Annerose von Grünewald

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Countess Grünewald (796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE))
Gender:	Female
Affiliation:	Galactic Empire
Status:	Alive (801 UC (3 NIC / 492 IC / 3601 CE))
Born:	771 UC (462 IC / 3571 CE)
Father:	Sebastian von Müsel
Mother:	Caribelle von Müsel
Sibling(s):	Reinhard von Lohengramm (younger brother)
Played by:	Han Keiko

Grand Duchess Annerose von Grünewald (Japanese: アンネローゼ・フォン・グリューネワルト), née Müsel (Japanese: ミューゼル) was the older sister of Reinhard von Lohengramm, and, for some time, a consort of Kaiser Friedrich IV.

Contents 1 Childhood 2 Consort to the Kaiser 3 Sister to the Kaiser 4 Legacy 5 Appendices 5.1 Appearances 5.2 Background information 5.3 Apocrypha 5.3.1 Manga

Childhood

Born with the name Annerose von Müsel to a poor aristocratic family, Annerose grew up with her father, Sebastian von Müsel, and younger brother, Reinhard, in a middle-class, suburban neighbourhood. Annerose's mother, Caribelle von Müsel, died in a car accident when she was young, which forced Annerose to act as a mother to her younger brother, forming a very close relationship.

When the Müsel family first moved into the middle-class neighbourhood, Annerose met Siegfried Kircheis for the first time. Five years younger than Annerose, Kircheis was so awed by her beauty that he ran away from her. Annerose asked Siegfried to promise to watch after her brother, Reinhard, and he kept that promise all the way to his death. (LOGH: 'Empire's Afterglow')

Consort to the Kaiser

One day a high nobleman happened to see Annerose in street, and took notice of her. Rumours of Annerose's beauty soon reached the Imperial Court, and it was decided that she would be brought to the Imperial Palace, Neue Sanssouci. to serve as consort to the emperor — Kaiser Friedrich IV. Her father was given a large sum of money (suggested to be 500,000 Imperial Marks) in return for selling his daughter into a life of sexual servitude. In exchange for her acquiescence, Annerose was elevated to the High Noble title of Countess, and given the name 'von Grünewald'. (Golden Wings)

When Reinhard realized what his father had done, he was enraged. He angrily swore to destroy the corrupt, capricious Goldenbaum Dynasty and rescue his sister from the clutches of Kaiser Friedrich IV. Together, he and Kircheis promised to defeat any enemy and win every battle on the road toward that goal. Annerose, meanwhile, was forced to acclimate to life in the Imperial Court, where she was very isolated. Scorned for her poor family background, Annerose had very few allies in the Court and a great many enemies. One such enemy, the Kaiser's former concubine, the Marquise Sussanna von Beenemünde, even went so far as to attempt assassination on both Annerose and Reinhard. (LOGH: 'Empire's Afterglow', 'The Actress Exits')

Despite her life of trials and tribulations, Annerose did not harbour any form of resentment to anybody. When her father passed away on 28 April 793 UC (484 IC / 3593 CE), she arranged for him to be buried next to her mother's grave; and after Marquise Beenemünde's plot against her was exposed and was executed, Annerose even persuaded her brother to forgive the Marquise, much to his surprise. (LOGH: 'The Actress Exits', DMSN: 'Chapter III')

While she lived in Neue Sanssouci, Annerose is only known to have had two friends: the Viscountess Dorothea von Schafhausen and Baroness Magdalena von Westfalen. (HBSHBL: 'The Hard Wind of Early Summer', 'The Night of the Party')

Sister to the Kaiser

Following the collapse of the Free Planets Alliance invasion fleet at the Battle of Amritsar in October 796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE), the 36th Kaiser of the Goldenbaum Dynasty, Friedrich IV, died quietly in his sleep. At this point, the Imperial Court fell into chaos. The Kaiser had no direct heir, and there were three potential candidates for the throne: Friedrich IV's two granddaughters, and his five-year-old grandson, Erwin Josef II. Annerose's brother, Reinhard von Lohengramm, supreme commander of the Imperial Armed Forces, allied himself with Friedrich's Minister of State Affairs, Klaus von Lichtenlade, in support of Erwin Josef. Most of the High Nobles rallied around Duke Otho von Braunschweig, ostensibly in support of one of the other heirs, but primarily because they feared Reinhard and Lichtenlade were attempting to usurp control of the Empire from the Goldenbaum Dynasty and supplant the supremacy of the nobility. These High Nobles formed the Lippstadt League, and tore the Empire apart in civil war. (LOGH: 'The Lippstadt Conspiracy')

At the end of the Imperial Civil War, Siegfried Kircheis was killed while saving the life of Reinhard von Lohengramm. Kircheis died contented, having kept his promise to Annerose, whom he had loved since they first met. Since neither Kircheis nor Annerose ever spoke directly of their feelings for one another, it is unknown whether Siegfried's love was reciprocated, however it is likely that Annerose did harbour some kind of deep feelings for him. When speaking to Annerose for the first time after Kircheis' death, Reinhard asked his sister whether or not she was in love with Kircheis. At the end of that conversation, Annerose declared that she would be moving out of Neue Sanssouci into the countryside in the Freuden Berge, and did not want to see Reinhard again until he had finished what he and Siegfried had promised to do: conquer the universe. (LOGH: 'Farewell, Distant Memories')

Shortly thereafter, Reinhard von Lohengramm seized power on Odin, and launched an invasion of the Free Planets Alliance. When he was eventually named Kaiser, Annerose did not attend the ceremony. Even then, she was elevated to Grand Duchess and as the closest relative of Reinhard, became next in line to the throne of the new Goldenlöwe Dynasty by default. (LOGH: 'Long Live the Emperor!')

Annerose did emerge from seclusion to attend Reinhard's marriage to Hildegard von Mariendorf, which she supported fully. She visited the couple before and after the wedding and visited Hildegard when Reinhard was away from Fezzan. During one of her visits in May 801 UC (3 NIC / 492 IC / 3601 CE), Annerose managed to thwart a Terraist plot to murder the pregnant Hildegard by stunning one of the would-be assassins with a well-aimed statuette throw, buying time for Ulrich Kessler to make a last minute rescue. When it became apparent that Reinhard was suffering from a terminal disease, Annerose decided to help in nursing her younger brother until he passed away on 26 July 801 UC (3 NIC / 492 IC / 3601 CE). (LOGH: 'Long Live the Empress! (Hoff Kaiserin)', 'The Burning of Holly House', 'Dream: To See It to the End')

Legacy

Although Annerose's did not have many personal contributions of note, her very existence was instrumental to the rise of Reinhard von Lohengramm and the subsequent establishment of the New Galactic Empire, a fact which was noted by Julian Mintz during his visit to Fezzan after the Battle of Shiva in July 801 UC (3 NIC / 492 IC / 3601 CE). (LOGH: 'Dream: To See It to the End')

Appendices

Appearances

Background information

The name Grünewald is a common name is southern Germany and is commonly associated with the lower-Swabian area around Stuttgart, the capitol of the county Baden-Württemberg, were the Grünewald-Park lies. Annerose is a common given name in the middle and northern part of Germany.

Apocrypha

Manga

Annerose appears in Volume 3 of the manga. Her story and physical appearance are similar to those of the OVA. However, the events surrounding Benemunde's assassination plot play out quite differently: Rather than using Reinhard's meeting with the three military chiefs of staff (which does not occur at all in the manga) as a pretext to trick Annerose into leaving Neue Sanssouci, Benemunde hires men to attack the car that both Reinhard, Kircheis, and Annerose are riding in. With the help of Mittermeyer and Reuenthal, Reinhard and Kircheis are able to fend off the attack and learn who ordered it.