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53-410: It is principally known as the place of imprisonment of Sophia Dorothea of Celle , otherwise Sophie Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wife of George I of Great Britain and the mother of George II of Great Britain . Opposite the mansion, in a depression on the other bank of the river, was the old castle of Bunkenburg which lies today in ruins. It is believed to have been built in the 13th century. It

106-502: A horseshoe , which were built in 1549. In earlier centuries the site was, for a time, almost entirely enclosed and had an interior courtyard . The individual wings of the building were not only used for residential rooms, but as for stables and coach houses ( Remisen ). The west wing is the main building of the mansion, which Duke Christian the Elder of Brunswick-Lüneburg had built by his seneschal ( Drost ), Johann Behr, in 1613. On

159-650: A formal complaint to Emperor Leopold I against Augustus II's "unfriendly acts" and threatened to withdraw their troops from the Grand Alliance in the war against France. Both the Emperor and the Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg exerted pressure on Augustus II, but the Polish envoy continued his investigation and even told Count von Platen that Königsmarck had either been captured or killed on

212-626: A former mistress of Elector Ernest Augustus, had tried in January 1694 to persuade Königsmarck to marry her daughter Sophia Charlotte , but he had refused. Offended, she revealed to the Electoral Prince George Louis the love affair between his wife and Königsmarck, as well as their plan to escape. On the night of 11 July 1694, after a meeting with Sophia Dorothea in the Leineschloss , Königsmarck disappeared without

265-469: A letter of condolence to the Electress Sophia , her former mother-in-law, claiming that she wanted nothing more than "to kiss Your Highness's hands before I die". Neither George Louis nor Sophia responded. When Sophia Dorothea's father was on his deathbed in 1705, he wanted to see his daughter one last time to reconcile with her, but his chief minister, Count Bernstorff , objected, claiming that

318-416: A meeting could lead to diplomatic problems with Hanover. George William died without seeing his daughter. Sophia Dorothea is remembered for a significant act of charity during her imprisonment: after a devastating fire of Ahlden in 1715, she contributed considerable sums of money towards the rebuilding of the town. The death of her mother in 1722 left Sophia Dorothea alone. When Sophia Dorothea's daughter,

371-550: A mistress, Melusine von der Schulenburg , and started to neglect his wife. His parents asked him to be more circumspect with his mistress, fearful that disruption of the marriage would threaten the payment of the 100,000 thalers he was to receive as part of Sophia Dorothea's dowry and inheritance from her father. Around 1690, Sophia Dorothea was reunited with the Swedish Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck , whom she had known in her childhood when he

424-458: A result, Ahlden ended up in the possession of the Duke of Lüneburg. Between 1443 and 1575 the seat of Ahlden was mortgaged to the von Mandelsloh family. Not until the 16th century was the present house built, whilst Bunkenburg fell into ruin. The princely office ( Amt ) of Ahlden was established in 1431. It took over the management and exercised jurisdiction over the area. The house also belonged to

477-530: A severe colic, and refused all food and treatment. She died shortly before midnight on 13 November 1726, aged 60. An autopsy revealed liver failure and gall bladder occlusion due to 60 gallstones. Her former husband placed an announcement in The London Gazette to the effect that the Duchess of Ahlden had died, but he forbade mourning in either London or Hanover. He was furious when he heard that

530-478: A sexual relationship since March 1692, though she consistently denied it throughout the rest of her life. After a violent argument with her husband, Sophia Dorothea visited her parents in Celle in the spring of 1694 in the hope of persuading them to support her official separation from her husband. George William and Eléonore opposed it, however. Sophia Dorothea's father was waging war against Denmark and Sweden, and

583-484: A trace. It appears that he was killed on the orders, tacit or direct, of George Louis or his father the Elector, and that his body, weighted with stones, was thrown into the river Leine . Four of Ernest Augustus's courtiers are said to have committed the murder, and one of them, Don Nicolò Montalbano, received 150,000 thalers , about one hundred times the annual salary of the highest-paid official. No trace of Königsmarck

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636-914: A year is a goodly sum to pocket, without speaking of a pretty wife, who will find a match in my son George Louis, the most pigheaded, stubborn boy who ever lived, who has round his brains such a thick crust that I defy any man or woman ever to discover what is in them. He does not care much for the match itself, but one hundred thousand thalers a year have tempted him as they would have tempted anybody else". George Louis treated his bride with coldness and frequently scolded her for her lack of etiquette. The two had loud and bitter arguments. Nevertheless, they managed to conceive two children: George Augustus (the future King George II of Great Britain, born on 30 October 1683) and Sophia Dorothea (the future Queen Consort in Prussia and Electress Consort of Brandenburg, born on 16 March 1687). Having done his duty, George Louis acquired

689-542: Is clearly recognisable on the Merian engraving of 1654 as a detached building. Originally the castle was surrounded by a double moat and a rampart. The rampart was levelled in 1690 in order to create a French pleasure garden . The moats were filled in during the 19th century. The castle's predecessor, Bunkenburg , appeared on the opposite bank of the Aller, a detail also mentioned by Merian . The occupants of this castle were

742-645: Is played by Joan Greenwood and Königsmarck is played by Stewart Granger . [REDACTED] Media related to Sophia Dorothea of Celle at Wikimedia Commons Amtmann The Amtmann or Ammann (in Switzerland ) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff . He

795-497: The Amt . The office was headed by an Amtmann , who collected taxes from the citizens and farmed the land on the state-owned farm, the estate of the house. From 1784 the house underwent major alterations to adapt it to administrative purposes and it also housed the prison. After about 450 years in existence, the Amt of Ahlden was disbanded in 1884 and its function was transferred to the district of Fallingbostel . The building then housed

848-466: The Austrian state of Burgenland , Amtmann is the title of a municipal official. The feminine form, Amtfrau (e.g. Regierungsamtfrau - RAmtfr - or Zollamtfrau - ZAF ) has become widely accepted. For a time the word Amtmännin was also used instead of Amtfrau . This term was formerly the norm in several German states and the federal administration. It has however largely disappeared, albeit in

901-651: The Great of Prussia, after his sister, the Swedish Queen consort Louisa Ulrika , allegedly stole them and sent them to him. Today the authenticity of the letters has been established beyond any doubt. The lovers rarely dated their letters, but they numbered most of them. The Hanoverian historian Georg Schnath calculated on the basis of the existing correspondence that there were originally 340 letters written by Königsmarck and 320 written by Sophia Dorothea. The missing letters seem to have been confiscated and destroyed by

954-596: The Hanoverian authorities after the affair became public. The State Archives in Hanover provide scant information about the critical years. Even the correspondence between the Electress Sophia and her niece Elizabeth Charlotte, which might have shed some light on events, was censored afterwards. George Louis demanded a legal separation from his wife, citing her as sole culprit on grounds of desertion. During

1007-542: The Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who was the eldest son of their distant relative Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , who had supported the love affair between George William and Éléonore from its beginning. The betrothal was signed on 20 December 1675, but the prospective groom was mortally wounded at the siege of Philippsburg on 9 August 1676. After the death of his daughter's fiancé, George William sought to negotiate an agreement on

1060-626: The House of Ahlden, first mentioned in the 13th century, who were knights ( Ritter ) and Burgmanns . The fortification was first mentioned in the records in 1433, and had previously belonged to the Diocese of Minden . In 1431 there was a change of seat from Ahlden and its castle. The lords of Ahlden lost everything in the conflict with the diocese and the House of Welf . They had broken their bond not to pursue any more feuds or carry out any more raids. As

1113-753: The Icelandic word ambátt , "female slave" and the Norwegian ambått "room maid", "maiden", emerged from the Celtic-Latin via Old German/Old Nordic. In Holstein during the Danish era (to 1864) the Amtmann was the senior official of a sovereign department ( landesherrliches Amt ). As head of the administration he was subordinate from 1546 to the ministry (German Chancellery) in Copenhagen. The Amtmann

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1166-601: The Middle Ages, elected by the citizens who was the leader of the executive of a canton ( Landammann ), a town ( Stadtammann ) or a parish ( Gemeindeammann ). Today in Germany, an Amtmann is the official title for an official ( Beamter ) of pay band ( Besoldungsordnung ) A 11 in the "upper service" level ( gehobener Dienst ) of the German Civil Service , corresponding to an Army Captain . In

1219-536: The Queen in Prussia, travelled to Hanover in 1725 to see her father, by then King George I of Great Britain , Sophia Dorothea, dressed even more carefully than usual, waited every day at the window of her residence, hoping in vain to see her daughter. Sophia Dorothea grew overweight, and was frequently plagued by febrile colds and indigestion. In early 1726, she suffered a stroke; in August of that year she went to bed with

1272-412: The beams records. The inner courtyard side of the wing has a lavishly-decorated Renaissance facade. The north wing is a timber-framed structure that was redesigned in 1705 by the architect, Johann Caspar Borchmann, because the building was falling into disrepair. Outside the house there was a gatehouse and entranceway. It guarded access to the house and was demolished probably around 1800. The building

1325-683: The circumstances of Sophia Dorothea's birth. After the rejection of his daughter, George William decided to improve the status of Sophia Dorothea and her mother. By contract signed on 22 August 1675, and in open violation of his previous promise never to marry, George William declared that Éléonore was his lawful wife, and a second wedding ceremony was held at Celle on 2 April 1676. Ernest Augustus and Sophia stayed away from this second wedding. Twenty-two days later, on 24 April, Eléonore began to be addressed at court as Duchess of Brunswick and Sophia Dorothea became legitimate. This development alarmed George William's relatives because it appeared to threaten

1378-483: The citizenship. He resided in an Amthaus or Amtshaus and collected taxes from the district ( Amtsbezirk ), administered justice and maintained law and order with a small, armed unit. Later, the word Beamter superseded the older word Amtmann and has come to mean "official" or "civil servant". The word Amtmann is derived from ambet-ambachtos - "one sent round", Celtic: Latin ambactus "envoy", "herold", "servant", French, ambassadeur , "ambassador". By contrast,

1431-457: The correspondence to the House of Hanover, but they demanded such a high price that the court rejected the offer and questioned the authenticity of the letters. The correspondence was published in the middle of the 19th century. The majority of the letters are now in the possession of Lund University in Sweden, although a few ended up in the possession of Sophia Dorothea's grandson, King Frederick

1484-514: The district court ( Amtsgericht ) until 1972. Justice had been dispensed in Ahlden since 1310. In the Thirty Years' War the house was occupied by the imperial troops under Tilly after a day's siege. They defended it against an unsuccessful attack by 800 besieging Danish troops. From 1726 Ahlden House was the residence of the state seneschals . The considerable renovation work required

1537-547: The divorce proceedings, he had Sophia Dorothea placed under arrest in Lauenau Castle. On 28 December 1694, the dissolution of the marriage was pronounced, and Sophia Dorothea was named as the guilty party for "maliciously leaving her husband". She was forbidden to remarry or to see her children again; her name was removed from official documents, she was stripped of her title of Electoral Princess , and churches in Hanover were no longer to mention her name in prayers. After

1590-514: The divorce, George Louis sent her to Ahlden House , a stately home on the Lüneburg Heath , which served as a prison appropriate to her status. At the behest of her former husband and with the consent of her father , Sophia Dorothea was imprisoned for life. George Louis confiscated the assets she had brought into the marriage and allocated her an annual maintenance. She initially received 8,000 thalers for herself and her court, which

1643-502: The entranceway leading to the inner courtyard the wall recesses for the drawbridge can still be seen. During the construction of the wing in 1613 there was a serious accident when a roof joist dislodged and seriously injured 14 workers. The south wing, a timber-framed structure with brick infill, is the oldest part of the building. It was completed in 1579 under Duke William the Younger of Brunswick-Lüneburg, as an inscription on one of

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1696-556: The estates of Ahlden , Rethem and Walsrode , extensive estates in France, and Celle , her father's fortune and her mother's jewelry. Her father appointed Count Heinrich Sigismund von Bar as administrator of Sophia Dorothea's fortune. She named him as one of the main beneficiaries of her will, but he died six years before she did. Sophia Dorothea's affair is the basis of the British film Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948), in which she

1749-512: The inheritance of the Duchy of Lüneburg. He initially approached his younger brother Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg , to arrange a marriage between Sophia Dorothea and Ernest Augustus's eldest son George Louis , the future King George I of Great Britain. However, both his brother and his sister-in-law, Sophia of the Palatinate , had misgivings about the proposed match because of

1802-460: The members of his daughter's court in Berlin were wearing black. The guards at Ahlden placed Sophia Dorothea's corpse in a lead coffin and deposited it in a cellar. In January 1727 an order came from London that she be buried without any ceremony in the cemetery of Ahlden, which was impossible after weeks of heavy rain. The coffin was brought back to the cellar and covered in sand. Not until May 1727

1855-674: The orders of his wife the Countess, out of jealousy. In 2016, construction workers installing an elevator in the Leineschloss found human bones in a pit. These were initially assumed to be Königsmarck's remains, but examination suggested that it is unlikely. When his affair with Sophia Dorothea was about to become public, Königsmarck handed their love letters to his brother-in-law, the Swedish Count Carl Gustav von Löwenhaupt. The latter's heirs later offered to sell

1908-535: The planned union of the Lüneburg territories. By an agreement signed on 13 July 1680, the Lüneburg ruling family recognised Éléonore as Duchess of Brunswick and Sophia Dorothea as Princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle, with all appertaining rights of birth. George Louis's parents also agreed to the proposed union of their son with Sophia Dorothea. In the teeth of opposition from both Sophia Dorothea herself and from her mother, George William went ahead with arrangements for

1961-511: The river bank by Ahlden opposite the Bunkenburg. Today it is located on the old branch of the Aller, which was the one that channeled the waters of the Leine in 1618 and has since been called the "Old Leine". Much of the house is of timber-framed construction; only the ground floor of the west wing being built of brick . The building today consists of three, two-storey wings in the shape of

2014-406: The wedding. The wedding took place on 21 November 1682. The marriage was a complete failure. George Louis and his mother, Sophia of the Palatinate , felt only contempt for Sophia Dorothea, believing that her birth and manners were inferior. Explaining her reluctant support for the marriage, Duchess Sophia wrote to her niece Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orléans : "One hundred thousand thalers

2067-519: Was Sophia Dorothea buried, secretly and at night, beside her parents in the Stadtkirche in Celle . George I died four weeks later while he was visiting Hanover. Sophia Dorothea's parents seem to have believed to the last that their daughter would one day be released. In January 1705, shortly before her father's death, he and his wife drew up a joint will, under which their daughter was to receive

2120-575: Was a marriage of state , arranged by her father George William , her father-in-law the Elector of Hanover , and her mother-in-law, Electress Sophia of Hanover , first cousin of King Charles II of England . Sophia Dorothea is best remembered for her alleged affair with Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck that led to her being imprisoned in the Castle of Ahlden for the last thirty years of her life. Born in Celle on 15 September 1666, Sophia Dorothea

2173-427: Was a page at the court of Celle . At first, their meetings were brief and sporadic, but this probably changed in 1691. Initially, their closeness went unnoticed, but eventually the preference that Sophia Dorothea showed for Königsmarck aroused suspicion. By 1694 rumors filled the Hanoverian court that they were having a love affair. Contemporary sources show that Sophia Dorothea and Königsmarck were presumed to have had

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2226-628: Was allowed to walk unaccompanied only inside the mansion's courtyard. Later, she was permitted to enter the gardens under guard. After the first two years, she was permitted to make supervised journeys of up to two kilometres outside the walls. Her stay in Ahlden was interrupted several times because of war or when renovation of the residence was under way. During these times, she was transferred to Celle Castle or to Essel . Her entourage comprised two ladies in waiting, several chambermaids, and other household and kitchen staff, all selected for their loyalty to Hanover. After her imprisonment, Sophia Dorothea

2279-513: Was also a secular judge of the trial court ( erster Instanz ) and, together with the Propst or provost , made up the ecclesiastical court or consistory ( Konsistorium ). In a literary testimony to the office, Detlev von Liliencron wrote a ballad called "Pidder Lüng" in which there is an Amtmann of Tønder , called Henning Pogwisch. In Switzerland the Ammann ( Amtmann ) was an office, since

2332-414: Was brought to Ahlden House, where she was imprisoned until her death in 1726. 52°45′32″N 9°33′29″E  /  52.759°N 9.558°E  / 52.759; 9.558 Sophia Dorothea of Celle Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle (15 September 1666 – 13 November 1726) was the repudiated wife of future King George I of Great Britain . The union with George, her first cousin,

2385-453: Was completed in 1975 at a cost of 90,000 DM from state funds. An antiques auctions house bought the house for its representational headquarters, on the condition that the courtyard would be kept open for the public during the day. Limited viewing of the interior is only possible when previewing items for auctions. When she was divorced from her husband in 1694 after her affair with Lieutenant Königsmarck , Sophie Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg

2438-561: Was dependent on the help of his brother. He sent his daughter back to Hanover. In the summer of 1694 Sophia Dorothea, together with Königsmarck and her lady in waiting Eleonore von dem Knesebeck, planned an escape, hoping to find refuge either in Wolfenbüttel , under the protection of Duke Anthony Ulrich , or in the Electorate of Saxony , where Königsmarck was a major general in the cavalry. Countess Clara Elisabeth von Platen ,

2491-655: Was enhanced, and her chances were further improved, when, by imperial order dated 22 July 1674, and in recognition of the military assistance given by her father to Emperor Leopold I , she and her mother received the title of Countess of Harburg and Wilhelmsburg " ( Gräfin von Harburg und Wilhelmsburg ) with allodial rights over those demesnes. Sophia Dorothea's suitors included Augustus Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel; Frederick Charles, Duke of Württemberg-Winnental ; Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria ; and King Charles XI of Sweden . At first, her parents agreed to marriage between Sophia Dorothea and

2544-464: Was established opposite the village of Ahlden on the banks of the Aller . In 1618, during a flood , the Aller shifted its channel towards the east and, as the result of an embankment downstream, the waters of the Leine then flowed past Ahlden in the bed of the former Aller. Since 1648 the course of the "Old Leine" has become a partly dried oxbow lake . The present house was built in the 16th century on

2597-447: Was ever found. King Louis XIV of France questioned his sister-in-law Elizabeth Charlotte , a maternal first cousin of George Louis, about the murder, but she pretended ignorance. Louis then sent agents to Hanover, but they could shed no more light on the mystery than King Augustus II of Poland and Saxony , who spent weeks searching for his missing general. Ernest Augustus and his brother George William, Sophia Dorothea's father, made

2650-446: Was known as Duchess of Ahlden. At first, she was extremely apathetic and resigned to her fate, but in later years she tried to obtain her release. After her former father-in-law died in 1698, she sent a letter of condolence to her former husband, assuring him that "she prayed for him every day and begged him on her knees to forgive her mistakes. She will be eternally grateful to him if he allows her to see her two children." She also wrote

2703-474: Was later raised to 28,000 thalers, a sum which George Louis and her father George William paid in equal parts. She was detained in the north wing of the castle, a two-story half-timbered building, and guarded 24 hours a day by 40 men at arms, five to ten of whom were on duty at any one time. Her mail and visits were strictly controlled, though her mother had unlimited visiting rights. As far as anyone knows, she never attempted to escape. Initially, Sophia Dorothea

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2756-406: Was the most senior retainer ( Dienstmann ) of an Amt ; the administrative office of a territorial lord ( Landesherr ) created to manage the estates of manors ( Gutshöfe ), castles and villages. The estates were both administrative as well as juridical districts. The Amtmann was usually a member of the nobility or a cleric. In towns, he was also often a member of the wealthy classes amongst

2809-402: Was the only surviving daughter of George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg , by his morganatic wife Eléonore Desmier d'Olbreuse (1639–1722), Lady of Harburg, a French Huguenot noblewoman. Sophia Dorothea appears to have grown up in a carefree and loving environment. Her father transferred large assets to her over time in order to improve her chances as a candidate for marriage. Her status

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