Countess Palatine Dorothea of Simmern


Countess Palatine Dorothea of Simmern was a Countess Palatine of Simmern by birth and Princess of Anhalt-Dessau by marriage.

Life

Dorothea was born in Kaiserslautern, the only surviving child of the Count Palatine John Casimir of Simmern from his marriage to Elisabeth, the daughter of Elector August of Saxony.
She married on 21 February 1595 in Heidelberg to Prince John George I of Anhalt-Dessau. She was his second wife. She was led to the altar by her guardian, Elector Palatine Frederick IV. Under her influence, her husband openly converted to Calvinism in 1596. After his death, she retired to her widow seat Sandersleben Castle.
She was a member of the Virtuous Society under the nickname die Gastfreie.
Dorothea died in Sandersleben, aged 50, and was buried in the Church of St. Mary in Dessau. Her two eldest sons added a tomb stone to her grave in 1631.

Issue

From her marriage Dorothea had the following children:
  1. John Casimir, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
  2. Anna Elisabeth, married on 2 January 1617 to William Henry, Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt
  3. Frederick Maurice
  4. Eleonore Dorothea, married on 23 May 1625 to William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar
  5. Sibylle Christine, married firstly on 26 December 1627 to Philip Maurice, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg, and secondly on 13 May 1647 to Frederick Casimir, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg
  6. Henry Waldemar
  7. George Aribert
  8. Kunigunde Juliane, married on 2 January 1642 to Herman IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg
  9. Susanna Margarete, married on 16 February 1651 to John Philip of Hanau-Lichtenberg
  10. Johanna Dorothea, married on 9 February 1636 to Count Maurice of Bentheim-Tecklenburg
  11. Eva Catherine.

    Royal descendants