Though the duchy was small and poor, it had many advantages: its dynasty was related to many of the most powerful dynasties of Europe, which would give valuable connections with the German princes; it was Protestant, which was important for the ongoing Swedish Reformation, but could also give Imperial connections through Catherine's mother; it would give a valuable link to Denmark, as Catherine's older sister Dorothea was married to Christian, the Crown Prince of Denmark; and finally, the duchy at that point was known as a center for mercenaries, which was important for Gustav as a newly established ruler.

[1] Finally, with mediation from Lübeck, they were completed after almost three years, and Catherine was granted the counties of Korsholm, Kalmar and Öland as a dower.

There is no information on her courtiers, though she is assumed to have brought ladies-in-waiting from Germany in addition to her Swedish ones, among whom Margaret Leijonhufvud (the king's future second queen) is likely to have been one.

[3] On 13 December 1533, she fulfilled her most important task as queen consort by giving birth to an heir to the throne: the future King Erik XIV.

[1] At the time of her death, King Gustav was involved in the Count's Feud, and his opponents in this conflict, Lübeck and Rostock, spread the rumor that he had murdered his queen by beating her on the head with a silver cane after a report from a spy that she had slandered him to Christian while dancing.