Princess Magdalena Augusta Of Anhalt-Zerbst

Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was born on 13 October 1679. Her father was Karl of Anhalt-Zerbst, and her mother was Duchess Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels. She belonged to the noble family of Anhalt-Zerbst by birth.

In 1696, Magdalena Augusta married her first cousin, Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Frederick II had assumed the ducal title in 1691. The marriage produced nineteen children, though only nine survived into adulthood. Her correspondence with her husband, preserved in the Gotha library, indicates a marriage characterized by mutual affection.

Throughout her marriage, Magdalena Augusta experienced frequent pregnancies, giving birth approximately once annually. Many of her children died in early childhood. Her children included Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born 14 April 1699, died 10 March 1772), who succeeded as duke; Johann August (born 17 February 1704, died 8 May 1767); Christian Wilhelm (born 28 May 1706, died 19 July 1748); Ludwig Ernst (born 28 December 1707, died 13 August 1763); Moritz (born 11 May 1711, died 3 September 1777); Augusta (born 30 November 1719, died 8 February 1772), who married Frederick, Prince of Wales; and Johann Adolf (born 18 May 1721, died 29 April 1799). Several children died in infancy or childhood.

One of her notable surviving children was Augusta, who married Frederick, Prince of Wales, on 8 May 1736. Augusta and Frederick's second child became King George III of Great Britain. Another daughter, Magdalena Sibylle, died in infancy.

Magdalena Augusta’s views on language education included a preference for German over English for her children, exemplified by her refusal to have her youngest daughter taught English after her engagement to the future British monarch. She stated that since the Hanover family had been on the English throne for over twenty years, people in England and at court spoke German as often as English.

Princess Magdalena Augusta died on 11 October 1740, just two days shy of her sixty-first birthday. Her ancestry traces back through the noble lines of Anhalt-Zerbst and Saxe-Weissenfels, reflecting her position within the German princely families of the period.