Dorothea Christina of Aichelberg

Dorothea Christina von Aichelberg
Dorothea Christina von Aichelberg, detail from a family portrait
Spouse(s)	Prince Christian Charles of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön-Norburg
Noble family	von Aichelberg
Father	John Francis von Aichelberg
Mother	Anna Sophia von Trautenburg gennant Beyern
Born	(1674-01-23)23 January 1674 Plön
Died	22 June 1762(1762-06-22) (aged 88) Reinfeld
Buried	30 June 1762 Ducal crypt in Plön Castle

Dorothea Christina von Aichelberg (alternative spellings: Dorothee, Dorothy, Chritine, Christiane, von Echelberg, von Aichelburg; 23 January 1674 in Plön – 22 June 1762 in Reinfeld) was the spouse of Prince Christian Charles of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön-Norburg as Frau von Karlstein. Later, as a widow and mother of Frederick Charles, she stood for many years at the center of a succession dispute.

Dorothea Christina was the daughter of John Francis von Aichelberg, Hofmeister and bailiff in Norburg, and his wife Anna Sophia von Trautenburg gennant Beyern. Her father belonged to a Roman Catholic Carinthian family whose nobility had been confirmed as of the early 16th century. In the Habsburgs' Hereditary Lands the Aichelbergs' would receive elevation to the baronial title in 1655 and to the comital title in 1787.

As a young woman Dorothea was lady's maid to Duchess Elizabeth Charlotte. After the death of Duke Augustus and the accession of his son, Joachim Frederick in 1699, she followed the duchess to her dower house at Østerholm on Als. Here, she developed a relationship with Joachim Frederick's younger brother, Christian Charles, who at the time served as a colonel in the army of Brandenburg-Prussia. When his father died, he had only inherited the manors of Sebygaard and Gottesgabe on Ærø island, which his uncle Bernhard had held earlier. He estimated that probably every nobleman in this country is wealthier than me. He held that, under these circumstances, Dorothea Christina would appear to be an appropriate spouse. However, both the court in Norburg and his relatives opposed a morganatic marriage.