Louise Henrietta of Nassau ( , ; The Hague, December 7 1627 – Berlin, June 18 1667) was a Countess of Nassau, granddaughter of William the Silent and Electress of Brandenburg.

Biography

Louise Henriëtte was the eldest daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. She grew up at the court of her father, the stadtholder.

Marriage

Louise Henriëtte had to abandon her love for Henri Charles de la Trémoille, Prince of Talmant, son of Henry de La Trémoille, as her mother had royal ambitions for her. But her attempt to conclude an engagement with Charles II of England came to nothing. Finally she was forced to marry Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (1620-1688) at The Hague on December 7, 1646, her nineteenth birthday. Brandenburg regarded this marriage as positive because of the concetions of the Orange family and the progressive and well developed state of the Netherlands, as well as the hope of assistance from Orange in Brandenburg's struggle for influnce in Pommerania.

Electress

The couple lived in Kleve for the first years of their marriage, but they moved to Brandenburg, Frederick William's seat, in 1648.During her marriage, she followed her spouse and traveled between Haag, Königsberg, Berlin and Kleve, on campaigns, inspections, war and battle fields, in Poland and Denmark. She acted as the political adviser of her spouse, and was described as a pragmatist. She managed, through correspondence with the Queen of Poland, to make an alliance with Poland in exchange for the Polish recognition of Prussia as a Brandenburg province. It was said of her : "Few Electresses had been allowed so much influence".She founded Oranienburg in 1650-52. Luise Henriette had a new castle in Dutch style built in Bötzow and called it Oranienburg. In 1653, the entire town of Bötzow was renamed Oranienburg.She was also involved in the design and development of the Lustgarten in Berlin. In 1663, she installed the first Porcelain cabinet in Europe. In 1665, she founded an orphanage with place for 24 children.She was described as truly good, soft and with a sharp intellect: her advice was vital for her spouse, and their marriage was considered as a role model. during the war, she made great efforts to soften the damages upon society.

A Protestant religious community known as the Luise-Henrietten-Stift in nearby Lehnin Abbey was named after her.

Children

With Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg she had six children.

• William Henry (1648-1649)
• Charles (1655-1674)
• Frederick (1657-1713), the first King in Prussia
• Amalie (1656-1664)
• Henry (1664-1664)
• Louis (1666-1687)

She was buried in the Berliner Dom.

Ancestry

Luise Henriette of Nassau's ancestors in three generations

Luise Henriette, Electress of Brandenburg	Father: Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange	Paternal Grandfather: William I of Orange	Paternal Great-grandfather: William, Count of Nassau
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Juliana of Stolberg
		Paternal Grandmother: Louise de Coligny	Paternal Great-grandfather: Gaspard de Coligny
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Charlotte de Laval (1530-1568)
	Mother: Amalia of Solms-Braunfels	Maternal Grandfather: John Albert I of Solms-Braunfels (1592-1623)	Maternal Great-grandfather: Conrad Graf of Solms-Braunfels
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg
		Maternal Grandmother: Agnes of Sayn-Wittgenstein	Maternal Great-grandfather: Ludwig Graf of Sayn-Wittgenstein
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Elisabeth of Solms-Laubach

Sources

External links

• http://www.spsg.de/index.php?id=129
• coloured painting of Prinzessin Luise Henriette von Oranien-Nassau, later Kurfürstin von Brandenburg