Louise Juliane of Erbach

Countess Louise Juliane of Erbach (1603 at near Michelstadt – 28 September 1670 in Friedewald) was a German regent; Countess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn by marriage to Ernest of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, she acted temporarily as regent of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. She is remembered as the title character of the novel Die Gräfin von Sayn ("The Countess of Sayn") by Karl Ramseger-Mühle. Biography Countess Louise Juliane of Erbach was born in 1603 as the daughter of Count George III and his wife, Maria of Barby-Mühlingen. She married Count Ernest of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn in January 1624, shortly after he had inherited the County. He was the son of Count William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, who had reunited the two lines of Sayn by marrying Anna Elisabeth of Sayn. William III had three more sons from his second marriage to Anna-Ottilie of Nassau-Weilburg, who would dispute the inheritance after Juliane's son Louis died in 1636. The young couple chose the castle in Hachenburg as their residence. They had six children; however, three of their five daughters died at a young age. During the Thirty Years' War, Ernest served in the army and Louise Juliane led the county's government. In 1632, they travelled to Frankfurt, to ask King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden to help their beleaguered country. However, Ernest died there, aged 32. In his will, he left the county to his son Louis and made Louise Juliane his guardian and regent while he was still underage. In case he would die prematurely, the two remaining daughters would inherit the county.