As you may remember I went to Leeuwarden a while back and visited the Jacobijner Church where the family tomb of the Frisian Nassau’s is. Unfortunately, at the time, there was a service going on so I couldn’t go inside. However, the opening of the Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel year actually took place inside this church so I had a chance to see the tomb anyway!
The tomb is surrounded by these shields. Most of them have names, some of them have been worn down.
In 1795 the tomb was destroyed and the bones were all thrown together. It is said that the skull of Marie Louise was actually taken. When that particular skull was given back to be placed back in the tomb in 1878, there was already a skull inside. A bit earlier in 1842 the crypt was found to be full of water and had to be pumped dry. The wooden tomb is actually not that old, it was placed there in 1948 during restoration works.
Royal women buried there are:
- Anna of Nassau (Breda, 5 November 1563 – Franeker, 13 June 1588), daughter of William of Orange en Anna of Saxony
- Elisabeth of Nassau-Dietz (Leeuwarden, 25 Juli 1614 – Leeuwarden, 18 September 1614), daughter of Ernst Casimir of Nassau-Dietz en Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
- Elisabeth Friso (1620-1628), daughter Ernst Casimir en Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
- Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick (1592-1642)
- Sophia Hedwig of Nassau-Dietz (1664-1667)
- Albertine Agnes of Nassau (1634-1696)
- Anna of Orange-Nassau (1746-1746)
- Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1688-1765)
This is the royal box where Marie Louise would’ve sat during services.
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