Countess Palatine Magdalena Claudia of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler

Countess Palatine Magdalena Claudia of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler
Engraving portrait of Countess Palatine Magdalena Claudia of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler
Born	(1668-09-16)16 September 1668
Died	28 November 1704(1704-11-28) (aged 36) Hanau
Noble family	Wittelsbach
Spouse(s)	Philip Reinhard, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg
Father	Christian II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
Mother	Catherine Agathe, Countess of Rappoltstein

Countess Palatine Claudia Magdalena of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (also known as Magdalena Claudine; 16 September 1668 – 28 November 1704 in Hanau), the Countess consort of Hanau-Münzenberg.

Early life and ancestry

Magdalena Claudia was the eldest daughter of the Count Palatine Christian II of Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (born: 22 June 1637; died: 26 April 1717) and his wife, Countess Catherine Agathe of Rappoltstein (1648-1683).

Marriage

She married on 27 February [O.S. 17 February] 1689 in Hanau her cousin, Count Philip Reinhard of Hanau-Münzenberg (1664–1712). The dowry was 18000guilders.

Issue

From her marriage with Philip Reinhard, she had the following children:

1. Stillbirth (1691), buried in the crypt of the St. John's Church (now called Old St. John's Church) in Hanau
2. Stillbirth (1693);
3. Catharine Magdalene (born: 16 June [O.S. 6 June] 1695; died: 19 December [O.S. 9 December] 1695), buried in the crypt of St John's Church in Hanau

Death

She died on 28 November 1704 and was buried in the crypt of the Lutheran Church in Hanau, on 18 December 1704, aged 37. During the mourning, the biggest bell in St. John's Church broke. This was a bell she had donated. The burial site of the Lutheran branch of the House of Hanau - and thus the burial of Countess Claudia Magdalena - was destroyed during the Second World War.

References

• Reinhard Dietrich: Die Landesverfassung in dem Hanauischen = Hanauer Geschichtsblätter, vol. 34, Hanau, 1996. ISBN 3-9801933-6-5
• Rudolf Lenz: Katalog der Leichenpredigten und sonstigen Trauerschriften in der Hessischen Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek Darmstadt = Marburger Personalschriftenforschungen, vol. 11, Sigmaringen, 1990
• Rudolf Lenz: Katalog der Leichenpredigten und sonstigen Trauerschriften in der Universitätsbibliothek Gießen = Marburger Personalschriftenforschungen, vol. 15, Sigmaringen, 1994
• Rudolf Lenz: Katalog der Leichenpredigten und sonstigen Trauerschriften im Hessischen Hauptstaatsarchiv Wiesbaden = Marburger Personalschriftenforschungen, vol. 7,1, Marburg, 1985
• Reinhard Suchier: Genealogie des Hanauer Grafenhauses, in: Festschrift des Hanauer Geschichtsvereins zu seiner fünfzigjährigen Jubelfeier am 27. August 1894, Hanau, 1894
• Reinhard Suchier: Die Grabmonumente und Särge der in Hanau bestatteten Personen aus den Häusern Hanau und Hessen, in: Programm des Königlichen Gymnasiums zu Hanau, Hanau, 1879, p. 1-56.
• Richard Wille: Die letzten Grafen von Hanau-Lichtenberg, in: Mitteilungen des Hanauer Bezirksvereins für hessische Geschichte und Landeskunde, vol. 12, Hanau, 1886, p. 56-68
• Ernst J. Zimmermann: Hanau Stadt und Land, 3rd ed., Hanau, 1919, reprinted: 1978