Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach

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Queen Sophia Magdalen. Painted by J.S. du Wahl

Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (28 November 1700 – 27 May 1770) was queen-consort of Denmark and Norway as the wife of the King Christian VI of Denmark.

She was born in the Castle Schonberg in the family of Margrave Christian Henry of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Countess Sofie Christiane of Wolfstein. On 7 August 1721 she married to Prince Christian and became Queen of Denmark in 1730.

The Royal Couple's life together was harmonious but Sophia Magdalen was unpopular. She was accused of creating a certain closedness around the Court and the Royal Family. Her background in a religious environment, marked by Pietism, was a strong influence on the introduction of the subdued life at the Court. Later she was criticized for never having discarded of her Germanness, even though German culture and language were dominant at the Court before her time.

Sophia Magdalen was behind the making of a new Queen's Crown, when she refused to wear the same one that the hated Queen Anna Sophie had worn. She established the collection of Crown Jewels when she bequeathed a large part of her jewellery for that purpose. She had the Palace of Hirschholm built, where she lived after being widowed in 1746.

She died in Christianborg and was buried in the Roskilde Cathedral.