A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Amalie, Anna
AMALIE, ANNA,
Duchess of Saxe Weimar and Eisenach, was a German princess, highly distinguished for her talents and virtues, whose patronage was powerfully exerted for the improvement of taste and learning among her countrymen. She was the daughter of the duke of Brunswick, and the niece of Frederick the Second of Prussia. Her birth took place October 24th., 1739. At the age of seventeen, she was married to the duke of Saxe Weimar, who left her a widow, after a union of about two years. The commencement of the seven years' war, which then took place, rendered her situation peculiarly embarrassing, as, while herself a minor, she was called to the guardianship of her infant son, the sovereign of the little state over which she presided. To add to her difficulties, she found herself obliged, as a princess of the empire, to take part against her uncle, the great Frederick. But he treated her personally with great respect, and though her provinces suffered severely, they were preserved from absolute ruin. When peace was established, she directed her cares to the education of her sons, and the public affairs of the duchy. Her regency was attended with great advantages to the country. In the administration of justice, the management of the revenue, in public establishments, she was alike sedulous; and under her fostering patronage a new spirit sprang up among her people, and diffused its influence over the north of Germany, Foreigners of distinction, artists, and men of learning, were attracted to her court, either as visitors or fixed residents. The use of a large library was given to the public; a new theatre erected, and provision was made for the improved education of youth. The university of Jena underwent a revision, and the liberality of the princess was exerted in modifying and extending the establishment. She delighted in the society of men of talents and literature, and succeeded in drawing within the circle of her influence many individuals of high celebrity. The city of Weimar became the resort of the most distinguished literary men of Germany, whom the duchess encouraged, by her liberal patronage, to come and reside at her court. Wieland, Herder, Schiller, and Goethe, formed a constellation of genius of which any city might be proud. They all held some distinguished office about her court. The duchess withdrew, in 1775, from public life, having given up the sovereign authority to her eldest son Carl August, then of age. Her health, which had suffered from a recent severe attack of illness, made this retirement desirable; and she also anticipated great gratification from the study of those arts to which she had always been attached, especially music, with which she was intimately acquainted. The conclusion of her life was clouded by misfortune; and the deaths of several of her relatives, the ruin. of royal houses with which she was connected, and the miseries occasioned by the French invasion of Germany, contributed to embitter the last moments of her existence. She died in April, 1807, and was interred on the 19th. of that month at Weimar.