The Wife of Frederick the Great
Princess Elizabeth Christine of Brunswick

You may read some large books about Frederick II, King of Prussia, without knowing that he had a wife. You might have been his guest for three months, and neither have seen nor heard of her. And yet, strange to say, they had for one another a good deal of regard, which increased from year to year, and ripened at last into a kind of affectionate respect.

The truth is that the Princess Elizabeth Christine of Brunswick was forced upon Frederick by hi tyrannical old father, and unfortunately she was precisely the kind of woman that he most disliked. When he learned that his father was looking about among the princely houses of Germany to had a wife for him, he wrote to a minister who was much in the King's confidence that he did not mucl- care what sort of wife his father chose for him, if only she were not stupid, or awkward in her manners. Now, the Princess Elizabeth Christine appeared at first to be a woman of just that kind, and the Prince heard, too, that she was given to pouting. It was in vain for the young man to remonstrate. Indeed, he knew that it was of no use to say a word to his father, but he endeavored to prevail upon the favorites and confidants of the King to use their influence to prevent the marriage.

It was all in vain, however. He was obliged to have her, and he did have her. When it was all concluded and settled, he was allowed to see the young lady, then seventeen years of age. In order to reconcile him to his fate, care had been taken to describe her to him as being less pleasing than she really was, so that when he saw her he might have an agreeable surprise. These tactics had some success. He afterwards confessed that he was somewhat agreeably disappointed in her appearance, and only pretended to dislike her very much in order to make a merit with his father of his obedience in marrying her.

The betrothal, in March, 1732, was a brilliant scene. All the lords and ladies of the court of Prussia were assembled in a magnificent apartment, where they formed a large semicircle, in the midst of which stood the King and Queen of Prussia, and the youthful pair who were to pledge their word of betrothal. The usual question was proposed, whether they were of the same mind as their parents in wishing to be engaged to one another. Both answered, yes.

"Pledge yourselves then by exchange of rings," said the bluff and red-faced Prussian King.

The rings were exchanged. The King kissed them both. Then the Queen kissed them, and there was the usual kissing all about the circle. A few months after this the marriage took place; the Prince pretending to the last to hold his bride in utter detestation. A cruel scene which occurred in the palace two days after, when the Prince introduced his bride to his favorite sister, Wilhelmina, will serve to show what sort of a marriage this was. When the three were alone together Frederick said to his wife :

"This is a sister I adore, and am obliged to beyond measure. She has had the goodness to promise me that she will take care of you and help you with her good counsel. I wish you to respect her beyond even the King and Queen, and not to take the least step without her advice. Do you understand?"

Wilhelmina embraced the timid and anxious bride, still very immature and scarcely eighteen years of age. She stood motionless in the middle of the room, spoke not a single word, nor made any sign either of understanding or compliance. As her servants had not yet arrived, the Princess Wilhelmina herself powdered her hair and arranged her dress a little, caressing her at the same time with every mark of tenderness.

You Might Also Want to Check
	All Biographies
	Female Ancestors Genealogy Queries
	Free Genealogy Resources

Still she remained silent, and did not return the repeated caresses bestowed upon her. Her husband, at length, grew impatient, and said brutally:

"Plague take the blockhead ! Thank my sister, then !"

Upon hearing this, she made a ceremonious courtesy, such as governesses in the old time used to teach. This apparent stolidity was certainly unfortunate. She was by no means an ill-looking young lady. Her figure was not very good, and she had a slight stoop in the shoulders which gave her an awkward appearance. On the other hand, her complexion was of dazzling whiteness, relieved by a beautiful color in the cheeks. Her eyes were pale blue, and expressed much bland benignity, but not the slightest activity of intellect. All her features were small and dainty, resembling those of a child twelve years of age, and she had a great abundance of blonde curling locks. If her teeth had not been extremely bad, she would have looked like a very pretty, good-tempered, dull child.

Such was the bride forced upon a prince who, of all the young men of his time, was most dotingly fond of intellectual gifts. His greatest ambition at that period was to improve his mind, and exercise his mental powers. When he went to housekeeping, soon after his marriage, he had a tower built for various kinds of study. In the lower story was his library, to which he continually added, and which was the delight of his life. Here he wrote thousands of verses in the French language, and composed a work, afterwards published, upon the duty of a prince to govern with justice, and without any of the dishonest devices of king -craft. In the story above was a room in which he had such philosophical apparatus as had then been invented ; a thermometer, a very rare and costly instrument in 1735; an air-pump, with which he performed the usual experiments, and invented some of his own.

Besides these liberal studies, he was an enthusiastic and skillful musician. His favorite instrument was the flute, upon which he played very well; not merely very well for a Prince, but so well that lie could hold his own in an orchestra of picked performers. All his companions were chosen with reference to these dominant tastes. He was surrounded, whenever he was at leisure, by poets, painters, philosophers, musicians, and musical composers. What should he do with this amiable and speechless wax-doll, with her flaxen curls, her pink cheeks, and her large blue eves?

After the first three or four years, he had scarcely any association with her, except, once or twice a week, a short ceremonious visit ; and when he was absent in war time, he would write her three or four lines occasionally to give her information of a victory, or of the death of one of her relations. When they had been married seven years, Frederick succeeded to the throne. Scarcely had the first ceremonials of his accession come to an end, than he took revenge for what he considered his wrongs from the House of Austria, by snatching from it its province of Silesia. This was the beginning of a war with his wife's relations, which, with some intervals, lasted for nearly twenty years. His own kingdom was laid waste and almost destroyed ; but he at length emerged victorious. I have before me the correspondence which passed between Frederick and Queen Elizabeth Christine, during the fifty-three years of their married life. Frederick was one of the most profuse of letter-writers; but his letters to his wife are brief indeed, and frequently of cruel coldness. Take this one specimen, written from the battle-field.

" Madame, I have the satisfaction to inform you that Neisse is taken. I am with much esteem, your very faithful servant, Frederick."

From another bloody field, on which the brother of the Queen lay dead of his wounds, the King wrote thus to his wife:

"Madame, you know probably what passed the day before yesterday. I pity the dead, and regret them. My brothers and Ferdinand are well. Prince Louis is said to be wounded. I am with much esteem, etc., Frederick."

The poor Queen, who had never enjoyed anything like tenderness from her husband, was not schooled to the point of receiving such a letter without feeling the cruel hardness of it. The Ferdinand spoken of by the King was another brother of hers, and to him she wrote a day or two after :

"I am accustomed to the King's manners; but that does not prevent me from being sensible of them, especially on such occasions, when one of my brothers has ended his life in his service. Such manners are too cruel."

The extreme brevity of the King's letter was due, in part, to the pressing nature of his occupations at the close of a campaign. A few days after, A\ hen he had more leisure, he wrote in a tone somewhat kinder and more solacing to her affectionate heart :
" Madame, I deplore the death of your brother, Prince Albert ; but he died like a brave man, although he courted death from gaiety of heart and without necessity. Some-time ago, 1 notified the Duke, your father, of what could not fail to happen, and often said the same to the deceased Prince ; but he only followed his own head, and I wonder he was not killed a long time ago. I pity you, Madame, for the sorrow which it is natural you should feel at the death of your relations; but these are events for which there is no remedy. I am, with esteem, etc., Frederick."

This was a little better ; but even this must have wounded and chilled the sensibilities of a woman singularly devoted to her family. She bore her lot, however, with great patience; and, as she advanced in years, and her character matured, she became a much more presentable and interesting person. She conquered, at length, the King's cordial esteem, and the letters which he wrote her in their old age are often in a very affectionate spirit. There could hardly be a more ill-assorted pair than they were ; but both of them, notwithstanding their faults and defects, had a strong sense of duty. This kept them together. The longer they lived, the less irksome their union became, and they ended in cherishing for one another a genuine and great regard.

Frederick died in 1786, aged seventy-four. In his will, after making an unusually liberal allowance for his wife's maintenance, he gave as a reason that she "had never caused him the least discontent, and that her incorruptible virtue was worthy of love and consideration." She died in 1797, aged sixty-four years.

During the eleven years of her widowhood, she had to endure the anxieties and terrors of the revolutionary period, which involved so many of the royal houses of Europe. Those events disturbed her little. She passed much of her time in works of benevolence, and wrote many religious tracts for circulation among the poor. They were quite in the style of our "Tracts," and serve to prove the infinite absurdity of uniting her life with that of the most pronounced unbeliever in Europe.

Reflections for Every Day of the Week," was the title of one of her very brief and mild compositions, and she wrote one Tract expressly to quiet the alarms caused by the French Revolution.

Related:

Source: Daughters of Genius: A Series of Sketches of authors, artists, reformers, and heroines, queens, princesses, and women of society, women eccentric and peculiar. James Parton, Hubbard Brothers, Publishers, Philadelphia: 1886.