Christine Sophie von Gähler

Christine Sophie von Gähler, née von Ahlefeldt (1745 – 18 July 1792) was a Danish noble and courtier, known for her love life and unconventional life style, known in history as one of the Three Graces of the Danish royal court.

She was born to colonel noble Henrik Ahlefeldt (1711-1765) and Frederikke Marsilia Krag (1724-1756). In 1762, she married the officer noble Peter Elias von Gähler. Her spouse had no title other than that of General, and she was thereby known by the female form of this title, Generalinde ('literary: Generaless'). From 1767 onward, her spouse made a successful career as court official, and she was from that point an active participator in court life.

Christine Sophie von Gähler was a leading profile of the royal court of King Christian VII of Denmark, where she attracted attention with her beauty, her vivaciousness, sarcastic wit and humorous temper. Together with the baroness Anna Sofie Bülow and countess Amalie Sofie Holstein, she became known as one of the Three Graces of the Danish royal court. She was a leading figure of the court and well regarded by both the King as well as the Queen: she was regarded as socially indispensable at the card games played by the king and his favorites Enevold Brandt and Christian Frederik Holstein, as well as by queen Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, when she enjoyed outings with her ladies-in-waiting during her summers in the countryside, during which they were escorted by their admirers while their husbands were left at home. She became known for her lovers, weather there were truth in these rumors or not, though she always referred to her spouse in public. Contemporary chronicles claim that she had an affair with Claude Louis, Comte de Saint-Germain because she needed his financial assistance to both her spouse and her true lover, and the letter writer Luise Gramm claim that her good relation to Struensee once made the queen jealous. As a person, she comes across in her correspondence as a free minded and tolerant person who disliked gossip and plots who had the ability to be civil and see the good also in people she disliked.

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