Charlotte Amalie Princess of Nassau-Usingen, née of Nassau-Dillenburg

born: 13.06.1680 in Dillenburg

died: 11.10.1738 in Biebrich Castle

Charlotte Amalie was the daughter of Prince Heinrich zu Nassau-Dillenburg and Dorothea Elisabeth, née von Liegnitz. On 15.04.1706 she married Prince Wilhelm Heinrich zu Nassau-Usingen. Of their ten children, two daughters and the sons Karl and Wilhelm Heinrich (1718-1768) reached adulthood. After the death of her husband in 1718, Charlotte Amalie took over the guardianship. Until 1721, she had to defend herself against the claims to power of her co-guardian Prince Georg August Samuel zu Nassau-Idstein, which were based on debt claims. When Nassau-Usingen inherited Nassau-Idstein, Nassau-Ottweiler and Nassau-Saarbrücken in 1728, the princess unified the administration of the different parts of the state. In 1728, she established the Nassau central archive in Idstein, and in 1730 the library in Usingen, from which the state library in Wiesbaden emerged.

She introduced the separation of court and state administration that already existed in the heartlands with the Court Chamber as a separate financial authority. Despite the appointment of qualified civil servants, it was not possible to reduce the enormous national debt due to the state's limited economic resources. On December 23, 1735, the land was therefore divided, with her eldest son Karl taking over the regency in Nassau-Usingen. Until her death, the princess retained decisive influence over the affairs of government. Since the disputes over the regency and the unrest that radical Pietist movements had caused among the population, the princess was intent on securing her rule and domestic political stability. Education and church policy played a decisive role in this. She strengthened the Lutheran confession as the state religion; other denominations were only tolerated.

Its Jewish ordinance of 1732 was extremely restrictive. With the school and confirmation ordinance of 1730, it reformed the elementary school system, introduced year-round compulsory schooling and strengthened science education in the spirit of the early Enlightenment. Teachers were trained at the new seminary established in Idstein in 1734. The princess, who was interested in literature, led a modest court life due to the state debt. She maintained a small court chapel from her private coffers. She succeeded in attracting the physician and poet Daniel Wilhelm Triller, who was also courted by other regents, to the court. She set architectural accents with the extension of Biebrich Palace and the main palace in Usingen by the master builder Friedrich Joachim Stengel. Charlotte Amalie was buried in the Usingen town church.