An Electress (Template:Lang-de) was the consort of an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, one of the Empire's greatest princes.
The Golden Bull of 1356 established by Emperor Charles IV settled the number of Electors at seven. However, three of these were Roman Catholic archbishops, and so had no formal consorts; while of the four secular Electors, one was King of Bohemia, and his consort was always known by the more prestigious title of "Queen of Bohemia". The consorts usually referred to as Electresses, therefore, were:
- The Electress of the Electoral Palatinate, or Electress Palatine;
- The Electress of Brandenburg;
- The Electress of Saxony.
To these were added, in 1623 and 1692 respectively:
In the final years of the Empire, several Electors were added, who however only held their offices for less than three years before the Empire's final dissolution. The consorts of these last Electors were:
- The Electress of Württemberg;
- The Electress of Baden;
- The Electress of Hesse-Cassel.
The rulers of Hesse-Cassel continued to use the title of "Elector" until the annexation of the principality by Prussia in 1866.
Persons using or entitled to use the title of "Electress" are listed below:
Electresses Palatine
Electresses of Brandenburg
Electresses of Saxony
| Name | Father | Born | Married | Became Electress | Ceased to be Electress | Died | Husband |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth | Count Ulrich II of Lindow-Ruppin | ? | ? | ? | 6 Dec 1370 | 15 Nov 1373 | Rudolph II |
| Caecilia | Francis of Carrara, Duke of Padua | ? | 23 Jan 1367 or 1376 | 15 May 1388 | 1430-1434 | Wenceslaus I | |
| Anna | Balthasar, Landgrave of Thuringia | ? | 1387/1389 | ? | 4 Jul 1395 | Rudolph III | |
| Barbara | Rupert, Duke of Silesia-Liegnitz | ? | 6 Mar 1396 | 11 Jun 1419 | 17 May 1435 | ||
| Euphemia | Conrad II of Silesia | ? | 14 Jan 1402 | 11 Jun 1419 | 12 Nov 1422 | 1444 | Albert |
| Katharine | Henry II of Brunswick-Lüneburg | 1395 | 8 Feb 1402 | 6 Jan 1423 | 4 Jan 1428 | 1442 | Frederick I |
| Margaret | Ernest, Duke of Austria | 1416/17 | 3 Jun 1431 | 7 Sep 1464 | 12 Feb 1486 | Frederick II | |
| Elizabeth | Albert III, Duke of Bavaria | 2 Feb 1443 | 19 Nov 1460 | 7 Sep 1464 | 5 Mar 1486 | Ernest | |
| Sybille | John III, Duke of Cleves | 17 Jan 1512 | 9 Feb 1527 | 16 Aug 1532 | 4 Jun 1547 husband deposed |
21 Feb 1554 | John Frederick I |
| Agnes | Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse | 31 May 1527 | 9 Jan 1541 | 4 Jun 1547 | 9 Jul 1553 | 4 Nov 1555 | Maurice |
| Anna | Christian III of Denmark | 22 Nov 1532 | 7 Oct 1548 | 11 Jul 1553 | 1 Oct 1585 | Augustus | |
| Agnes Hedwig | Joachim Ernest of Anhalt-Dessau | 1573 | 3 Jan 1586 | 11 Feb 1586 | 1616 | ||
| Sophia | John George, Elector of Brandenburg | 6 Jun 1568 | 25 Apr 1582 | 11 Feb 1586 | 25 Sep 1591 | 7 Dec 1622 | Christian I |
| Hedwig | Frederick II of Denmark | 5 Aug 1581 | 12 Sep 1602 | 23 Jun 1611 | 26 Nov 1641 | Christian II | |
| Magdalena Sibylla (1) | Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia | 31 Dec 1586 | 19 Jul 1607 | 23 Jun 1611 | 8 Oct 1656 | 12 Feb 1659 | John George I |
| Magdalena Sibylla (2) | Christian of Brandenburg-Kulmbach-Bayreuth | 1 Nov 1612 | 13 Nov 1638 | 8 Oct 1656 | 22 Aug 1680 | 20 Mar 1687 | John George II |
| Anna Sophia | Frederick III of Denmark | 1 Sep 1647 | 9 Oct 1666 | 22 Aug 1680 | 12 Sep 1691 | 1 Jul 1717 | John George III |
| Eleonore of Saxe-Eisenach | 13 Apr 1662 | 17 Apr 1692 | 27 Apr 1694 | 9 Sep 1696 | John George IV | ||
| Christiane Eberhardine Queen of Poland |
Christian Ernest, Margrave of Bayreuth |
29 Dec 1671 | 20 Jan 1693 | 27 Apr 1694 | 4 Sep 1727 | Frederick Augustus I | |
| Maria Josepha Queen of Poland |
Emperor Joseph I | 8 Dec 1699 | 20 Aug 1719 | 1 Feb 1733 | 17 Nov 1757 | Frederick Augustus II | |
| Maria Antonia Walpurgis | Emperor Charles VII | 18 July 1724 | 20 Jun 1747 | 5 Oct 1763 | 17 Dec 1763 | 23 Apr 1780 | Frederick Christian |
| Maria Amalia Augusta | Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld |
1752 | 1769 | 11 Dec 1806 became queen |
1828 | Frederick Augustus III | |
| Name | Father | Born | Married | Became Electress | Ceased to be Electress | Died | Husband |
Electresses of Bavaria
| Name | Father | Born | Married | Became Electress |
Ceased to be Electress |
Died | Husband |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Renata | Charles III of Lorraine | 1574 | 6 Feb 1595 | Feb 1623 | 1635/1636 | Maximilan I | |
| Maria Anna | Emperor Ferdinand II | 13 Jan 1610 | 15 Jul 1635 | 27 Sep 1651 | 25 Sep 1665 | ||
| Henriette Adelaide | Victor Amadeus I of Savoy | 6 Nov 1636 | 8/11 Dec 1650 | 27 Sep 1651 | 13 Jun 1676 | Ferdinand Maria | |
| Maria Antonia | Emperor Leopold I | 1669 | 15 Jul 1685 | 24 Dec 1692 | Maximilian II | ||
| Teresa Kunegunda | Jan Sobieski of Poland | 4 Mar 1676 | 12 Jan 1695 | 26 Feb 1726 | 10 Mar 1730 | ||
| Maria Amalia | Emperor Joseph I | 22 Oct 1701 | 5 Oct 1722 | 26 Feb 1726 | 20 Jan 1745 | 11 Dec 1756 | Charles Albert |
| Maria Anna Sophia | Augustus III of Poland | 29 Aug 1728 | 9 Jul 1747 | 30 Dec 1777 | 17 Feb 1797 | Maximilian III | |
| Elizabeth Augusta | Joseph Charles of Sulzbach | 17 Jan 1721 | 17 Jan 1742 | 30 Dec 1777 | 17 Aug 1794 | Charles Theodore | |
| Maria Leopoldine | Ferdinand of Austria | 10 Dec. 1776 | 15 Feb 1785 | 16 Feb 1799 | 23 Jun 1848 | ||
| Frederica Caroline Wilhelmina | Charles Louis of Baden | 13 Jul 1776 | 9 Mar 1797 | 16 Feb 1799 | 1 Jan 1806 became queen |
13 Nov 1841 | Maximilian IV |
Electresses of Hanover
| Name | Father | Born | Married | Became Electress |
Ceased to be Electress |
Died | Husband |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sophia | Frederick V, Elector Palatine | 14 Oct 1630 | 30 Sep 1658 | 1692 | 23 Jan 1698 | 8 Jun 1714 | Ernest Augustus |
| Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline | John Frederick of Ansbach | 1 Mar 1683 | 22 Aug 1705 | 11 Jun 1727 | 20 Nov. 1737 | George II | |
| Sophia Charlotte | Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | 19 May 1744 | 8 Sep 1761 | 12 Oct 1814 | 17 Nov. 1818 | George III | |