Born: 30 July 1790, Poland
Died: 14 June 1866
Country most active: Poland
Also known as: Baroness Amalia Frederica Wilhelmina von Dyhrn-Czettritz-Neuhaus, Baroness von Rabenau
Baroness Amalia von Dyhrn was a Prussian heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist. Her parents were impoverished aristocrats with a tumultuous marriage that ended in divorce the year after she was born. She, her mother and older sister Henrietta lived in a small apartment at a monastery, and her father ended his own life in 1794. Her mother, who was born out of wedlock herself, was known to be promiscuous, prompting rumors about Amalia’s parentage.
In order to support herself and her daughters, Amalia’s mother began a private tailor school for noble women, while Henrietta was sent to work as a governess for a young countess. In 1810, Amalia and her mother attended a ball where she met the Baron Julius von Dyhrn. The two were engaged two years later and married in 1814 despite his family’s objections. In 1825, the couple took the name von Dyhrn-Czettritz und Neuhaus in honor of Julius’s uncle who, having no children of his own, left his immense fortune and large properties to Julius. The couple is said to have had a happy marriage until the late 1930s, when Julius began experiencing mental health issues and was committed to a psychiatric facility, dying in 1841.
Upon inheriting her husband’s wealth and properties, as well as her success in managing the family mining business, Amalia now controlled an estimated 10 million Prussian thalers in wealth, or around $165 million US in 2020s currency.
Although born and married into Protestant families, Amalia converted to Catholicism and formed a close friendship with a priest, Franz Gyrdt, who also served as administrator of her finances. He encouraged her to donate to the Catholic Church and various Catholic charities. When she died in 1866, he was also her principal heir (Amalia and Julius had not had children), with a bequest of 9 million of her 12 million thaler estate. The remainder went to her niece (1.5 million), nephew (.5 million), some of her servants, and various charities, including the conversion of her mansion into an orphanage.
The Protestant von Dyhrn family spent more than 10 years contesting the will in court, claiming the priest had either forged the document or forced Amalia to leave him the vast sum, but to no avail – it was ironclad. Gyrdt gave up the priesthood, buying properties and travelling extensively with his new fortune and, after his death, the fortune was inherited by the Diocese of Breslau.