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Mariya-Avrora KonigsmarckCountess of Königsmarck, Favorite of King-Elector Augustus II
Date of Birth: 28.04.1662
Country:  France |
Content:
- Countess Kenigsmark, Favorite of Elector Augustus II
- Early Life and Family
- Relationship with Elector Augustus II
- Life as an Abbess
Countess Kenigsmark, Favorite of Elector Augustus II
Countess Kenigsmark, the favorite of Elector Augustus II and mother of Maurice of Saxony, later became the abbess of the Quedlinburg Women's Monastery. Voltaire considered her one of the most famous women of two centuries, alongside Catherine the Great.
Early Life and Family
Maria Aurora was born into the family of Count Kurt Christopher Kenigsmark and his wife Maria Christina Wrangel. Her stepbrother was the Swedish riksmarsk Karl Gustav Wrangel. Maria Aurora spent her childhood in the Agatenburg Palace in Stade. From the age of 15, she accompanied her mother to the courts of Germany and Sweden. After her mother's death in 1691, Maria Aurora lived in Hamburg with her older sister, Amalia Wilhelmina von Kenigsmark. Three years later, in 1694, she moved to Dresden.
Relationship with Elector Augustus II
In Dresden, Maria Aurora tried to save her brother, Philip Christopher von Kenigsmark, with the support of Augustus II. He had disappeared without a trace in the Hanoverian palace of the House of Welf, and she hoped to at least obtain information about his death and claim his inheritance. Thanks to her beauty, Aurora von Kenigsmark captivated the elector and soon became his official mistress. On October 28, 1696, she gave birth to their son, Maurice of Saxony, who would later become a renowned marshal and military commander. Shortly after the birth of their child, Augustus cooled towards Aurora, and she entered the women's monastery in Quedlinburg.
Life as an Abbess
In 1698, she became the coadjutor of the monastery, and two years later, the abbess. She alternated her residence between Berlin, Dresden, and Hamburg. Aurora von Kenigsmark was highly educated, knew rare languages, played the lute and viola virtuously, and wrote several literary works including opera plots, love songs, and cantatas.
