Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck has an impressive name, and her name is possibly just as big as her family as she was one of the thirteen children of Frederick Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck and Luise Charlotte of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. On 17 April 1709 Dorothea married the future Margrave of Bayreuth, George Frederick Karl of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach. It was to be a most unhappy marriage. They had five children, but by 1716, Dorothea was accused and convicted of adultery. She was imprisoned in the fortress of Laurenstein. Her children were raised by their grandmother during this time.
By 1724, the marriage was formally dissolved, but Dorothea remained imprisoned. It wasn’t until the death of her husband in 1735 that she was finally released. She was declared officially dead and lived under the name Dorothea von Ziedewitz in Sweden, under the condition that she never return.
She died on 25 December 1761 at the age of 76 in Stäflö, Sweden.
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