Emilie was the daughter of the Duke Henry IV of Saxony and his wife Catherine of Mecklenburg.

On 25 August 1533 she married the much older George of Brandenburg, the future Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, who had been recognized as the duke of Silesia.

The marriage produced the heir he had hoped for: George Frederick, later Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

After the death of her husband in 1543, Emilie was the legal guardian of her minor son George Frederick until 1556.

She was a strict Lutheran and actively opposed Catholicism in the territories of her husband and son.