Herzogin von Braunschweig Sophie Elisabeth

Sophie Elisabeth, Herzogin von Braunschweig (Güstrow, 1613-76, Lüchow), daughter of Duke Johann Albrecht II of Mecklenburg, was particularly influenced by her stepmothers, Elisabeth, daughter of Moritz of Hessen-Kassel, and Eleonore Marie of Anhalt-Bernburg. With the fall of Mecklenburg to Wallenstein's army (see Dreissigjähriger Krieg) she was forced in 1628 to flee for some years. In 1635 she married August of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, 34 years her senior. Her musical and literary activities contributed much to the cultural development of August's court and equally she exercised an important influence over her four stepchildren, one of whom was Anton Ulrich, and her two children. A talented musician, Sophie Elisabeth wrote religious music, some of it for Anton Ulrich's collection of religious verse Christfürstliches Davids-Harpfen-Spiel, and secular music for festivities at court. Probably from the early 1640s she was in contact with H. Schütz, who advised her on her own composition and on the court orchestra. Her literary activities included her religious verse, work with other members of the court on the translation and adaptation of Honoré d'Urfé's Astrée, and her own allegorical drama, Ein Frewden Spiell. Von Dem Itzigen betrieglichen Zustande in der Welt (1656) which reflects the contemporary debate about the ethics of government. Between 1652 and 1656 she organized a series of festivities to mark August's birthday. Often taking the form of masquerades, these festivities involved members of the ducal family and court; they celebrated August's wisdom and piety as well as the court, the home of learning and the arts. Sophie Elisabeth's interest in the work of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft is suggested by her use of the pseudonym die Befreiende, the feminine form of her husband's society name. She herself was a member of two female societies (see Sprachgesellschaften); in 1629 she entered the Académie des Loyales as die Fortbringende, and later the Tugendliche Gesellschaft as die Gutwillige. Sophie Elisabeth, Herzogin zu Braunschweig und Lüneburg, Dichtungen Erster Band: Spiele, ed. H.-G. Roloff, appeared in 1980.