CHARLOTTE FRIEDERIKE

The "Meisenheim Wittelsbach" line was founded by Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken, who ruled from Meisenheim and is buried in the castle church. All Bavarian kings and several Swedish ones, including Charles X, Charles XI and Charles XII, originated from this house. One of its representatives of particular import to Meisenheim was Charlotte Frederica, daughter of Count Palatine Frederick Louis, Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken. She was born in Zweibrücken in 1653 and died in 1712 at a royal estate in Dörrmoschel. She is buried in the castle church of Meisenheim.

When the Louis XIV of France, the Sun King, dispatched his troops as part of the Nine Year's War (War of Palatinate Succession) in 1689, he sent them off with the battle cry 'Brûlez le Palatinat,' ('Burn the Palatinate'). And the Comte de Mélac, Louis XIV's brutal commander-in-chief, ensured that they carried out his command mercilessly. Following his instructions, they lay waste to every city they encountered. From Heidelberg and Mannheim to Speyer, Worms and Zweibrücken, the Palatinate burned. Meisenheim alone was spared, because Charlotte Frederica parleyed with de Mélac before the city gates, convincing him to undertake only a symbolic destruction of the towers and city wall.

On your morning stroll through our city, take the time to bask in the glorious medieval structures and give thanks to this extraordinary woman: Charlotte Frederica, the "Angel of Meisenheim!"