Auguste Dorothea of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen

by Susan Flanzter

Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: The County of Schwarzburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1195 to 1595, when it was partitioned into Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The new counties remained in the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution. In 1697, the County of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The County of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1710.

The death of Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen without an heir in 1909 caused the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen to be united under Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in a personal union. Following his succession in Sondershausen, Prince Günther Victor dropped the name Rudolstadt from his title and assumed the title Prince of Schwarzburg.

At the end of World War I, Prince Günther Victor was the last German prince to renounce his throne, abdicating on November 22, 1918. He made an agreement with the government that awarded him an annual pension and the right to use several of the family residences. The territory that encompassed the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen is now located in the German state of Thuringia.

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Credit – Wikipedia

Auguste Dorothea of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the wife of Anton Günther II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen is famous for her miniature doll town Mon Plaisir still on display. Born on December 16, 1666, in Wolfenbüttel, Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, she was the third of the six daughters and the ninth of the thirteen children of Anton Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Juliane of Holstein-Norburg.

Auguste Dorothea had twelve siblings but six of them died before their first birthday:

  • August Friedrich (1657-1676), unmarried, killed in battle
  • Elisabeth Eleonore (1658 – 1729), married (1) Johann Georg of Mecklenburg, died five months after the wedding, no issue (2) Bernhard I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, had five children
  • Anne Sophie (1659-1742), married Carl Gustav of Baden-Durlach, had four children
  • Leopold August (1661-1662) – died in infancy
  • August Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1662-1731), married (1) Christine Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, no issue; (2) Sophie Amalie of Holstein-Gottorp, no issue; (3) Elisabeth Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Norburg, no issue
  • August Heinrich (1663-1664), died in infancy
  • August Karl (born and died 1664), died in infancy
  • August Franz (1665-1666), died in infancy
  • Amalie Antonia (born and died 1668), died in infancy
  • Henriette Christine, Abbess of Gandersheim (1669-1753), unmarried
  • Ludwig Rudolf, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1671-1735), married Christine Luise of Oettingen-Oettingen, had four children
  • Sibylle Rosalia (1672-1672), died in infancy

Anton Günther, Count and the future Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen; Credit – www,geni.com

On August 7, 1684, in Wolfenbüttel, Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, Auguste Dorothea married Anton Günther, Count and the future Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. After their marriage, the couple resided in Arnstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Their marriage was childless. On July 20, 1716, Anton Günther II, aged 62, died in Arnstadt and his elder brother Christian Wilhelm, who had ruled jointly with Anton Günther, became the sole ruler of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Anton Günthe’s burial site is unknown.

In 1699, Anton Günther gave Auguste Dorothea a plot of land in Arnstadt where she built a baroque pleasure palace called Schloss Augustenburg. Completed in 1710, Auguste Dorothea lived there occasionally during her husband’s lifetime but after his death in 1716, she spent the 35 years of her widowhood there. She had a large collection there that included porcelain items, paintings, jewelry, and other handicrafts.

Mon plaisir doll collection; Credit – Wikipedia

Auguste Dorothea’s Mon Plaisir doll collection became world-famous and can still be seen in Arnstadt. It is a replica of a baroque town in miniature format, with 400 dolls, 2,670 individual items, in 82 miniature scenes. The scenes give an impression of everyday life in the 18th century. Among the many scenes are monks in the monastery, farmers in the fields, a slaughterhouse, a bakery, a carpenter’s workshop, a fair, a scholars’ room, and a portrait painter at work. Many of the figures and ceramic products in this doll town come from the glazed pottery factory in Dorotheental, founded near Schloss Augustenburg at the request of Auguste Dorothea. She invested her entire fortune in her collections and she was heavily in debt at the time of her death.

Severe structural damage to Schloss Augustenburg became noticeable as early as 1760, nine years after Auguste Dorothea’s death. To save money on the construction, the foundations had not been deep enough. The demolition of Schloss Augustenburg began on March 16, 1765. Many of the furnishings in the castle were sold by auction. When Schloss Augustenburg was demolished in 1765, Auguste Dorothea’s doll collection was first taken to the Arnstadt orphanage, and then it was housed in Gehren Castle. Since 1931, it has been accessible to the public as part of the collections of the Schloss Museum in Arnstadt.

Auguste Dorothea survived her husband by 35 years, dying on July 11, 1751, aged 84, at Schloss Augustenburg in Arnstadt. Like her father, she had converted to Roman Catholicism. At Schloss Augustenburg, she surrounded herself with priests and nuns and set up a small private monastery. Auguste Dorothea was buried at the Ursuline Convent (link in German) in Erfurt, Electorate of Mainz, now in the German state of Thuringia.

Ursuline Convent in Erfurt, burial place of Augusta Dorothea; Credit – Wikipedia

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Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Berliner Woche. 2015. Die Puppensammlung Im Schlossmuseum Von Arnstadt. [online] Available at: <https://www.berliner-woche.de/mitte/c-ausflugstipps/die-puppensammlung-im-schlossmuseum-von-arnstadt_a68293> [Accessed 10 November 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anton Günther II. (Schwarzburg). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_G%C3%BCnther_II._(Schwarzburg)> [Accessed 9 November 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Auguste Dorothea Von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1666–1751). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Dorothea_von_Braunschweig-Wolfenb%C3%BCttel_(1666%E2%80%931751)> [Accessed 9 November 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzburg-Sondershausen> [Accessed 9 November 2020].
  • Dorothea, H., 2020. Herzogin Auguste Dorothea. [online] kirche-angelhausen-oberndorfs Webseite!. Available at: <https://kirche-angelhausen-oberndorf.jimdofree.com/geschichte/herzogin-auguste-dorothea/> [Accessed 10 November 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anton Günther II, Count Of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Arnstadt. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_G%C3%BCnther_II,_Count_of_Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Arnstadt> [Accessed 9 November 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/german-royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-sondershausen/> [Accessed 9 November 2020].