Name Sophia Saxe-Weissenfels, | ||
Father August, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels Born 23 June 1654Halle an der Saale ( 1654-06-23 ) Children Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, John Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst Parents Anna Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels Grandchildren Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Grandparents John George I, Elector of Saxony |
Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels (also: Sophie; 23 June 1654 in Halle an der Saale – 31 March 1724 in Zerbst) was a member of the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin, and a princess of Saxe-Weissenfels and Querfurt by birth and by marriage Duchess of Anhalt-Zerbst.
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Family
Sophia was the third daughter of the Duke August of Saxe-Weissenfels and his wife Anna Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Duke Adolf Frederick I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Sophie of Brandenburg, Electress of Saxony.
Marriage and issue
She married on 18 June 1676 in Halle with Karl William, a son of John VI, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst from his marriage to Sophie Auguste of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp. Unlike most royal couples of the era, Charles William and Sophia shared a bedroom in their new baroque palace. This suggests that they may have married out of love.
They had the following children:
Death and burial
Sophia died at the age of 69 years in her rooms at Zerbst Castle and was buried on 7 June 1724 in the princely tomb in the St. Bartholomew's Church in Zerbst. In 1899 Duke Duke Frederick I of Anhalt, ordered the implementation of a princely family vault in the Castle Church in Zerbst Castle. After the destruction of the castle in 1945, the remains of the damaged coffins were transferred back to St. Bartholomew.