January Meme: Favourite German Princess?
Jan. 30th, 2024 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThis seemingly harmless question by avrelia runs into the trickiness of language and history both. First of all, the English term “princess” can be translated in two different ways into German. Either as “Prinzessin”, as in, daughter of a monarch, or as “Fürstin”, someone who can be a ruling monarch herself, not necessarily a Queen, even; a ruling Duchess, say, can be a Fürstin, but so can an Empress be.
Secondly, “German”. Which definition does apply? Citzien of a realm which is located in territory that either today is in Germany or used to be in Germany pre WWI? How far back does this go, i.e. would we count the Frankish Carolingians? (Charlemagne: seen as German in Germany and French in France. Ditto for his offspring.) Do ladies count who came from decidedly non-German (by any definition) countries but who spent the majority of their lives as a princess of the HRE (think Theophanu, originally of Byzantium, or Irene who was married to Philip of Swabia)?
Conversely: what about princesses who are definitely the daughters of German monarchs but spent their entire lives in non-German realms (even by the definition of their era) and who did not speak German, to boot, but who were actively involved in German (by the definition of their era and ours, too) politics? I’m thinking of Margaret of Austria the daughter of Maximilian I (HRE) here. Born in Burgundy, raised in France, moved to Spain for a few years, returned to Burgundy, then Savoy, ended up as regent of the Netherlands for first her father and then her nephew. (Margaret and her Dad corresponded in French with the occasional Latin thrown in. She never spoke a word of German in her life. But she was a princess of the HRE all her life, and without her, it’s questionable whether nephews Charles would have become Emperor, or indeed whether the Habsburgs wouldn’t have lost their hold on the German and “Roman” crown after two generations again and gone back to being one (powerful) House among others within the HRE. (Okay, extra powerful because Charles inherited Spain via his mother, now with new colonies. But still.)
Or: how about princesses who start out German (in whichever sense of the above) and move to another country where they spend most of their lives? Catherine the Great being just one of the more famous cases in point - those first fourteen years as a German versus decades as a Russian definitely would favour “Russian” as the category to put her in, but she did start out as a German princess. Same for every Queen Consort of England starting with Caroline (of Ansbach, wife of George II) until Alexandra (Danish, wife of Edward VII).
Moving on somewhat nearer to the present, there’s the fact that today, Austria and Germany are two different nations. Both use the German language, but Austrians are not Germans and vice versa. (Unless you hold dual citizenship.) However, for most of our shared history, this did not apply. Mozart, born in (Austrian) Salzburg, referred to himself as a German in his letters, as of course did his father Leopold, born in (German) Augsburg. When a mid 18th century British pamphleteer calls the Maria Theresia versus Frederick the Great wars “a German civil war”, he’s not disingeneous, in that while Frederick was a Prussian and Maria Theresia an Austrian, they both also would have regarded themselves and each other as Germans.
(I’m just grateful that the question aims as princesses, not writers. Would you call Franz Kafka a) a Czech writer, b) an Austrian writer, c) a German writer? I’ve seen all three categorisations used.)
And lastly, what about German princesses who never lived but who were created (or at least solidified into written existence) by German writers? I mean, hello, Snow White? (Though my favourite fairy tale Grimm princess would probably be Allerleirauh - who runs from her father the King when he wants to marry her and lives dressed in animal skins for a while.)
With all this in mind, here’s a selection within different criteria:
Category: “Princess” as in Fürstin
Subcategory Imported Princesses
It’s a contest between my two favourite medieval Empresses, Adelheid (originally of Burgundy, kinda, sorta) and Theophanu. More about them here.
Subcategory exported or even completely extraterritorial Princesses:
Margaret of Austria; her praises sung here, here and here.
Subcategory not the daughter of a King and doesn’t rule a kingdom, but is a Fürstin in charge of a realm:
Anna Amalia of Saxe-Weimar: for contributing very much to Weimar’s a few decades long existence as the hotbed of German literature. Also for not using the Hohenzollern method of child raising on her own kids despite being a granddaughter of FW, for trying her best to keep her subjects out of Uncle Fritz’ recruitment clutches in the e/7 Years War, and for enjoying her retirement via travelling to Italy, staying there for a few years and (as a Protestan princess, no less) having an affair with a hot Catholic Bishop
Category: “Princess” as in Prinzessin
Subcategory: Exported to non-German country Princess: Anne of Bohemia, wife to Richard II (of England). I am admittedly influenced by her portrayal in various fictions, be they AU novels like Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch, straightforward history plays like Josephine Tey’s Richard of Bordeaux (though this one has a hilariously English-author-caused line where Anne, daughter of an HRE, refers to herself as provincial compared to Richard), or all the Richard II fanfiction on the A03, and won’t pretend not to be. But Anne comes across as a very sympathetic character all around, a patron of the arts, a loving spouse to her husband (who adored her and went bonkers when she died), doing her best to mediate between him and his family and nobles in an increasingly stressful situation.
Subcategory: Born into German realm, lived in (another) German realm: Wilhelmine of Bayreuth. Author of tell-all memoirs about her dreadful family, builder of magnificent Rokoko opera houses and palaces, one part of a co-dependent intense sibling relationship with brother Frederick the Great, like him a sometime composer and passionate music lover. Dreadful snob. (As noted by some snobbish themselves contemporaries.) (Hey, if both of your parents go after your self esteem throughout your childhood, you cling to whatever gives you a boost.) Great friend to have, though (ask Voltaire). More about her here.
The other days
avrelia runs into the trickiness of language and history both. First of all, the English term “princess” can be translated in two different ways into German. Either as “Prinzessin”, as in, daughter of a monarch, or as “Fürstin”, someone who can be a ruling monarch herself, not necessarily a Queen, even; a ruling Duchess, say, can be a Fürstin, but so can an Empress be.Secondly, “German”. Which definition does apply? Citzien of a realm which is located in territory that either today is in Germany or used to be in Germany pre WWI? How far back does this go, i.e. would we count the Frankish Carolingians? (Charlemagne: seen as German in Germany and French in France. Ditto for his offspring.) Do ladies count who came from decidedly non-German (by any definition) countries but who spent the majority of their lives as a princess of the HRE (think Theophanu, originally of Byzantium, or Irene who was married to Philip of Swabia)?
Conversely: what about princesses who are definitely the daughters of German monarchs but spent their entire lives in non-German realms (even by the definition of their era) and who did not speak German, to boot, but who were actively involved in German (by the definition of their era and ours, too) politics? I’m thinking of Margaret of Austria the daughter of Maximilian I (HRE) here. Born in Burgundy, raised in France, moved to Spain for a few years, returned to Burgundy, then Savoy, ended up as regent of the Netherlands for first her father and then her nephew. (Margaret and her Dad corresponded in French with the occasional Latin thrown in. She never spoke a word of German in her life. But she was a princess of the HRE all her life, and without her, it’s questionable whether nephews Charles would have become Emperor, or indeed whether the Habsburgs wouldn’t have lost their hold on the German and “Roman” crown after two generations again and gone back to being one (powerful) House among others within the HRE. (Okay, extra powerful because Charles inherited Spain via his mother, now with new colonies. But still.)
Or: how about princesses who start out German (in whichever sense of the above) and move to another country where they spend most of their lives? Catherine the Great being just one of the more famous cases in point - those first fourteen years as a German versus decades as a Russian definitely would favour “Russian” as the category to put her in, but she did start out as a German princess. Same for every Queen Consort of England starting with Caroline (of Ansbach, wife of George II) until Alexandra (Danish, wife of Edward VII).
Moving on somewhat nearer to the present, there’s the fact that today, Austria and Germany are two different nations. Both use the German language, but Austrians are not Germans and vice versa. (Unless you hold dual citizenship.) However, for most of our shared history, this did not apply. Mozart, born in (Austrian) Salzburg, referred to himself as a German in his letters, as of course did his father Leopold, born in (German) Augsburg. When a mid 18th century British pamphleteer calls the Maria Theresia versus Frederick the Great wars “a German civil war”, he’s not disingeneous, in that while Frederick was a Prussian and Maria Theresia an Austrian, they both also would have regarded themselves and each other as Germans.
(I’m just grateful that the question aims as princesses, not writers. Would you call Franz Kafka a) a Czech writer, b) an Austrian writer, c) a German writer? I’ve seen all three categorisations used.)
And lastly, what about German princesses who never lived but who were created (or at least solidified into written existence) by German writers? I mean, hello, Snow White? (Though my favourite fairy tale Grimm princess would probably be Allerleirauh - who runs from her father the King when he wants to marry her and lives dressed in animal skins for a while.)
With all this in mind, here’s a selection within different criteria:
Category: “Princess” as in Fürstin
Subcategory Imported Princesses
It’s a contest between my two favourite medieval Empresses, Adelheid (originally of Burgundy, kinda, sorta) and Theophanu. More about them here.
Subcategory exported or even completely extraterritorial Princesses:
Margaret of Austria; her praises sung here, here and here.
Subcategory not the daughter of a King and doesn’t rule a kingdom, but is a Fürstin in charge of a realm:
Anna Amalia of Saxe-Weimar: for contributing very much to Weimar’s a few decades long existence as the hotbed of German literature. Also for not using the Hohenzollern method of child raising on her own kids despite being a granddaughter of FW, for trying her best to keep her subjects out of Uncle Fritz’ recruitment clutches in the e/7 Years War, and for enjoying her retirement via travelling to Italy, staying there for a few years and (as a Protestan princess, no less) having an affair with a hot Catholic Bishop
Category: “Princess” as in Prinzessin
Subcategory: Exported to non-German country Princess: Anne of Bohemia, wife to Richard II (of England). I am admittedly influenced by her portrayal in various fictions, be they AU novels like Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch, straightforward history plays like Josephine Tey’s Richard of Bordeaux (though this one has a hilariously English-author-caused line where Anne, daughter of an HRE, refers to herself as provincial compared to Richard), or all the Richard II fanfiction on the A03, and won’t pretend not to be. But Anne comes across as a very sympathetic character all around, a patron of the arts, a loving spouse to her husband (who adored her and went bonkers when she died), doing her best to mediate between him and his family and nobles in an increasingly stressful situation.
Subcategory: Born into German realm, lived in (another) German realm: Wilhelmine of Bayreuth. Author of tell-all memoirs about her dreadful family, builder of magnificent Rokoko opera houses and palaces, one part of a co-dependent intense sibling relationship with brother Frederick the Great, like him a sometime composer and passionate music lover. Dreadful snob. (As noted by some snobbish themselves contemporaries.) (Hey, if both of your parents go after your self esteem throughout your childhood, you cling to whatever gives you a boost.) Great friend to have, though (ask Voltaire). More about her here.
The other days
no subject
Date: 2024-01-30 05:13 pm (UTC)Apparently Kafka was barely mentioned in public in Prague until post-1989 when English-speaking tourism became big, since as he wrote in German almost everyone in the city thought of him as an "Austrian" writer.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-31 07:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-31 03:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-01 03:07 pm (UTC)