Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein


Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein was a Countess of :de:Wolfstein |Wolfstein by birth and Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach by marriage.

Life

Sophie Christiane was a daughter of Count Albrecht Frederick of :File:Wolfstein_Scheibler162ps.jpg|Wolfstein-Sulzbürg from his marriage to Countess Sophia Louise of Castell-Remlingen, daughter of Count Georg Wolfgang of Castell-Remlingen and Countess Sophie Juliane of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Pfedelbach. Sophie Christiane's maternal uncle was married to an aunt of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf and Sophie Christiane was consequently raised strictly religiously in the Pietist manner.
On 14 August 1687 she married Margrave Christian Heinrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach, at Obersulzbürg castle. The margrave's court at Bayreuth felt that his spouse was "not befitting", as her family acquired status of reigning Imperial Count only recently for immediate Lordship of Sulzbürg-Pyrbaum.
After the birth of their first child, the family moved into the castle at Schönberg, where Sophie Christiane, who was described as "admirable" took care of raising her children. She composed a prayer book, the so-called Schönberger Gesangbuch, containing the prayers used in the daily "prayer meeting". In 1703, Christian Heinrich and King Frederick I of Prussia concluded the Treaty of Schönberg, in which Christian Heinrich ceded Brandenburg-Ansbach to Prussia in exchange for the Weferlingen district near Magdeburg. The family then moved to Weferlingen Castle.
After her husband's death, her son-in-law, King Christian VI of Denmark, invited her to Denmark, which became a Pietist refuge.
Sophie Christiane died in 1737 and was buried in Roskilde Cathedral.

Issue

Sophie Christiane from her marriage had 14 children:
  1. Georg Frederick Karl, who finally inherited Bayreuth in 1726.
  2. Albert Wolfgang.
  3. Dorothea Charlotte ; married on 7 August 1711 to Karl Ludwig, Count of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim.
  4. Frederick Emanuel.
  5. Christiane Henriette.
  6. Frederick Wilhelm.
  7. Christiane.
  8. Christian August.
  9. Sophie Magdalene ; married on 7 August 1721 to King Christian VI of Denmark.
  10. Christine Wilhelmine.
  11. Frederick Ernest ; married on 26 December 1731 to Christine Sophie of Brünswick-Bevern. The union was childless.
  12. Marie Eleonore.
  13. Sophie Caroline ; married on 8 December 1723 to George Albert, Prince of East Frisia.
  14. Frederick Christian, inherited Bayreuth in 1763.

    Footnotes