St. Mary's Church Hanau, coats of arms of Count Philip III and countess Helena at the Church of St. Mary in Hanau. It has suffered severe environmental damage Epitaph of Count Philip III of Hanau-Münzenberg and his wife, Helena of Simmern, in St. Mary's Church in Hanau
Countess Palatine Helena of Simmern (13 June 1532 – 5 February 1579 at Schwarzenfels CastleinSinntal ) was the daughter of Count Palatine and Duke John IIofSimmern and his wife, Margravine Beatrice of Baden. She was Countess of Hanau-Münzenberg by marriage.
On 22 November 1551, Helena married Count Philip III of Hanau-Münzenberg (1526–1561). Their combined coat of arms can be seen at the main entrance of the Church of St. Mary in Hanau. However, due to environmental factors, the stone has weathered and is in poor condition.
After the early death of her husband, she initiated the proceedings before the Supreme Court to establish the guardianship of her son Philip Louis I, who was still a minor. She was not appointed as guardian herself.
Initially, she used Steinau Castle as her widow seat; later she moved to Schwarzenfels Castle, where she died. After her death, her body was transferred to Hanau in a lead coffin, and buried in the Church of St. Mary, next to her husband.
Reinhard Dietrich: Die Landesverfassung in dem Hanauischen = Hanauer Geschichtsblätter, issue. 34, Hanau, 1996, ISBN3-9801933-6-5
Reinhard Suchier: Genealogie des Hanauer Grafenhauses; in: Festschrift des Hanauer Geschichtsvereins zu seiner fünfzigjährigen Jubelfeier am 27. August 1894, Hanau, 1894
Reinhard Suchier: Die Grabmonumente und Särge der in Hanau bestatteten Personen aus den Häusern Hanau und Hessen, in: Programm des Königlichen Gymnasiums zu Hanau, Hanau, 1879, pp. 1–56
Ernst J. Zimmermann: Hanau Stadt und Land, Hanau, 1919, reprinted in 1978
