Countess Emilie Juliane of Barby-Mühlingen

Who was Countess Emilie Juliane of Barby-Mühlingen?

Emilie Juliane was a German countess and hymn writer.

Emilie Juliane was a daughter of Count Albert Frederick I of Barby-Mühlingen and his wife Sophia Ursula of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst. During the Thirty Years' War her father and his family were compelled to seek refuge in the castle of Heidecksburg in Rudolstadt, which belonged to his uncle, Count Louis Günther I of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and Emilie was born there. After the death of her father and mother Emilie Juliane was adopted by her aunt Emilie of Oldenburg, who was also her godmother and had become the wife of Count Louis Günther. Emilie Juliane was educated at Rudolstadt with her cousins under the care of Dr. Ahasuerus Fritsch and other teachers.

On July 7, 1665 she was married to her cousin, Count Albert Anton II of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. She was the most productive of German female hymn-writers, some 600 hymns being attributed to her. Her hymns are full of a deep love for her Saviour. She published Geistliche Lieder, etc., Rudolstadt, 1683; Kuhlwasser in grosser Hitze des Creutzes, Rudolstadt, 1685; Tägliches Morgen- Mittags- und Abendopfer, Rudolstadt, 1685.