Countess Palatine Anna Maria of Neuburg

Countess Palatine Anna Maria of Neuburg (18 August 1575, Neuburg an der Donau – 11 February 1643, Dornburg) was Countess Palatine of Neuburg and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Weimar. Life Anna Maria was the eldest child of the Count Palatine and Duke Philip Louis of Neuburg (1547–1614) and Anna (1552–1632), daughter of Duke William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. She was married on 9 September 1591 in Neuburg to Duke Frederick William I of Saxe-Weimar (1562–1602). On the occasion of the marriage, a medal was minted in gold, representing the couple, one on each side with a bust. In 1604 she moved with her children from Weimar to Altenburg, which was separated from Weimar as an independent Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg for her sons. After she was widowed in 1602, Anna Maria sank into deep sadness and from 1612, she lived separate from her children on her Wittum, the District and City of Dornburg. During an attack on her Dornburg Castle by a Croatian force under General Tilly in 1631, during the Thirty Years' War, Anna Maria resisted the attackers but was robbed and wounded in the cheek. With the help of citizens rushed to the scene, the attackers were averted. Out of gratitude for this assistance, the Duchess donated a chalice to the local church. Anna Maria died in 1643 and was buried in the brick royal crypt in the Brethren Church in Altenburg.