Tenure 1756-1758 Tenure 1758-1775 | Name Duchess Amalia Role Composer | |
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Born 24 October 1739Wolfenbuttel ( 1739-10-24 ) Issue Charles AugustusPrince Frederick Ferdinand Father Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel Mother Philippine Charlotte of Prussia Died April 10, 1807, Weimar, Germany Children Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Parents Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia Grandchildren Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Similar People Karl August - Grand Du, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Charles William Ferdinan, Frederick William I of Prussia | ||
Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (24 October 1739 – 10 April 1807), was a German princess and composer. She became the duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, by marriage, and was also regent of the states of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach from 1758 to 1775. She transformed her court and its surrounding into the most influential cultural center of Germany.
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Family
She was born in Wolfenbüttel, the ninth child of Karl I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick William I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover.
Marriage
In Brunswick on 16 March 1756 she married Ernst August II Konstantin, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Ernst August died in 1758 leaving her regent for their infant son, Karl August.
Regency
During Karl August's minority she administered the affairs of the duchy with notable prudence, strengthening its resources and improving its position in spite of the troubles of the Seven Years' War. In 1775, with her son having attained his maturity, she retired.
Cultural role
As a patron of art and literature she drew many of the most eminent men in Germany to Weimar, including Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller and Abel Seyler's theatrical company. When Anna Amalia succeeded in engaging the Seyler Company, this was "an extremely fortunate coup. The Seyler Company was the best theatre company in Germany at that time." Amalia von Helvig was also later to be a part of her court. She hired Christoph Martin Wieland, a poet and translator of William Shakespeare, to educate her son. She also established the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, which is now home to some 1,000,000 volumes. The duchess was honoured in Goethe's work under the title Zum Andenken der Fürstin Anna-Amalia.
Anna Amalia was a notable composer. Among her significant works is a symphony for two oboes, two flutes, two violins, and double bass (1765), a tripartite oratorio (1768), an opera called Erwin und Elmire (1776), based on a text by Goethe, and a divertimento for piano, clarinet, viola, and violoncello (around 1780).