Sophia Charlotte of Hanover

Sophia Charlotte of Hanover was born on October 30, 1668, at Schloss Iburg near Osnabrück. She was the daughter of Sophia of Hanover and Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. By marrying Frederick I of Prussia, she became Queen of Prussia. Their only child to reach maturity became Frederick William I of Prussia.

Sophia Charlotte is mainly remembered for her friendship and correspondence with Gottfried Leibniz, whose avowed disciple she became. He was her mother's good friend and tutor. Sophia Charlotte's death of pneumonia on January 21, 1705, when she was 36 years of age, devastated him.

References

• MacDonald Ross, George, 1999, "Leibniz and Sophie-Charlotte" in Herz, S., Vogtherr, C.M., Windt, F., eds., Sophie Charlotte und ihr Schloß. München: Prestel: 95–105. English translation.