Daughter of Ferdinand Albert II of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1680-1735) and Antoinette Amalie of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1696-1762). In 1733 she married the then-Crown Prince of Prussia, Frederick, who seven years later became the king of Prussia, known to history as Frederick the Great.

Their marriage was a loveless one, made from political considerations, and following Frederick's rise to the throne in 1740 the two virtually never saw each other. They had no children. In later years Frederick would live at his castle Sans Souci in Potsdam, while Elizabeth would stay at Schönhausen Palace in Berlin, where she led a relatively secluded life focused on her religious devotions and charitable works.

After Frederick the Great's death in 1786, Elizabeth Christine continued to live quietly, remaining largely out of the public eye until her own death on December 13, 1797, in Berlin. She was buried in the royal crypt of the Berliner Dom.