Anna Sophie of Denmark | |
---|---|
Electress consort of Saxony | |
Tenure | 22 August 1680 – 12 September 1691 |
Born |
Flensburg |
1 September 1647
Died | 1 July 1717 Prettin |
(aged 69)
Burial | Freiberg Cathedral |
Spouse | John George III, Elector of Saxony |
Issue |
John George IV Frederick Augustus I |
House | Oldenburg |
Father | Frederick III of Denmark |
Mother | Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
Religion | Lutheranism |
Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark (1 September 1647 – 1 July 1717) was the eldest daughter of King Frederick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Electress of Saxony from 1680 to 1691 as the wife of John George III.
Anna Sophie was born in Flensburg, the second child and first daughter of Frederick of Denmark and his wife, Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. She had an elder brother, Christian. Her paternal grandfather, King Christian IV, died when she was six months old, and after many months of deliberation, the Rigsraadet royal council and Estates elected her father king. He was crowned Frederick III on 23 November 1648. Her parents had six more children, two of whom died in infancy. Her surviving siblings were Frederica Amalia, Wilhelmina Ernestine, George, and Ulrika Eleonora.
Anna Sophie received a fine education. Besides her native Danish, she knew German, Latin, French, Spanish and Italian. She is described physically as having thick dark eyebrows and long curving nose. During her childhood, she as well as her sisters were brought up under the supervision of the royal governess Helena von Westphalen. In 1663, she was given her own court under Enevold Parsberg.