Wilhelmina Prusskaya

Wilhelmina's baptism took place on July 12th. Her godparents were monarchs who attended the meeting of the three kings in 1709 : Augustus the Strong and Frederick IV .

Wilhelmina grew up in Spartan conditions at the court of the “ king-soldier ”, in a house where there was no love and authoritarian methods of raising children dominated. Initially, she had a good relationship with her father, which is reflected in many of the letters she sent to her father. However, she suffered from a change in the mood of the king-father. From childhood until his death, Wilhelmina had a very close relationship with his younger brother Friedrich, they were united by a common passion for music and science. For several years, this extraordinary friendship was marred by controversy surrounding the legacy of the daughters of General von der Marwitz, who, after the wedding of Wilhelmina von der Marvitz, went to hostile Austria .

At the age of 35, Wilhelmina described in detail in her memoirs the years of her childhood, spent with the Italian educator of dubious origin, Leti : “Not a single day passed so that she would not test the strength of her fearsome fists on me . ” The daughter of a runaway Italian monk, Leti, who had raised Wilhelmina since the age of three, was beautiful, brilliant, flirtatious, but evil and cunning. The girl suffered from her almost as much as from her parents, who were increasingly moving away from each other and disrupting their own discontent with the children.

Wilhelmina attributed her torment to the Italian origin of Leti, however there was a deeper reason: the Italian disposed of the two ministers of the king, Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkov and Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessaua , who set Father Wilhelmina against the matrimonial plans of Sophia Dorothea and her father King Georg. . Wilhelmina had no one to talk about her problems, and in the end she even had biliary colic, from which her skin retained its yellow color for months. Sophia Dorothea apparently did not pay attention to the torment of her eldest daughter, until the teacher of the princes, Madame de Roucall, did not directly tell the queen that she would ever become an invalid from the beatings of Wilhelmina. After that, Leti was replaced by fraulein von Sonsfeld , who managed to win the trust of the child and become a Wilhelmina confidant for many years. As a child, Wilhelmina became a bargaining chip in the battle of her parents' political ambitions. Her mother sought to strengthen her family ties with the Anglo-Hanover royal house and tried to organize the engagement of Wilhelmina with her nephew Friedrich Ludwig of Hanover , the 15th Prince of Wales , while loyal to the Emperor Friedrich Wilhelm I preferred to get close to Habsburg .

After the unsuccessful escape of his brother with Hermann von Katte, his father suspected Wilhelmina of complicity. He threatened her with imprisonment in the fortress of Spandau and the execution of her brother. At the direction of the king, Minister Grumbkov, threatening to send Fraellein von Sonsfeld to the insane asylum for the fallen women, demanded that she bring the pupil back and force her to obey her father’s orders. So Wilhelmina conquered the matrimonial plans of Friedrich Wilhelm I, who soon decided to marry her to Friedrich of Brandenburg-Bayreitsky . Wilhelmina, two years younger, was originally intended for the younger sister of Wilhelmina Sophia .

Wilhelmina married Friedrich , Crown Prince of the Principality of Bayreuth on November 20, 1731 . Despite the fact that the marriage was concluded according to calculations, the first years of the newlyweds' family life were filled with loving feelings. After the death of her father-in-law, the margravine began to play a significant role in the modernization of Bayreuth. Her active participation in construction, known as the Bayreitsko Rococo , has retained its mark today. The pearl of this architecture was the building of the Margrave Opera House in Bayreuth, built on the occasion of the wedding of her daughter Elizabeth Friderika Sophia of Brandenburg- Bayreuth .

Friedrich University founded by margraves of Bayreuth was headed by Wilhelmina Daniel de Superville , personal doctor, whom she bartered from her father for two “ long guys ”. In his personal correspondence were found memoirs margravini. She was interested in the problems of scientific life and corresponded on philosophical topics with Voltaire .

Wilhelmina was perfected in music. The skill of playing the lute of fan and student of Silvius Leopold Weiss has reached perfection. Under her care this musical instrument experienced its last peak of popularity. To her court, Wilhelmina invited the most famous luteists. The opera “Argenora” written by her was staged for the birthday of her spouse in 1740 . The plot of the opera reflects the complex relationship between Wilhelmina and her brother Friedrich with his father.

In the following years, the love of the margrave for Wilhelmina faded away, and he took in his mistresses her first court lady Wilhelmina von der Marwitz. Austrian diplomats tried to influence Prussia through the Bayreuth court. In September 1745, during the Second Silesian War, Wilhelmina met with Maria Theresa and thus hurt her relationship with her brother.

In 1750, Wilhelmina spent several weeks in Prussia and met in Potsdam with famous contemporaries: Voltaire, Maupertuis and Lametri . The last time Wilhelmina met her brother in June 1754. After that, Friedrich wrote to his sister: “We leave you, but with you there remains the heart of one who until the end remains your faithful servant . ”

Wilhelmina died on October 14, 1758 On the same day, her brother suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Hochkirch , in which his friend Field Marshal James Keith was killed. Ten years after the death of his sister, Frederick II erected in the Park of Sanssouci the Temple of Friendship , dedicated to the memory of Wilhelmina.

One of the children of the Margraves of Bayreuth was born - the daughter of Elizabeth Friderik Sofia Brandenburg-Bayreitskaya (1732-1780), whom Giacomo Casanova described as the most beautiful girl in Germany. In 1748 she married the Duke Charles Eugene of Württemberg . A few years later, the couple separated, but did not divorce, and Elizabeth returned to Bayreuth. She is buried next to her parents in the Bayreuth court church .

• Wilhelmina Bayreitskaya. Memoirs of Margravine Bayreitskaya / Trans. S. Kleiner // Voice of the Past, 1913. - No. 6. - P. 194-216. , Continued in number 7. - p. 163-194.
• Wilhelmina Bayreitskaya. An episode from a visit to Berlin by Peter the Great. Narrated by Margrave Wilhelmina Bayretskaya in her memoirs / Trans. S. Kleiner // Voice of the Past, 1913. - № 9. - p. 169-172.
• Kleiner S. The stalled princely residence of the XVIII century. (Markgrafina Wilhelmina and her Bayreuth) // Voice of the Past, 1913. - № 6. - P. 70-85.