Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen

Countess Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen (1558 – 9 September 1599), Magdalena Gräfin zu Waldeck-Wildungen, was a countess from the House of Waldeck and through marriage successively Countess of Hanau-Münzenberg and Countess of Nassau-Siegen.

Biography
Magdalene was born in 1558 as the youngest daughter of Count Philip IV of Waldeck-Wildungen and his third wife Countess Jutta of Isenburg-Grenzau. The exact date and place of Magdalene's birth are unknown.

Magdalene married at on 5 February 1576  to Count Philip Louis I of Hanau-Münzenberg (21 November 1553 – Hanau, 4 February 1580 ), the eldest son of Count Philip III of Hanau-Münzenberg and Countess Palatine Helena of Simmern. Philip Louis succeeded his father in 1561 and was first under the regency of his uncle Count John VI the Elder of Nassau-Siegen (Philip III of Hanau-Münzenberg and John VI the Elder of Nassau-Siegen were both sons of Countess Juliane of Stolberg-Wernigerode ). Politically, the marriage could represent a conscious withdrawal on her groom's part from the politically dominant influence of his guardian, John VI the Elder of Nassau-Siegen. Philip Louis died "Donnerstag nach Purificationis Mariæ, zwischen 4 und 5 Uhr Nachmittag durch eine Ohnmacht, welche ihre Gnaden ganz unversehentlich über Tisch und dem Spielen ankommen" ("Thursday after Purificationis Mariæ, between 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon by a fainting which His Grace completely unexpectedly suffered at the table and at the games").

Magdalena remarried at Dillenburg Castle on 9 December 1581 to Count John VII the Middle of Nassau-Siegen (,   7 June 1561 – Siegen Castle,   27 September 1623 ), the second son of Count John VI the Elder of Nassau-Siegen and his first wife Landgravine Elisabeth of Leuchtenberg. Through his marriage to Magdalene, John the Middle strengthened relations within the Wetterauer Grafenverein and thus contributed to the strengthening of the House of Nassau. John the Middle was a cousin of Magdalena's first husband. Magdalena's great-grandmother Countess Joanne of Nassau-Siegen, was an older sister of Count John V of Nassau-Siegen, the great-grandfather of John the Middle. Magdalene's great-great-grandmother Countess Jutta of Eppstein-Münzenberg was a granddaughter of Count Adolf I of Nassau-Siegen, the elder brother of Count Engelbert I of Nassau-Siegen, the grandfather of Count John V.

Magdalene died at Idstein Castle on 9 September 1599, where she stayed for the funeral of her nephew Count John Philip of Nassau-Idstein. She was buried in the in the  in Dillenburg on 13 September 1599. Bernhard Textor wrote a Leichenpredigt for Magdalene which was published in Herborn in 1600.

John the Middle remarried at Rotenburg Castle on 27 August 1603 to Duchess Margaret of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (Haus Sandberg am Alsensund near Sonderburg, 24 February 1583 – , Siegen, 10/20 April 1658 ), the youngest daughter of Duke John II the Younger of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg and his first wife Duchess Elisabeth of Brunswick-Grubenhagen.

When his father died on 8 October 1606, John the Middle succeeded his father together with his brothers William Louis, George, Ernest Casimir and John Louis. On 30 March 1607 the brothers divided their possessions. John acquired Siegen, Freudenberg, Netphen, Hilchenbach, and the Haingericht.

John the Middle died aged 62 and was buried in the in Siegen   on 5/15 November 1623. There he had planned the construction of a dignified burial vault for the dynasty he founded. For this, there are remarkable notes in Latin, partly in elegiac couplets, for a projected memorial and burial place of the sovereign family, from the time around 1620, with the names of all 25 children from his two marriages, also with details of birth, marriage and death of his relatives. Since the project was not carried out, the burials of the members of the sovereign family between 1607 and 1658 took place in the inadequate burial vault under the choir of the mentioned parish church. At a time hitherto unknown, Magdalene was interred there with her husband John the Middle. On 29 April 1690 Magdalene and John were transferred to the in Siegen.

First marriage
From the marriage of Magdalene with Philip Louis I of Hanau-Münzenberg, the following children were born:
 * 1) Count Philip Louis II (Hanau, 18 November 1576 – Hanau, 19 August 1612), succeeded his father as Count of Hanau-Münzenberg in 1580. Married in Dillenburg on 23 October/2 November 1596 to Countess Catherine Belgica of Nassau (Antwerp, 31 July 1578 – The Hague, 12/22 April 1648), daughter of Prince William I the Silent of Orange and Duchess Charlotte of Bourbon-Montpensier.
 * 2) Juliane (13 October 1577 – 2 December 1577), buried in the choir of the  in Hanau.
 * 3) William (26 August 1578 – 4 June 1579), also buried in the choir of St. Mary's Church in Hanau.
 * 4) Count Albrecht (12 November 1579 – Strasbourg, 19 December 1635), succeeded his father as Count of Hanau-Schwarzenfels in 1580. Married on 16 August 1604 to Countess Ehrengard of Isenburg-Birstein (1 October 1577 – Frankfurt, 21 September 1637).

Second marriage
From the marriage of Magdalene with John VII the Middle of Nassau-Siegen, the following children were born:
 * 1) John Ernest (Siegen Castle, 21 October 1582Jul. – Udine, 16/17 September 1617Jul.), was, among other things, a general in the Venetian army, involved in the Uskok War.
 * 2) Count John VIII the Younger (Dillenburg Castle, 29 September 1583Jul. –  near Oudenaarde, 27 July 1638), succeeded his father as Count of Nassau-Siegen in 1623. Married in Brussels on 13 August 1618 to Princess  (2 November 1594 – Brussels, 4 January 1663).
 * 3) Elisabeth (Dillenburg Castle, 8 November 1584 –, 26 July 1661), married in Wildungen in November 1604 to Count Christian of Waldeck-Wildungen (Eisenberg Castle, 24/25 December 1585 – , 31 December 1637).
 * 4) Adolf (Dillenburg Castle, 8 August 1586 – Xanten, 7 November 1608), was a captain in the Dutch States Army.
 * 5) Juliane (Dillenburg Castle, 3 September 1587 – Eschwege, 15 February 1643), married at Dillenburg Castle on 21 May 1603Jul. (Beilager) and in Kassel on 4 June 1603Jul. (Heimführung) to Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Kassel (Kassel, 25 May 1572 – Eschwege, 15 March 1632).
 * 6) Anne Mary (Dillenburg Castle, 3 March 1589 – 22 February 1620), married in Dillenburg on 3 February 1611Jul. to Count  (c. 1581 – 13 March 1653), Count of Falkenstein and Broich.
 * 7) John Albert (Dillenburg, 8 February 1590 – Dillenburg, 1590).
 * 8) Count William (Dillenburg, 13 August 1592 – Orsoy, 7/17 July 1642), was since 1624 count in a part of Nassau-Siegen and since 1633 field marshal of the Dutch States army. Married at Siegen Castle on 17 January 1619 to Countess Christiane of Erbach (5 juni 1596 – Culemborg, 6 juli 1646).
 * 9) Anne Joanne (Dillenburg Castle, 2 March 1594Jul. – The Hague, December 1636), married at  near Mülheim an der Ruhr on 19 June 1619 to  (Heusden (?), 12 June 1599 –  near Maastricht, 3 September 1655), Lord of Brederode, Vianen, Ameide and Cloetingen.
 * 10) Frederick Louis (2 February 1595 – Dillenburg, 22 April 1600Jul.).
 * 11) Magdalene (23 February 1596 – 6 December 1662), married:
 * 12) in August 1631 to Bernhard Moritz Freiherr von Oeynhausen-Velmede (1602 – Leipzig, 20 November 1632);
 * 13) on 25 August 1642  (20 March 1591 – Bremen, 5 May 1652).
 * 14) John Frederick (10 februari 1597 – 1597).

Known descendants
Magdalene has many known descendants. All reigning European monarchs, with the exception of the Fürst of Liechtenstein, are descendants of her, and also the heads of the no longer reigning royal houses of Baden, Greece, Lippe, Prussia, Romania and Waldeck and Pyrmont. Other known descendants are:
 * the Prussian Field Marshal Fürst Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau (der Alte Dessauer),
 * the French Field Marshal Maurice of Saxony,
 * the Austrian chancellor Klemens von Metternich,
 * the Romanian writer Carmen Sylva,
 * the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen,
 * the German chancellor Max von Baden, and
 * the German fighter pilot from World War I Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron).