Josepha von Heydeck

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Josepha Countess von Heydeck as Roman goddess Flora , painted by Johann Peter Hoffmeister around 1770
Josepha Countess von Heydeck , painted by Johann Wilhelm Hoffnas
Josepha Countess von Heydeck with her children , far left the daughter Caroline Josepha . On the wall is a portrait of Elector Karl Theodor, who recognized all children. Oil painting by Heinrich Carl Brandt , 1785

Maria Josepha Seyffert , Freifrau since 1767, Countess von Heydeck since 1769 (* September 1748 in Mannheim ; † December 27, 1771 there ), was a mistress of Elector Karl Theodor von der Pfalz from 1765 until her death in 1771 .

Life

Josepha Seyffert will almost certainly have been the daughter of the secretary and chancellor Seyffert in the government dicastery, i.e. the financial administration, of the Electoral Palatinate . Her mother's name was Maria Franziska Seyffert nee Reichard. At the age of 17 Josepha Seyffert worked as a figurine, according to modern parlance, as an extra , at the opera ballet of the Hoftheater in Mannheim. There she caught the attention of Elector Karl Theodor after his mistress Françoise von Parckstein had died. In addition to her outward beauty, Josepha's character was characterized by “cleverness, grace and gentleness”. Karl Theodor valued such qualities when choosing his mistresses, because despite an intensive relationship he expected the greatest possible discretion in public appearances in order not to undermine the position of Electress Elisabeth Auguste too much. In addition, the elector rejected a dissolute lifestyle on the part of his mistresses. The relationship between Elector Karl Theodor and Josepha Seyffert lasted almost seven years. His love for her led on March 19, 1767 to the bestowal of the personal title of nobility to a Baroness von Heydeck. The name is derived from the town of Heideck in Karl Theodors Principality of Pfalz-Neuburg . After the birth of a first daughter in January 1768, which Karl Theodor immediately recognized as his biological daughter, on September 3, 1779, he gave mother and child the hereditary electoral title of Count or Countess von Heydeck and an associated coat of arms with a count's crown. The son Karl August was born on October 24, 1769.

Karl Theodor bought a house in Mannheimer Quadrat A2 for Josepha von Heydeck and her children. This house later became part of the Palais Bretzenheim built by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt . Josepha von Heydeck died at the age of 23 as a result of childbed fever after the birth of her last two children, the twin sisters Eleonore and Friederike, in December 1771.

As an expression of his great sadness, the elector had an exuberant obituary published, in which the noble qualities of the deceased such as gentleness, sincerity, modesty and helpfulness were emphasized. Josepha von Heydeck was first buried in the no longer preserved Carmelite monastery in Mannheim's square L 3, and finally in the chapel at Zwingenberg Castle. Her tomb there, a work by the sculptor Johann Matthäus van den Branden , has been preserved.

Illustrations

Several paintings by Josepha Seyffert, Countess von Heydeck, have survived. Two portraits are in the Kurpfälzisches Museum in Heidelberg . On the portrait by the hand of the painter Johann Peter Hoffmeister (* 1740 in Heidelberg, † 1772 in Mannheim) from 1770 she can be seen as a 22-year-old woman in the role of the Roman goddess Flora . As a sign of the deity, a flower garland of roses, carnations and forget-me-nots hangs down from the hair on the head. In a painting by the painter Johann Wilhelm Hoffnas , Josepha von Heydeck is sitting at a harpsichord and holding sheet music in her hand. This suggests that she also enjoyed a musical education. On a history picture by the painter Heinrich Carl Brandt (* 1724; † 1787) from 1785, which is in the Reiss Museum of the city of Mannheim, she is shown shortly before her death with her four children and two servants.

progeny

The following four children came from the connection between Elector Karl Theodor and Josepha Seyffert, Countess von Heydeck:

Like the other illegitimate children of the elector, these children were brought up and cared for in accordance with their status. On August 7, 1774, Emperor Joseph II elevated the children of Josepha von Heydeck to the rank of imperial count von Heydeck.

On December 19, 1789, an imperial principality from and to Bretzenheim with Karl August at its head was formed from the Bretzenheim dominion bought by Karl Theodor . The princely line from and to Bretzenheim existed until 1863.

Political Impact

Elector Karl Theodor saw the Count von Heydeck as his real family, to whom he devoted great personal attention and for whom he took some political measures that served to provide for this family. In order to optimize this supply for the future, he planned a lucrative cession of at least parts to Austria for the foreseeable legacy of the Electorate of Bavaria, which did not come to him until 1777, but this failed because of the opposition from Prussia, as it happened during the War of the Bavarian Succession showed.

literature

  • Karl J. Svoboda: Princesses and favorites. Electoral Palatinate women at the Mannheim court . Edition Quadrat, Mannheim 1994 (2nd edition), ISBN 3-923003-45-5 , pp. 113-123

Remarks

  1. ^ A chancellery list corresponded to the chancellery board
  2. ^ Website Schloss Zwingenberg, with mention of the tomb
  3. ↑ Website with a photo of the Zwingenberg castle chapel. The epitaph Heydeck on the chapel photo, on the left edge of the picture
personal data
SURNAME Heydeck, Josepha von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seyffert, Maria Josepha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mistress of the Elector Karl Theodor of the Palatinate
DATE OF BIRTH September 1748
PLACE OF BIRTH Mannheim
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 1771
Place of death Mannheim