German politician (2 October 1749 – 10 March 1810), Abbess of Gandersheim
Augusta Dorothea of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (2 October 1749 – 10 March 1810), was Princess Abbess of Gandersheim Abbey from 1778 until 1810. She was the last sovereign Princess Abbess of Gandersheim.
In 1802, Gandersheim became annexed by Brunswick during the secularization of the clerical states in Germany, but she kept her title. When Brunswick was captured by France in 1806, Augusta fled. Napoleon I, however, allowed her to keep the title and the right to reside in Gandersheim. When she died, the post was never filled again, and Gandersheim became a part of the Kingdom of Westphalia.
References
^Fraser, Flora: The Unruly Queen: The Life of Queen Caroline
Martin Hoernes und Hedwig Röckelein (Hrsg.): Gandersheim und Essen. Vergleichende Untersuchungen zu sächsischen Frauenstiften, (Essener Forschungen zum Frauenstift, Band 4), Essen 2006
C. Römer: Braunschweig-Bevern, Ein Fürstenhaus als europäische Dynastie 1667–1884, Braunschweig (1997)
Kurt Kronenberg: Äbtissinnen des Reichstiftes Gandersheim 1981