Queen
Maria Eleonora
Maria Eleonora was born in 1599 in Königsberg (Kaliningrad)
on the Baltic coast. She enjoyed looking for amber on the
seashore there, and she often asked her father, the Elector of
Brandenburg, for beautiful amber presents. Her childhood
was also spent at the electoral palace in Berlin. When she was
20 years old a mysterious visitor arrived there, calling himself
Captain Gars. She sensed that he was the man to whom her
father had promised her hand in marriage. But her father
had just died and her brother, who now decided, vetoed the
marriage. The suitor was Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden,
and Maria Eleonora’s brother did not want to alienate King
Sigismund of Poland, the other “King of Sweden”. Finally
Maria Eleonora fled from Berlin to Stockholm.
The wedding of the Princess and Gustavus Adolphus took
place at the royal castle of Three Crowns, in Stockholm, on
25th November 1620. This was followed by a tournament
lasting several days, with the King himself taking part.
Queen Maria Eleonora (1599–1655)
Portrait by unidentified artist, 1619, copy,
Nationalmuseum.
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Doublet for a page in the
service of Maria Eleonora in
the 1620s, made of white and
red (now pale pink) silk –
the Brandenburg colours.
Yellow tournament caparison
with blue tulips in velvet and
silk, woven in Flanders for the
wedding tournament in 1620.
Two torses of black velvet and
red silk, formerly decorated with
pearls. Maria Eleonora presented
helmet wreaths like these to the
victor in the 1620 tournament.
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3, 111 30 stockholm
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Queen Maria Eleonora had several children,
but they died in infancy. Every spring the King
went off to the wars in Poland. In 1620 she
gave birth to a strong and healthy girl, Christina.
By the King’s command, she was given a boy’s
upbringing.
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Finally Maria Eleonora fled to Denmark and
Germany, only returning in 1648, for the peace
celebrations at the end of the Thirty Years War.
She attended Christina’s coronation in 1650 and
also her abdication four years later. She died in
March 1655, aged 56.
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Three shirts, a “heart cloth” and embalming
sheets – all bloodstained – were given to the
Queen Dowager as a memento of the death of
Gustavus Adolphus on 6th November 1632.
The heart she had to surrender and deposit in the
King’s coffin after his funeral in Riddarholmen
Church in the summer of 1634.
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Deep-seat saddle on the charger Streiff – Queen
Maria Eleonora’s New Year’s present to Gustavus
Adolphus in 1630, embroidered in gold and silver
on red velvet, as are the reins and the two pistol
holsters. It was made by two craftsmen at court:
Conrad Herzog, saddler, and Engel Hardtmann,
tailor.
You can download this information sheet at our website: www.livrustkammaren.se.
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Four years later Gustavus Adolphus went to
war in Germany. His baggage included a red
embroidered saddle, a New Year’s present from
the Queen. They were not to see each other again
until January 1632, in Frankfurt am Main. Then
the war was resumed in April and on 6th November Gustavus Adolphus was killed in the Battle of
Lützen. She received the King’s heart, which had
been set aside by the embalmers. She wanted to
bury him at her own castle of Strömsholm, but the
Council refused. Thinking her a bad mother, they
excluded her from the regency.
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