Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Margravine of Brandenburg-Küstrin
Encyclopedia
Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1518, Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick. It is the seat of the District of Wolfenbüttel and of the bishop of the Protestant Lutheran State Church of Brunswick...

 – 16 May 1574, Krosno Odrzańskie
Krosno Odrzanskie
Krosno Odrzańskie is a city on the east bank of Oder River, at the confluence with the Bóbr. The town in Western Poland with 12,500 inhabitants is the capital of Krosno County...

) was a Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by birth and by marriage Margravine of Brandenburg-Küstrin.

Life

Catherine was a daughter of the Duke Henry V
Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Henry , Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called the Younger, was Prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1514 until his death...

 of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1489–1568) from his first marriage to Maria of Württemberg (1496–1541), daughter of Count Henry
Henry, Count of Württemberg
Henry of Württemberg was from 1473 to 1482 Count by Montbéliard.- Life :...

 of Württemberg.

She married on 11 November 1537 in Wolfenbüttel Margrave John of Brandenburg-Küstrin (1513–1571). Catherine was instrumental in the spread of the Reformation in the Margraviate of Brandenburg.

Catherine was considered extremely frugal and thrifty, and she actively supported her husband. She had several outbuildings in Küstrin
Küstrin
Before 1945 Küstrin was a town in the former Prussian province of Brandenburg in Germany, situated on both sides of the Oder river...

 and a kitchen garden. She had so-called "wild garden" in a suburb of Küstrin and other goods in Schaumburg, Drew and her favorite seat Dębno
Debno
Dębno is a town in Myślibórz County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It has a population of 13,863 . The Dębno oil field is located near to the town.-Twin towns — sister cities:Dębno is twinned with:* Strausberg - Germany...

, a gift from her husband. Catherine settled Dutch religious refugees in Dębno, who started a vibrant clothi-making industry. She built a school and a church and in 1562, Dębno was granted a city charter.

Catherine, who was described as very popular, was known by the population as Mother Kate. She founded the first pharmacy in Ośno Lubuskie
Osno Lubuskie
Ośno Lubuskie is a town in Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,800 inhabitants ....

 and built another in Küstrin from which she provided the poor with free medicine. Catherine built numerous farms and dairies, which she administered herself and she also sold the harvest herself.

Catherine died in 1574. Her grave was discovered in 1999 in the ruins of the parish church in Küstrin by archaeologists from Szczecin.

The ("Catherine Street") in Berlin-Halensee
Halensee
Halensee is a locality of Berlin in the district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Until 2004 the former neighbourhood established about 1880 was part of the Wilmersdorf locality, and until 2001 of the same-named former borough...

 is named after her.

Issue

From her marriage to Henry, Catherine had two daughters:
  • Elisabeth
    Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin
    Elizabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin , was a princess of Brandenburg-Küstrin and margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach by marriage.- Life :...

     (1540–1578)
married in 1558 Margrave George Frederick I of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1539-1603)
  • Catherine
    Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin
    Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin was a Princess of Brandenburg-Küstrin by birth and Electress of Brandenburg by marriage.- Life :...

     (1549–1602)
married in Elector in 1570 Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg
Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg
Joachim III Frederick , of the House of Hohenzollern, was Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1598 until his death.-Biography:...

 (1546-1608)

Footnotes

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK