GALLITZIN, ADELHEID AMALIE, Princess of. — A Catholic noblewoman, born 28 Aug. 1748 in Berlin, daughter of Field Marshal Count von Schmettau, died 27 Apr. 1806 at Angelmodde near Münster. Baptized and raised in the Catholic faith, she later adhered to the principles of the Enlightenment. In 1768 she married Prince D. A. von Gallitzin, ambassador of the Tsarina to The Hague. In the early period of her intellectual formation, her guide was Fr. Hemsterhuis, an eclectic and Platonizing philosopher, representative of a humanistic religiosity.
In 1770, drawn by her interest in the reforming activity of the minister Fr. von Fürstenberg, she moved to Münster. Contact with Fr. H. Jakobi and J. G. Hamann, and above all the new Catholic environment, led her back to the Faith. Around her formed the *familia sacra* of Münster, a circle of notable figures that contributed greatly to the revival of Catholic life in Germany. Among its members were especially distinguished B. Overberg, L. von Stolberg, and the three Droste-Vischering brothers, including Clemens August, the future cardinal archbishop of Cologne.
Works: *Briefwechsel und Tagebücher der Fürstin V. G.* (ed. Chr. Schlüter, 4 vols., Münster 1874–76).