Duchess Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels

Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels
Noble family	House of Wettin
Father	August, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels
Mother	Anna Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Born	23 June 1654(1654-06-23) Halle an der Saale
Died	31 March 1724(1724-03-31) (aged 69) Zerbst

Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels (also: Sophie; born: 23 June 1654 in Halle an der Saale , died: 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.

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 Charles William, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, 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:

• John Augustus (1677–1742), Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
• Charles Augustus (born: July 2, 1678 in Zerbst, died: 1 September 1693 ibid), Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
• Magdalena Augusta (1679–1740), Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst

married Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Death and burial

Sophia died at the age of 69 years in her rooms at Zerbst Castle and was buried on 7 June 1724 the princely tomb in the St. Bartholomew's Church in Zerbst. In 1899 Duke Duke Frederick I of Anhalt, the orderen 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.

External Links and sources

• Publications by or about Duchess Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels at VD 17
• Entry in ThePeerage.com
• Johann Hübner's ... Three hundred and thirty-three Genealogical Tables, Table 170
• Schloss-Zerbst.de
• This page is a translation of its German equivalent.

Persondata
Name	Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels
Alternative names	Sophie von Sachsen-Weissenfels (German)
Short description	Princess of Saxe-Weissenfels y birth and by marriage and Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst
Date of birth	23 June 1654
Place of birth	Halle an der Saale
Date of death	31 March 1724
Place of death	Zerbst