Eleonore Charlotte of Saxe-Lauenburg-Franzhagen

Eleonore Charlotte of Saxe-Lauenburg-Franzhagen (German: Eleonore Charlotte von Sachsen-Lauenburg; born: 8 August 1646 in Marienfließ in Pomerania; died: 26 January 1709 in Franzhagen Castle, Schulendorf) was a duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg by birth and, by marriage, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Franzhagen, whose line and territorial legacy she co-founded.

Life

Eleanor Charlotte was the younger of two daughters of Duke Francis Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg (1604–1658), who held Franzhagen as an appanage, from his marriage to Marie Juliane (1612–1665), daughter of John VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen.

She married on 1 November 1676

The couple moved to Franzhagen Castle in the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, which Eleonore Charlotte had inherited, thereby founding the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Franzhagen line. After the death of her husband, Eleanor Charlotte kept the castle as dower, because both her sons had married morganatically.

Descendants

From her marriage, Eleanor Charlotte had the following children:

• Christian Leopold (1678–1707), Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Franzhagen

married morganatically Anna Sophia Segelke (born: 1684); children not allowed to inherit Franzhagen

• Unnamed child (1679–1679)
• Louis Charles, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Franzhagen (1684–1708)

married morganatically in 1705 Anna Barbara Dorothea von Winterfeld (1670-1739), daughter of Barthold Dietrich von Winterfeld and Sophie Margarete von Warnstedt. Although she belonged to lower nobility, their marriage was recognized as equal and their children thus had succession rights and were able to inherit the Duchy.

* Christian II Adolph (1708-1709) was dynasticized, allowing him to become a Duke after the death of his father and able to inherit Franzhagen line.

• John Francis (1685–1687)

References and sources

• Verein für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Alterthumskunde, Schwerin: Mecklenburgische Jahrbücher, vol. 31–32, 1866
• Johann Samuel Ersch: Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste in alphabetischer Folge, vol 48, J. f. Gleditsch, 1848, p. 129 ff (Digitized)

Footnotes