Anna Plochl

Anna Plochl, photograph from 1860

Memorial stone at Lake Toplitz, which commemorates the meeting between Archduke Johann and Anna Plochl

Bust of Anna Plochl (artist: Lia Rigler, location: gallery of honor, Graz Castle)

Anna Plochl (* January 6, 1804 as Anna Maria Plochl in Aussee , today Bad Aussee ; † August 4, 1885 there ), Baroness von Brandhofen (1834), Countess of Meran (1850) , was the wife of Archduke Johann von from 1829 Austria (1782-1859) through a morganatic marriage .

Life

Anna Plochl was the oldest of 13 children of postmaster Jakob Plochl and his wife Maria Anna Plochl (née Pilz), who had been married since May 31, 1802. After her mother's death, she took care of the parents' household. At the age of 15, on August 22, 1819, she first met Archduke Johann of Austria at Lake Toplitz . He wanted to lead her to the altar as early as 1823. But his brother Emperor Franz I of Austria refused to consent to this marriage with a commoner. Nevertheless, Anna moved to Vordernberg on September 20, 1823 , where Archduke Johann owned a wheel factory and where she took over the management of the Archduke's trade house there. While Archduke Johann was restlessly active in Styria as part of his varied activities and also paid regular visits to the court in Vienna, Anna Plochl looked after the housekeeping in Vordernberg and, from April 25, 1824, also at Brandhof Castle , a model property of the Archduke in the community Casting .

Archduke Johann and Anna Plochl married on February 18, 1829 after a long, six-year struggle for the consent of Emperor Franz I of Austria , but it was not until 1833 that Johann was allowed to officially announce his marriage.

In 1834 Anna Plochl was appointed Baroness von Brandhofen , after her husband's estate . Her son and heir to the Archduke, Franz , was born in 1839 and the father succeeded in getting his son into the title of Count of Meran at Metternich . In 1850 - five years after her son - she was appointed Countess of Meran .

The Archduke's wife was known, among other things, for her excellent Styrian cuisine, and the dishes based on her recipes are still considered a specialty today.

After the death of her husband in 1859, whom she survived for 26 years, Anna continued his work in Styria and took special care of social institutions. Among other things, the Anna Children's Hospital in Graz was named after her in her honor. Anna, Countess of Meran, died in August 1885 at the age of 81 in Aussee and was buried next to her husband in the mausoleum in Schenna near Meran.

ancestors

Pedigree of Anna Maria von Meran (née Plochl)
Grandparents	Jakob Plochl ⚭ Maria Plochl (née Lubsch)	Johann Pilz ⚭ Ehrentrud Pilz (née Fürst)
parents	Postmaster Jakob Plochl ⚭ May 31, 1802 Maria Anna Plochl (née Pilz)
Anna Maria of Meran (née Plochl)

Descendants

Anna Maria Plochl married Archduke Johann of Austria on February 18, 1829 in Gußwerk near Mariazell . They had a son:

Franz von Meran (full name: Franz Ludwig Johann Baptist Graf von Meran, Freiherr von Brandhofen ; * March 11, 1839; † March 27, 1891); ⚭ Theresia von Lamberg (1862)

filming

In 2009, the love story of Archduke Johann and Anna Plochl was filmed under the title Geliebter Johann Geliebte Anna . The film shows the fate of the two main characters mainly from Anna's point of view.

literature

Renate Basch-Ritter : Anna Plochl. The woman at Archduke John's side. Advea Verlag, 2005

Web links

Commons : Anna Plochl - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Anna Plochl in the catalog of the German National Library
Elke Hammer: Anna Plochl and Archduke Johann: The downside of a "lovely romance" (PDF; 126 kB)

Individual evidence

↑ Baptismal Register 11, 1781-1811. In: data.matricula-online.eu. Diözesanarchiv St. Poelten, January 6 1804 p.2 , accessed on 19 November 2018 (right side, the third entry in the matrikel church record of the parish Bad Aussee ).
↑ ^a ^b ^c marriage book 4. 1760–1804. In: data.matricula-online.eu. Diocesan Archives St. Pölten, May 31, 1802 p.2 , accessed on 19 November 2018 (last entry in matrikel church record of the parish Bad Aussee ).
^ Walter Pietsch et al .: Our Archduke Johann. Leykam, Graz 1959, p. 55
↑ Hans Magenschab: Archduke Johann . Styria Verlag Vienna, Graz, Klagenfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-222-13255-1 , p. 281

personal data
SURNAME	Plochl, Anna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Countess of Meran
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Archduke Johann's wife
DATE OF BIRTH	January 6, 1804
PLACE OF BIRTH	Aussee
DATE OF DEATH	4th August 1885
Place of death	Aussee

[1] Baptismal Register 11, 1781-1811. In: data.matricula-online.eu. Diözesanarchiv St. Poelten, January 6 1804 p.2 , accessed on 19 November 2018 (right side, the third entry in the matrikel church record of the parish Bad Aussee ).

[eltern-2] marriage book 4. 1760–1804. In: data.matricula-online.eu. Diocesan Archives St. Pölten, May 31, 1802 p.2 , accessed on 19 November 2018 (last entry in matrikel church record of the parish Bad Aussee ).

[3] Walter Pietsch et al .: Our Archduke Johann. Leykam, Graz 1959, p. 55

[4] Hans Magenschab: Archduke Johann . Styria Verlag Vienna, Graz, Klagenfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-222-13255-1 , p. 281