorothea Friederike of Brandenburg-Ansbach (12 August 1676^[1] – 13 March 1731) was the daughter of Margrave John Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1654–1686) and his first wife, Margravine Johanna Elisabeth of Baden-Durlach (1651–1680). She was a paternal half-sister of Queen Caroline of Great Britain, the wife of King George II.

Alliance coat of arms of Johann Reinhard III of Hanau-Lichtenberg and Frederike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Ansbach, faience from Ansbach, probably made in 1724 on the occasion of their silver wedding

On 20 (or 30) August 1699, Dorothea Friederike married Count Johann Reinhard III of Hanau-Lichtenberg.^[2] She was the last Countess of Hanau. The marriage produced one daughter: Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna (1700–1726). Charlotte was the sole heiress of the county of Hanau and married on 5 April 1717 Crown Prince Louis VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt (1691–1768).

Friederike Dorothea died on 13 March 1731 and was buried on 17 or 25 March 1731^[3] in the family vault of the Hanau counts in the St. John's Church (Hanau) (currently known as Old St. John's Church) in Hanau.^[4] The tomb was largely destroyed in the bombing of the Second World War.

References

• Reinhard Dietrich: The state constitution in the Hanau Territory, Hanau's History Magazine 34, Hanau 1996, ISBN 3-9801933-6-5
• Rudolf Lenz: Catalogue of funeral sermons and other writings of sadness in the Hesse Higher Education and State Library = Marburger staff research journal 11, Sigmaringen 1990
• Uta Lowenstein: The county of Hanau from the end of the 16th Century until the seizure by Hesse, in: New Magazine for Hanau's History, 2005, p. 11ff.
• Reinhard Suchier: genealogy of the Countly House of Hanau, in: Festschrift of the Hanau Historical Association for his fifty-year jubilee celebration on 27 August 1894, Hanau 1894
• Reinhard Suchier: The grave monuments and coffins of the member sof the Houses of hanau and hesse buried in Hanau, in: Program of the Royal Grammar School in Hanau, Hanau 1879, p. 1-56
• Richard Wille: The last Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg, in: Communications of the district of Hanau, Hesse Society for History and Geography vol 12, Hanau, 1886, p. 56-68.
• Ernst J. Zimmerman.Hanau city and country Third Edition, Hanau, 1919, ND 1978

Footnotes

1. there are 7 documents relating to her birthdays in the 1715-1719 time frame in Hessian State Archive in Marburg, file 15, box 242, No. 9
2. for the dower, see: Hessian State Archive in Marburg, file: 81, government Hanau A45,1
3. Suchier, grave monuments, p. 53
4. funeral sermons for her burial found in the Hessian State Archives, Marburg, file: Coll 15, Box 242, No. 5 and 6; anonymous: The wonderful but blessed ways of the Lord. Reference: Lenz, No. 172; anonymous.The joyful courage a heavenly-minded soul Hanau 1731. Reference: Hanau City Library - Dept. Hanau-Hessen, Signature: I e 2 F 4