Seraphine Franziska zu Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen

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Countess Seraphine Franziska Barbara zu Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen, as a canoness from Innsbruck, portrait by Johann Georg Weinhold

Seraphine Franziska Barbara zu Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen (born October 4, 1810 in Klagenfurt , † November 11, 1874 in Innsbruck ) was a Countess of Leiningen , registrar of Westerburg and Schadeck , as well as canon of the imperial women's monastery Innsbruck .

Life

She was the daughter of the Austrian officer Count Christian Ludwig zu Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen (1771-1819) and his wife, Countess Seraphina Franziska von Porcia (1788-1817) from Venice , who was born in the Leininger Residenz in Grünstadt , Palatinate .

When her parents died prematurely, she stayed behind as an orphan with her brother, who later became Lieutenant Field Marshal Christian Franz Seraph (1812-1856). Both children came into the care of their uncle (father's brother) Count August Georg zu Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen (1770–1849). While father and uncle were Lutherans, the children, through their Italian mother, belonged to the Catholic denomination.

Seraphine Franziska was given to the boarding school of the Notre Dame congregation in Bratislava by her uncle . In 1826 she returned to him in Graz , but in 1827 she went to her grandparents in Venice . A short time later, the grandfather, Prince Franz Seraphin von Porcia, a very pious and benevolent man, died.

At the age of 27, she decided to become celibate and on July 12, 1838, entered the aristocratic women's monastery in Innsbruck as a canon in the Hofburg there.

After the death of their uncle August Georg zu Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen (1849), her brother Christian Franz Seraph took over his civil rights to Westerburg and Schadeck. When he died in 1856, Countess Seraphine Franziska Barbara succeeded him in this position. In 1860 she left the monastery and moved to the Westerburg , but returned to Innsbruck from time to time. She resided on the Westerburg as a registrar, benefactress of the Catholic parish and politically interested, resolute "mother of the country". Like many other German petty princes, the Leiningers had lost their actual rule, but as landlords - without government power - remained almost on a par with the ruling princes. As a registrar, Countess Seraphine Franziska automatically belonged to the 1st Chamber of the Estates of the Duchy of Nassau . Empress Karoline Auguste , she took in the high Order of the Starry Cross on Emperor Franz Joseph gave her the dignity of a 1861 honor Stiftsdame the ladies pin Brno . Duke Adolph von Nassau held her in high esteem , and she was friends with the Limburg Bishop Peter Joseph Blum , who was besieged by the Kulturkampf . Your authorized representative in the Chamber of Deputies was first district president Georg Möller until 1860 , then the criminal judge Adam Emmerich (1808-1869) from Wehrheim .

When Countess Seraphine Franziska felt her end was near, she left the Westerburg at the end of September 1874 and went back to Innsbruck, where she died almost six weeks later. She was the last member of the regular Neuleiningen family branch and her goods and rights fell to the Altleiningen line. She was buried in the St. Nikolaus cemetery in Innsbruck.

In the museum in the old town hall in Grünstadt there is a portrait of the countess in clothes and with the medal of the Innsbruck women's monastery. It comes from the Westerburg and is a signed work by the contemporary history painter Johann Georg Weinhold .

literature

  • Georg Hilpisch : Franziska Seraphine zu Neu-Leingen-Westerburg: An ornament of the Catholic nobility , Würzburg, 1876; (Digital view)
  • Armin Tille : Deutsche Geschichtsblätter , Volume 15, 1914, Perthes Verlag, Gotha, p. 263; Detail scan
  • Obituary with curriculum vitae , in: Neue Tirolerimmen , Innsbruck, No. 266, from November 20, 1874; Digital view

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Website on the history of the Innsbruck women's monastery
  2. ^ Constantin von Wurzbach : Leiningen-Westerburg, Christian Ludwig Graf . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 14th part. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1865, pp. 331–333 ( digitized version ).
  3. ↑ Constantin von Wurzbach : Porcia, Franz Seraphin Fürst . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 23rd part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1872, p. 117 ( digitized version ).
  4. ↑ Ellinor Langer: The history of the noble women's foundation in Innsbruck , Wagner University Press, Innsbruck, 1950, p. 133; Detail scan
  5. ^ Salzburger Zeitung , No. 195, of August 27, 1861; Digital view
  6. ^ Negotiations of the assembly of estates of the Duchy of Nassau 1858 , Wiesbaden, 1858, p. 15; Digital view
  7. ↑ Obituary for the Countess in: Bote für Tirol und Vorarlberg , No. 267, Innsbruck, November 21, 1874, p. 2016 of the digital view
  8. ↑ Jochen Lengemann: MdL Hessen 1808-1996: biographical index , p. 117, ISBN 3770810716 , Historical Commission for Hesse, 1996; Detail scan with data on Adam Emmerich
personal data
SURNAME Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen, Seraphine Franziska to
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Leiningen-Westerburg, Seraphine Franziska Barbara Countess to
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Countess zu Leiningen, registrar, member of the first chamber of the estates of the Duchy of Nassau, canon
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH Klagenfurt
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1874
Place of death innsbruck