Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg

Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg
Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg, copper engraving by Johann Hainzelmann, in the Kupferstichkabinett in Dresden (item A 26876 in A 288ab, 4 (D XVI-XVIII))
Duchess consort of Saxe-Weissenfels
Tenure	1671–1680
Born	(1656-01-14)14 January 1656 Altenburg
Died	22 January 1686(1686-01-22) (aged 30) Weißenfels
Burial	Church of Neu-Augustenburg castle in Weißenfels
Spouse	Johann Adolf I, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels
Issue among others...	Magdalene Sibylle, Duchess of Saxe-Eisenach Johann Georg, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels Princess Johanna Wilhelmina Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels Anna Maria, Countess of Promnitz Sophia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels
House	House of Wettin
Father	Frederick William II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
Mother	Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony
Religion	Lutheranism

Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg (14 January 1656 in Altenburg – 22 January 1686 in Weißenfels) was a member of the House of Wettin. She was a Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg by birth and by marriage a Duchess of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt.

Johanna Magdalena was the only daughter of Duke Frederick William II of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony, the daughter of Elector John George I of Saxony.

She became an orphan at an early age when her parents died in 1668 and 1669. She quickly became a pawn in the hands of her family. In 1671, her uncles John George II and Maurice, in whose residences she frequently stayed, decided that for dynastic reasons, she would marry her cousin, Duke John Adolph I of Saxe-Weissenfels.

At the time, this marriage was politically sensitive, because her elder brother, Hereditary Prince Christian of Saxe-Altenburg, had already died young and her younger brother, Frederick William III, who had succeeded her father as Duke, was still under the guardianship of her uncles and did not have children yet.

The two uncles, members of the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin, speculated that the Altenburg line (part of the Ernestine branch of the House) would die out and via Johanna Magdalena's marriage, Altenburg would fall to the Weissenfels line, which was also part of the Albertine branch. Duke Augustus of Saxe-Weissenfels was in favour of such an inheritance. If the Saxe-Weisenfels were to die out in turn, then their possessions would fall to the other Albertine lines, who were the closest relatives.