Marriage
On 28 November 1708 she became the third and last wife of Frederick I of Prussia; they had no children. The Sophienkirche in Berlin is named after her. Sophia Louise's marriage was arranged by the powerful Prussian Minister-President Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg, who pressured King Frederick to marry for the sake of the succession after he had been widowed for a second time. Upon her marriage, she was at first known as the "Mecklenburg Venus", but she soon alienated herself from Prussian court life in Berlin.
She had received no education except in French and music, was described as introverted and serious, and thus was not able to replace her brilliantly cultivated predecessor at court, Queen Sophia Charlotte. Sophia Louise, along with Mademoiselle Gravenitz, made attempts to convince Frederick to convert from Calvinism to the Lutheran faith. Her efforts led to severe arguments with her husband.
Sophia Louise was not equal to the intrigues of the Berlin court. Her principal opponent, Catharina Rickers, was both the wife of the Count of Wartenberg and the king's mistress. Under the influence of August Hermann Francke, Sophia Louise took refuge in Pietism. She fell into mental derangement in the royal palace and frightened King Frederick into believing that she was the legendary "White Lady" who would foretell his death.
Finally, she fell into deep depression, and was eventually unable to performed her ceremonial duties. In January 1713, only a few weeks before his death, Frederick sent her back to her family in Mecklenburg-Schwerin. From then on she lived in Grabow castle, and on her death she was buried in the Schelfkirche St. Nikolai in Schwerin.
Read more about this topic: Sophia Louise Of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Famous quotes containing the word marriage:
“What is marriage, is marriage protection or religion, is marriage renunciation or abundance, is marriage a stepping-stone or an end. What is marriage.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“Why don’t you go home to your wife? I’ll tell you what. I’ll go home to your wife and outside of the improvements, you’ll never know the difference. Pull over to the side of the road there and let me see your marriage license.”
—S.J. Perelman, U.S. screenwriter, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and Norman Z. McLeod. Groucho Marx, Horsefeathers, a wisecrack made to Huxley College’s outgoing president (1932)
“the mother lies down on her marriage bed
and eats up her heart like two eggs.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)