Dorothea von Medem

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Dorothea von Medem
Duchess consort of Courland
Tenure6 November 1779 – 28 March 1795
Born(1761-02-03)3 February 1761
Died20 August 1821(1821-08-20) (aged 60)
SpousePeter von Biron
IssuePrincess Wilhelmine, Duchess of Sagan
Princess Pauline, Duchess of Sagan
Princess Joanna, Duchess of Acerenza
Prince Peter
Princess Dorothea
FatherFriedrich von Medem
MotherLouise Charlotte von Manteuffel
ReligionLutheranism

Countess Anna Charlotte Dorothea von Medem (3 February 1761 – 20 August 1821) was born a

Duke of Courland, she hosted an aristocratic salon in Berlin and performed various diplomatic duties on behalf of her estranged husband. She would spend the rest of her life in her estate in Löbichgau, where she would invite and host many important political and cultural figures of the time and make many acquaintances, ranging from Goethe over Napoleon I of France to Talleyrand
, the latter of whom she was reportedly very close.

Biography

Anna Charlotte Dorothea was born at

Elley and Alt-Autz. Her elder half sister from her father's previous marriage was the poet Elisa von der Recke. Her younger brother was Russian diplomat Christoph Johann von Medem, who built Villa Medem in Mitau (now Jelgava)
.

Dorothea with her daughters, Wilhelmine and Pauline.

Duchess of Courland

On 6 November 1779, eighteen-year-old Dorothea became the third wife of the 55-year-old, childless Duke Peter von Biron, son of the famous Ernst Johann von Biron. The couple had six children, two of whom died in infancy. The four surviving children were all daughters; however, the youngest one, Dorothea, was probably not fathered by; although recognized by the Duke.

Dorothea was welcomed into the highest social circles thanks to her new status as duchess as well as her beauty. Because her husband was preoccupied with political difficulties at home involving his

Dorothea (whom her husband nevertheless acknowledged as his own), the Duchess moved permanently to the Palais Kurland
in Berlin, where she held an aristocratic salon.

Later life

In 1794 she acquired the Gutsherrschaft

Prince Frederick Adolf of Sweden.[1]

Upon her youngest daughter Dorothea's marriage to Talleyrand's nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord, in 1809, the duchess moved to Paris, having an intense relationship with Talleyrand and influenced him to turn against Napoleon. In 1814 she traveled to the Congress of Vienna to confront him about his alleged love affair with her daughter Dorothea. A few years after her death at Löbichau in 1821, the Duchess' body was moved from her place of death to the family vault at Sagan where her husband was buried in 1800.

Issue

With Peter von Biron:

With Alexander Batowski:

Gallery

  • Her husband, Peter von Biron
    Her husband, Peter von Biron
  • Her eldest daughter, Wilhelmine
    Her eldest daughter, Wilhelmine
  • Her second daughter, Pauline
    Her second daughter, Pauline
  • Her third daughter, Johanna
    Her third daughter, Johanna
  • Her fourth daughter, Dorothea
    Her fourth daughter, Dorothea
  • Jelgava Palace, the Biron residence
    Jelgava Palace, the Biron residence
  • her beloved Schloss Löbichau
    her beloved Schloss Löbichau
  • Miniature portrait titled: Wilhelmine von Mengden .. Grafin Medem ... 1792
    Miniature portrait titled: Wilhelmine von Mengden .. Grafin Medem ... 1792

Bibliography

  • Elisa von der Recke: Tagebücher und Selbstzeugnisse. Leipzig 1984
  • Emilie von Binzer [de]: Drei Sommer in Löbichau 1819–21. Stuttgart 1877
  • Philip Ziegler: Die Herzogin von Dino, Talleyrands letzte Vertraute. München 1965
  • Clemens Brühl: Die Sagan. Berlin 1941
  • Sabine und Klaus Hofmann: Zwischen Metternich und Talleyrand. Der Musenhof der Herzogin von Kurland im Schloss zu Löbichau. Museum Burg Posterstein, 2004
  • Christoph August Tiedge: Anna Charlotte Dorothea. Letzte Herzogin von Kurland. F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1823 Online-Version at Internet Archive

Notes

  1. ^ Cecilia af Klercker (1936). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok VII 1800–1806 (The diaries of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte VIII 1800–1806) (in Swedish). P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag Stockholm. pp. 270–271. 362103.

External links

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