by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2025
On November 25, 1620, King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden married Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg in the Hall of State at Tre Kronor Castle (Three Crowns Castle), which stood on the site of the present Royal Palace of Stockholm in Sweden.
Early Life of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia
Born on December 9, 1594, at Tre Kronor Castle, which stood on the site of the present Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden, Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, was the eldest of the four children and the elder of the two sons of the future Karl IX, King of Sweden, and his second wife, Christina of Holstein-Gottorp.
Gustav II Adolf’s father Karl was Regent of Sweden from 1599 to 1604 and King of Sweden from 1604 to 1611. He had the good sense to prepare his son for his future role. Gustav II Adolf received a thorough humanistic and political education. The early education and training proved useful as Gustav II Adolf became King of Sweden at the age of sixteen, when his father, Karl IX, King of Sweden, died on October 30, 1611.
Early Life of Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg
Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg; Credit – Wikipedia
Born on November 11, 1599, in Königsberg, Duchy of Prussia, now Kaliningrad, Russia, Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg was the third of eight children and the second of the four daughters of Johann Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg and Anna of Prussia. Maria Eleonora’s father, Johann Sigismund, became the Duke of Prussia through his marriage to Anna, the eldest daughter of Albrecht Friedrich, Duke of Prussia, who died in 1618, without sons.
The childhood of Maria Eleonora and her seven siblings was dominated by their temperamental and strong-willed mother, Anna of Prussia. Anna was intellectually superior to her husband and reportedly threw plates and glasses at him during arguments. Anna, a fervent Lutheran, strongly disapproved of her husband’s conversion to Calvinism. After her husband died in 1619, Anna played an important role during the reign of her son, Georg Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg.
Reasons for the Marriage
Gustav II Adolf fell in love with Swedish noblewoman Ebba Magnusdotter Brahe, a lady-in-waiting at the Swedish court, and he wanted to marry her. Dowager Queen Christina, Gustav Adolf’s mother, was considered the real power behind the throne during the early years of her son’s reign. She prevented his marriage to Ebba Magnusdotter Brahe because she feared the complications of marriage with a noble and realized a dynastic marriage could have substantial political benefits.
In 1616, the 22-year-old Gustav II Adolf started looking for a Protestant bride. He had received positive reports about the beauty and intelligence of 17-year-old Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. However, Maria Eleonora’s brother, Georg Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, opposed the marriage, fearing that a Swedish alliance would create conflict with Poland. In the midst of negotiations, King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland expressed interest in marrying his son to Maria Eleonora, further complicating the situation. Maria Eleonora and her mother, Anna of Prussia, were opposed to this proposal, which strengthened Gustav II Adolf’s position. Finally, Gustav II Adolf convinced Maria Eleonora’s mother to support his proposal. Gustav II Adolf and Maria Eleonora became engaged on June 18, 1620.
The marriage between Gustav II Adolf and Maria Eleonora was arranged primarily for political reasons. Sweden wanted an alliance with Brandenburg-Prussia against Poland, while the German Protestants wanted an alliance with Protestant Sweden against the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The marriage brought powerful Brandenburg connections into the growing Protestant bloc, supporting Sweden’s role in the Thirty Years’ War.
Pre-Wedding
Even after the engagement, Maria Eleonora’s brother, Georg Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, protested against his mother’s decision and tried to influence the situation, but was unsuccessful. Anna ensured that Maria Eleonora was kept away from her brother by sending her to Brunswick. On October 7, 1620, Maria Eleonora, her mother Anna of Prussia, and her sister Katarina started their journey to Sweden. During the first years of Maria Eleonora’s marriage, her mother Anna and her sister Katarina remained in Sweden. They did not return to Brandenburg until August 1624.
The Wedding
Tre Kronor Castle, where the wedding took place; Credit – Wikipedia
At 9.30 in the morning on November 25, 1620, Maria Eleonora’s bridal procession left Ulriksdal Palace, just outside Stockholm, to travel to Tre Kronor Castle, which stood on the site of the present Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. The 21-year-old bride traveled in a coach with her mother. Traveling in coaches behind the bride and her mother were the bride’s sister Katarina, her aunt, three ladies-in-waiting, eight maids, a butler, and seven junkers. As the procession reached Stockholm, it was met by King Gustav II Adolf’s entourage with 1,800 horsemen and 5,000 soldiers on foot. The king and Axel Oxenstierna, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden and a friend of the king, rode up to the carriage and greeted Maria Eleonora. The procession continued to Tre Kronor Castle, where it was met by two Dowager Queens of Sweden, the groom’s mother and the third wife and widow of King Karl IX of Sweden, Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, and Katarina Stenbock, the third wife and widow of King Gustav Vasa I of Sweden
In the afternoon, the bride and groom were taken by procession to the Hall of State at Tre Kronor Castle, which stood on the site of the present Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. Leading the procession was Svante Banér, the acting Marshal of the Realm, and six timpanists. They were followed by Privy Councillors, nobility, and finally the bride and groom, accompanied by their mothers. Gustav Adolf and Maria Eleonora sat on two chairs at the front of the hall. After musicians played in honor of the bride and groom, Petrus Kenicius, Archbishop of Uppsala, Primate of Sweden, officiated the Church of Sweden wedding ceremony in Swedish.
After the wedding ceremony, King Gustav II Adolf and Maria Eleonora, now Queen of Sweden, were taken to a large, red gold-embroidered velvet parade bed, an old tradition. All Sweden’s bishops were present, and the bride and groom were blessed in the bridal bed by the Archbishop of Upsala, while wine and various kinds of confections were brought to them.
Meanwhile, the Hall of State, where the wedding took place, was set up for the wedding supper. At the supper, the bride and groom sat surrounded by their relatives. Spanish wine and German beer were served, along with food that had been spiced with saffron, ginger, and cardamom. The festivities ended with a traditional torchlight dance, with the bride and groom first dancing with ten torchbearers. Dowager Queen Cristina, then King Gustav II Adolf’s siblings, and finally, the other guests joined the dancing. The bride and groom then retired to the silver-embroidered bridal bed that Maria Eleonora had brought with her.
Three days later, on November 28, 1620, Maria Eleonora was crowned Queen of Sweden at Stockholm Cathedral (Storkyrkan). The coronation procession was in the same order as the wedding procession, and Petrus Kenicius, Archbishop of Uppsala, Primate of Sweden, again officiated.
Children
Christina, Queen of Sweden, the only surviving child of Gustav II Adolf, and his successor; Credit – Wikipedia
Although Gustav II Adolf was successful in many endeavors, he was not successful in providing a male heir. His only surviving child, Christina, succeeded him.
- Stillborn daughter (1621)
- Christina (1623 – 1624), died in infancy
- Stillborn son (1625)
- Christina, Queen of Sweden (1626 – 1689), unmarried
Considered one of the most learned women of the 17th century, Queen Christina of Sweden is remembered for refusing to marry, abdicating her throne, converting to Roman Catholicism, living the rest of her life in Rome, and being one of only three women to be interred in the crypt at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Afterward
The Thirty Years’ War was a conflict fought mostly within the Holy Roman Empire, mainly in present-day Germany, from 1618 to 1648. Although it started as a religious war (Protestant nations against Catholic nations), it developed into a territorial war. Before Gustav II Adolf left to lead the Swedish army in the Thirty Years’ War, he secured his daughter Christina’s right to inherit the throne, in case he never returned, and gave orders that Christina should receive an education normally given to only boys.
Death of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden at the Battle of Lützen by Carl Wahlbom; Credit – Wikipedia
The Battle of Lützen occurred on November 16, 1632, between a Holy Roman Empire force under Albrecht von Wallenstein and a combined Swedish-German army led by Gustav II Adolf. While leading the cavalry charge, he was separated in a mix of gun smoke and fog, causing him to ride mistakenly behind enemy lines. There he was shot in the back, stabbed, and fell from his horse. Lying on the ground, 37-year-old Gustavus Adolphus received a final, fatal shot to his temple.
Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, was officially given the name Gustavus Adolphus the Great by the Riksdag of the Estates, the legislature, in 1634, two years after he died in battle. Gustav II Adolf is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history and made Sweden a great power that would result in it becoming one of Europe’s largest and leading nations during the early modern period.
Maria Eleonora, circa 1650; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Eleonora and Gustav II Adolf’s only surviving child, Christina, became Queen of Sweden at the age of six. However, Maria Eleonora was not included in the regency government during Christina’s minority because the Council of State did not consider her suitable as regent due to her supposed mental instability. They decided to separate mother and daughter, and Maria Eleonora was sent to Gripsholm Castle.
Maria Eleonora wanted to end her exile at Gripsholm Castle and return to Brandenburg, her birthplace, but was denied permission because her brother, Georg Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, was an enemy of Sweden. Instead, Maria Eleonora began secret negotiations with King Christian IV of Denmark to allow her to live in Denmark. Maria Eleonora and her lady-in-waiting escaped from Gripsholm Castle on the night of July 22, 1640, by letting themselves down from a window. They were rowed across a nearby lake where a carriage was waiting for them. The carriage took them to Nyköping, where they boarded a Danish ship and were taken to Denmark.
Sweden and Brandenburg signed a peace treaty in 1641. Among the terms of the treaty was an agreement that Maria Eleonora’s nephew, Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, would host his aunt in Brandenburg, and Sweden would give her a pension. In 1643, Maria Eleonora left Denmark for Brandenburg, where she would live for five years. She was able to return to Sweden in 1648, enabling her to witness Christina’s coronation. Nyköping Castle was granted to Maria Eleonora as a residence by order of her daughter. Maria Eleanora died at the age of 55, on March 28, 1655, in Stockholm, Sweden, shortly after her daughter Queen Christina abdicated.
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Works Cited
- Bidragsgivare till Wikimedia-projekten. (2003). Drottning av Sverige 1620–1632. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Eleonora_av_Brandenburg
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- Flantzer, Susan. (2021). Gustavus II Adolphus the Great, King of Sweden. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-gustavus-ii-adolphus-the-great-of-sweden/
- Flantzer, Susan. (2021). Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, Queen of Sweden. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maria-eleonora-of-brandenburg-queen-of-sweden/
- Thunberg, Ida. (2010, June 15). Kungliga bröllop: Lördag 25 novemberg 1620, Gustav II Adolf och Maria Eleonora. Expressen.se. https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/kungligt/kungliga-brollop-lordag-25-novemberg-1620-gustav-ii-adolf-och-maria-eleonora/
- Wikipedia Contributors. (2024). Wedding of Gustav II Adolf and Maria Eleonora. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation.
