After Christian's death in 1611, the Dowager Electress Hedwig held a powerful position in Saxony.

Like her siblings, she spent most of her childhood away from Denmark: in her case with her mother's relative in Mecklenburg.

She was married on 12 September 1602 to Christian II, Elector of Saxony, her first cousin once removed, in Dresden.

In May 1612 she was a godparent to Christian Albert, the short-lived eldest son of John George, Elector of Saxony, and Duchess Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia.

[2] As sister of the Danish King Christian IV and sister-in-law of King James I of England, she cultivated important connections for her brother-in-law, Elector John George I, and was involved in arranging the marriages of five of his seven children.