Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg
Duchess Consort of Saxe-Altenburg (1618 - 1639)
Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (23 June 1593 – 25 March 1650) was a German princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel who became a Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg by marriage.
Life
Elisabeth was born in Wolfenbüttel, the daughter of Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1564–1613) from his second marriage with Elizabeth (1573–1625), eldest daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark.
Elisabeth married first on 1 January 1612 in Dresden, to Duke August of Saxony (1589–1615), the administrator of the diocese of Naumburg. August suddenly died at the age of 26, after only three years of marriage.
Elisabeth's second husband was John Philip of Saxe-Altenburg (1597–1639). They married on 25 October 1618 in Altenburg.
Elisabeth died on 25 March 1650 in Altenburg and was buried in the Brethren Church in Altenburg, to which she had donated a beaker. The motto of the Duchess, who was with both an Albertine and an Ernestine, was: All my delight is in God. An oval gold ducats exists, depicting Elisabeth exists, showing her effigy on the obverse and a crowned "E" on the reverse. Elisabeth was a member of the virtuous society under the name the Pious.
“Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg” enters the record as duchess Consort of Saxe-Altenburg (1618 - 1639). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Elisabeth, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Duchess can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Elisabeth, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Duchess provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q91542. VIAF identifies the subject as 42568532. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1593, 1650, 1564 and 1613.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg primary sources, Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg archive and Elisabeth research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.