Adolf Frederick of Mecklenburg (1588 - 1658) is known to have been the father of at least sixteen legitimate children from his two marriages. Sources differ as to Christina's chronological ranking in the list of her father's children, because not all of them list all the children who died in infancy. According to one source she was her father's eleventh child, and the third by his second marriage. Her mother was Marie Katharina (1616–1665), a daughter of
the Duke of Brunswick. At her mother's request, and through the mediation of her second cousin,
Anton Ulric of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, from 1665 she acquired a
benefice (income) through her appointment as the then youngest
canoness of
Gandersheim Abbey. This time, on 9 August 1681, Christina of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was elected to succeed Christine Sophie as
abbess. Her installation followed on 11 October 1681, following her
"capitulatio caesarea" (formal conditional acceptance of the position). Her
investiture by
the emperor with the
appropriate regalia followed on 13 April 1683. (Henriette Christine's own tenure as abbess came to an end in 1712 after she gave birth.) == Celebration ==