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About the Author

Image credit: Wilhelmine von Bayreuth in 1745 (Wikipedia)

Works by Wilhelmine von Bayreuth

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Common Knowledge

Other names
Bayreuth, Wilhelmine Markgräfin von (Ehename)
Preußen, Wilhelmine Prinzessin von (Geburtsname)
Birthdate
1709-07-03
Date of death
1758-10-14
Gender
female
Nationality
Prussia
Country (for map)
Germany
Birthplace
Berlin, Germany
Place of death
Bayreuth, Germany
Places of residence
Berlin, Germany
Bayreuth, Germany
Occupations
princess
composer
Relationships
Frederick the Great (brother)
Organizations
House of Hohenzollern
Short biography
Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia was the eldest daughter of King Frederick William I of Prussia and his Queen Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. She was the older sibling and lifelong confidante of her brother Frederick the Great. In 1731, she married Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. When he inherited the title of margrave from his father in 1735, the couple carried out an ambitious -- and expensive -- building project that shaped the present-day town of Bayreuth. The margravine was also a composer, musician, and patron of music. She wrote her memoirs, which were first printed in 1810. The memoirs were translated into English and edited by Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein in 1887.

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Reviews

"While at war, my dear madam and friend, with the Leviathan of the ocean* there is little hope of a letter's escaping his thousand ships; yet I cannot permit myself longer to withold the acknolegement [sic] of your letter of June 28. of the last year, with which came the Memoirs of the Margrave of Bareuth. I am much indebted to you for this singular morsel of history which has given us a curtain view of kings, queens & princes disrobed of their formalities. it is a peep into the stable of the Egyptian god Apis. it would not be easy to find grosser manners, coarser vices, or more meanness in the poorest huts of our peasantry. the princess shews herself the legitimate sister of Frederic, cynical, selfish, and without a heart. notwithstanding your wars with England, I presume you get the publications of that country. the Memoirs of mrs Clarke** and of her Darling prince, and the Book, emphatically so called, because it is the Biblia Sacra Deorum et Dearum sub-caelestium***, the Prince regent, his princess and the minor deities of his sphere, form a worthy sequel to the memoirs of Bareuth; instead of the vulgarity and penury of the court of Berlin giving us the vulgarity & profusion of that of London, and the gross stupidity and profligacy of the latter, in lieu of the genius and misanthropism of the former. the whole might be published as a Supplement to M. de Buffon, under the title of the 'Natural history of kings & Princes', or as a separate work & called 'Medecine for Monarchists' ..." — Thomas Jefferson to Madame de Tessé, 8 Dec. 1813

* Great Britain
** Mary Anne Clarke, mistress of Frederick, the Duke of York
*** Holy book of the gods and goddesses under Heaven
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ThomasJefferson | Oct 28, 2007 |

Awards

Statistics

Works
1
Members
31
Popularity
#440,253
Rating
5.0
Reviews
1
ISBNs
5
Languages
2