Auguste Maria Luise of Bavaria

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Auguste Maria Luise Princess of Bavaria (born April 28, 1875 in Munich , † June 25, 1964 in Regensburg ) was a princess from the House of Wittelsbach and, through marriage to Joseph August of Austria, also Archduchess of Austria.

Auguste Maria Luise of Bavaria (Photo by Sándor Strelisky Budapest, 1910)

Life

Origin and social commitment

Auguste Maria Luise was the younger daughter of Leopold Prince of Bavaria and his wife Gisela of Austria , the daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I. She got her name after her Habsburg grandmother Auguste Ferdinande . She grew up in Munich.

After her marriage to Joseph August, Auguste moved to Hungary and lived on his property in Alcsút . During the First World War , like many women of her class, she joined the Red Cross and devoted herself to the care of the wounded, which she also supported with large sums of money. The Archduchess also wanted to do active service at the front, but her grandfather, Emperor Franz Joseph, objected. She initiated the "Gold for Iron" movement, which encouraged well-to-do families to give up their jewelry in order to use the proceeds to financially support Austria-Hungary's war efforts . She was also the patron of several charities. Among other things, she founded a hospital in the Kőbánya district of Budapest , which was converted into a home for the homeless after the war . Both institutions bore her name. During the time of the Soviet Republic , the couple withdrew to their family home in Alcsút without getting involved in politics.

After the collapse of the Soviet republic and the consolidation of relations in Hungary under Admiral Horthy , the archduke couple belonged to the leading social circles in Hungary at that time. The Erzherzog-Palais (formerly Teleki -Palais) in the castle district of the Ofener Castle was a focal point of society at that time. At the end of 1944, when the Red Army was already in Eastern Hungary, Auguste von Bayern left Hungary with her family. The couple first moved to the USA and later to Germany , where they lived with the Archduke's sister, Princess Margarethe von Thurn und Taxis , in Regensburg. The Archduchess died there on June 25, 1964, two years after her husband. She was buried next to her husband in the Feldafing cemetery on Lake Starnberg .

The summer residence of Alcsút Castle fell victim to the bombs of World War II and burned down completely at the end of 1944. Only the portico and the main facade of the palace remained , which are now a listed building along with the park. An arboretum was set up in the park , which was created from the park with rare trees and plants that Palatine Joseph had laid out in 1825 . In addition, the castle chapel was preserved as it was built separately from the castle. The family archive in Acsút burned down. The Archduke's Palace in Budapest was badly damaged and blown up in 1968. After the communists came to power in 1948, all of the Habsburgs' possessions in Hungary were nationalized.

Alcsút Castle (ruin, 2013)

After the political change in 1989, Archduchess Auguste and her husband were exhumed and re-blessed and buried in 1992 in the Palatine Crypt in Budapest.

The University of Debrecen named a medical center after her.

progeny

On November 15, 1893, Auguste Maria Luise married Archduke Joseph August of Austria in Munich. The marriage had six children:

  • Joseph Franz (1895–1957)
  • Gisella Augusta (1897–1901)
  • Sophie Augusta (1899–1978), studied in Budapest and in 1917 became Lady of the Star of the Cross . In 1944 she left Hungary and lived unmarried in Bavaria and Tyrol
  • Ladislaus (ung. László) Luitpold (1901–1946), died in a mental hospital in Budapest
  • Matthias Joseph (1904–1905)
  • Magdalena Maria (1909–2000), remained unmarried and was protector of various charities in Hungary. She fled Hungary with her parents in 1944 and lived in Bavaria for the rest of her life

literature

Web links

Commons : Auguste Maria Luise von Bayern  - Collection of images

Remarks

  1. ↑ On August 6, 1914, Auguste established an emergency aid foundation, which was supported by several prominent personalities. (see "Weblink H&H ...")
  2. ↑ Claudia Becker: Archduke Joseph Diamond, the perfect stone. In: Die Welt from November 12, 2012, accessed on January 18, 2019
  3. ↑ In 1919 the hospital founded by Archduchess Auguste was converted into a homeless shelter that also bore her name. Mostly Hungarian refugees were accommodated here after the collapse of Austria-Hungary. The facilities were expanded in 1920 and 1924. In 1932, one-room apartments were built here for the poorest sections of the population, who were still inhabited after the Second World War. The quarter was only demolished in 1970. (quoted from Budapest Lexicon Volume 1, p. 93; see literature)
  4. ↑ " Az Auguszta Gyorssegély-alap ... " (German: "The Emergency Aid Foundation of Archduchess Auguste ...") in "H&H Hátszíntér és hátország" (see web links "Activities of Auguste Maria Luise during the First World War") ( Hungarian)
  5. ↑ The palace was badly damaged in the Second World War and demolished in June 1968.
  6. ↑ The town of Alcsút was captured by the Red Army on December 23, 1944. The castle, from which the Archduchess fled just a day before the arrival of the Russians, was looted by the Soviets and the local population.
  7. ↑ Hamann, p. 424.
  8. ↑ Hamann, p. 243.
  9. ↑ Hamann, p. 271.
personal data
SURNAME Bavaria, Auguste Maria Luise von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bavaria, Auguste Maria Luise Princess of (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Princess from the House of Wittelsbach and the wife of Archduke Joseph August of Austria
DATE OF BIRTH April 28, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 1964
Place of death regensburg