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Dorothea von Medem

Countess Anna Charlotte Dorothea von Medem (3 February 1761 – 20 August 1821) was born a Gräfin (Countess) of the noble Baltic German Medem family and later became Duchess of Courland. Popularly known as Dorothea of Courland after her marriage to Peter von Biron, the last Duke of Courland, she hosted an aristocratic salon in Berlin and performed various diplomatic duties on behalf of her estranged husband. She would spend the rest of her life in her estate in Löbichgau, where she would invite and host many important political and cultural figures of the time and make many acquaintances, ranging from Goethe over Napoleon I of France to Talleyrand, the latter of whom she was reportedly very close.

Dorothea von Medem
Dorothea by Marcello Bacciarelli
Duchess consort of Courland
Tenure6 November 1779 – 28 March 1795
Born(1761-02-03)3 February 1761
Died20 August 1821(1821-08-20) (aged 60)
SpousePeter von Biron
IssuePrincess Wilhelmine, Duchess of Sagan
Princess Pauline, Duchess of Sagan
Princess Joanna, Duchess of Acerenza
Prince Peter
Princess Dorothea
FatherFriedrich von Medem
MotherLouise Charlotte von Manteuffel
ReligionLutheranism

Biography

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Anna Charlotte Dorothea was born at Mežotne to Johann Friedrich von Medem, a Graf from the old Courland nobility, general-poruchik of the Russian Empire, and (as of 1779) Reichsgraf of the Holy Roman Empire; and his second wife, Louise Charlotte von Manteuffel. Her father, a descendant of Konrad von Mandern, was himself awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky in 1774 for his help in preparing the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. He owned many estates in Courland, including Elley and Alt-Autz. Her elder half sister from her father's previous marriage was the poet Elisa von der Recke. Her younger brother was Russian diplomat Christoph Johann von Medem, who built Villa Medem in Mitau (now Jelgava).

 
Dorothea with her daughters, Wilhelmine and Pauline.

Duchess of Courland

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On 6 November 1779, eighteen-year-old Dorothea became the third wife of the 55-year-old, childless Duke Peter von Biron, son of the famous Ernst Johann von Biron. The couple had six children, two of whom died in infancy. The four surviving children were all daughters; however, the youngest one, Dorothea, was probably not fathered by; although recognized by the Duke.

Dorothea was welcomed into the highest social circles thanks to her new status as duchess as well as her beauty. Because her husband was preoccupied with political difficulties at home involving his overlord the King of Poland and the Courland nobility, he frequently sent her on diplomatic missions to Warsaw, lasting months at a time, and to Berlin, Karlovy Vary, and Saint Petersburg for shorter periods. During these long absences Dorothea became alienated from her husband and had numerous love affairs with other men, including Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, Talleyrand, and the Polish nobleman, Count Alexander Benedykt Batowski, who allegedly fathered her fourth daughter, born in 1793. After the year she gave birth to her daughter, also named Dorothea (whom her husband nevertheless acknowledged as his own), the Duchess moved permanently to the Palais Kurland in Berlin, where she held an aristocratic salon.

Later life

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In 1794 she acquired the Gutsherrschaft Löbichau in Altenburgischen and spent her summers at the newly built Schloss there. Inviting poets, philosophers, relatives and friends to Löbichau, it became known as the Musenhof der Herzogin von Kurland. Her half-sister Elisa von der Recke, who would later be linked with Christoph August Tiedge, came to Löbichau to live and Tsar Alexander I of Russia, Frederick William III of Prussia, Napoleon I of France, Talleyrand, Metternich, Goethe, Schiller and other personalities of the time were the duchess's personal friends. In 1801, she received a proposal from Prince Frederick Adolf of Sweden.[1]

Upon her youngest daughter Dorothea's marriage to Talleyrand's nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord, in 1809, the duchess moved to Paris, having an intense relationship with Talleyrand and influenced him to turn against Napoleon. In 1814 she traveled to the Congress of Vienna to confront him about his alleged love affair with her daughter Dorothea. A few years after her death at Löbichau in 1821, the Duchess' body was moved from her place of death to the family vault at Sagan where her husband was buried in 1800.

Issue

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With Peter von Biron:

With Alexander Batowski:

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  •  
    Her husband, Peter von Biron
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    Her eldest daughter, Wilhelmine
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    Her second daughter, Pauline
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    Her third daughter, Johanna
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    Her fourth daughter, Dorothea
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    Jelgava Palace, the Biron residence
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    her beloved Schloss Löbichau
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    Miniature portrait titled: Wilhelmine von Mengden .. Grafin Medem ... 1792

Bibliography

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  • Elisa von der Recke: Tagebücher und Selbstzeugnisse. Leipzig 1984
  • Emilie von Binzer [de]: Drei Sommer in Löbichau 1819–21. Stuttgart 1877
  • Philip Ziegler: Die Herzogin von Dino, Talleyrands letzte Vertraute. München 1965
  • Clemens Brühl: Die Sagan. Berlin 1941
  • Sabine und Klaus Hofmann: Zwischen Metternich und Talleyrand. Der Musenhof der Herzogin von Kurland im Schloss zu Löbichau. Museum Burg Posterstein, 2004
  • Christoph August Tiedge: Anna Charlotte Dorothea. Letzte Herzogin von Kurland. F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1823 Online-Version at Internet Archive

Notes

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  1. ^ Cecilia af Klercker (1936). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok VII 1800–1806 (The diaries of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte VIII 1800–1806) (in Swedish). P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag Stockholm. pp. 270–271. 362103.
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