Princess Friederike of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (9 October 1811 – 10 July 1902) was the daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel and an elder sister of Christian IX of Denmark. She became the Duchess of Anhalt-Bernburg upon her marriage to Alexander Karl, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg, the last Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg. She served as Regent of the Duchy from 1855 to 1863.
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Early life
Friederike was born on 9 October 1811 at Gottorp Castle near Schleswig in the Duchy of Schleswig as Princess Friederike of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, the second-eldest daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, and Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel.
Friederike's father was the head of the ducal house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, a junior male branch of the House of Oldenburg which had occupied the throne of Denmark since 1448. Through her father, Friederike was thus a direct male-line descendant of King Christian III of Denmark.
Friederike's mother was a daughter of Landgrave Charles of Hesse, a Danish Field Marshal and Royal Governor of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, and his wife Princess Louise of Denmark, a daughter of Frederick V of Denmark.
On 6 June 1825, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm was appointed Duke of Glücksburg by his brother-in-law Frederick VI of Denmark, as the elder Glücksburg line had become extinct in 1779. He subsequently changed his title to Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and founded the younger Glücksburg line.