Maria Anna of Austria-Teschen

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Maria Anna Isabelle Epiphany Eugenie Gabrielle von Österreich-Teschen (born January 6, 1882 in Linz , Austria-Hungary , † February 25, 1940 in Lausanne , Switzerland ) was Archduchess of Austria-Teschen

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria-Teschen with husband Elias of Bourbon-Parma in 1903

Life

Maria Anna was the second daughter of Archduke Friedrich von Österreich-Teschen and Isabella von Croÿ-Dülmen . The couple had a total of eight daughters between 1879 and 1897 before their son Albrecht was born in 1897 .

Until 1905, the family lived mainly in the Grassalkovich Palace in Pressburg , spending the summers mostly on one of their numerous estates.

Archduchess Maria Anna married Prince Elias of Bourbon-Parma in Vienna on May 25, 1903 , who became head of the Bourbon-Parma house in 1907. The wedding ceremony was performed in the Hofburg Church in Vienna in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and the entire court of the Prince Archbishop of Vienna Anton Josef Cardinal Gruscha . This stepbrother of the later Empress Zita was an Austro-Hungarian colonel on the General Staff until 1918 - in contrast to Zita's brothers Sixtus and Franz Xavier , who fought in the Belgian army. The political and personal conflicts of the siblings also had a very negative effect on the relationship between the later Emperor Karl and the family of Archduke Friedrich.

After the collapse of the Danube Monarchy , Father Friedrich lost all goods outside of post-war Hungary and Burgenland due to the Habsburg laws of 1919 (especially the property in Teschen meant a major loss). These laws related not only to the members of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine , but also to all subsidiary lines of the Habsburgs . The parents, as well as some of the siblings, went to Hungarian Altenburg (today Mosonmagyarovár ) on one of their remaining estates.

Since the family of the Bourbon Parmas - to which Maria Anna belonged after her marriage - did not fall under the Habsburg laws, they were not expropriated and were allowed to keep their possessions in Austria , where they mostly lived after the war. Maria Anna died in Lausanne on February 25, 1940 at the age of 58. Her remains were transferred to Lower Austria and buried on the family estate in Mönichkirchen .

The legacy of the Duchy of Parma and family strife

When Maria Anna's father-in-law Robert I died in 1907, his eldest son Enrico (1873–1939) was appointed heir. However, since Enrico was mentally disabled, Maria Anna's husband, Elias von Bourbon-Parma, was appointed by an Austrian court as the legal guardian for Enrico and his five disabled siblings.

In 1910, the siblings, divided into two groups, decided to each share 50% of the inheritance. However, not all siblings seemed to agree with the result of the division. Above all Sixtus and Franz Xaver wanted a larger share of the ducal property and therefore they sued their brother Elias in court.

The situation worsened after the outbreak of the First World War . While Elias and his brothers Felix and Renè (1894-1962) served in the Austrian Austro- Hungarian Army ( Triple Alliance ), the brothers Sixtus and Franz Xaver joined the Belgian army which belonged to the Entente . So the brothers fought in two warring armies. In 1915 the Chambord Castle, owned by Elias, was nationalized by the French state as it served in the enemy army. After the death of the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and the accession to the throne of Emperor Charles I and his wife Zita, the situation between the two families continued to worsen. At Zita's instigation, Maria Anna's father, Friedrich von Österreich-Teschen, was dismissed as commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian army immediately after the coronation and assumption of power by Emperor Charles .

Even after the First World War, the family disputes could not be settled. The inheritance process sought by Sixtus and Franz Xaver was resumed before a French court, which was only ended in 1932 with the rejection of the plaintiffs' claims.

progeny

The marriage with Elias von Bourbon-Parma produced eight children who grew up in Austria:

  • Elisabeth Maria Anna Pia Luisa (March 17, 1904 - June 13, 1983)
  • Karl Ludwig Friedrich Anton Robert Elias Maria (born September 22, 1905 - † September 26, 1912)
  • Maria Franziska Josepha Raniera Enrichetta Pia Luisa (born September 5, 1906 - † February 20, 1994)
  • Robert Rainer Alexis Ludwig Erich Deodato Elias Pio Maria (* August 7, 1909 - November 25, 1974), as titular duke of Parma Robert II.
  • Franz Alfons Gabriel Ludwig Erich Robert Pio Karl Elias Maria (born June 14, 1913 - † June 14, 1959)
  • Johanna Isabella Alfonsina Pia Luisa Maria (* July 8, 1916 - November 1, 1949)
  • Alicia Maria Teresa Francesca Luisa Pia Anna Valeria (born November 13, 1917; † March 28, 2017 in Madrid) ⚭ 1936 in Vienna Prince Alfons of Bourbon-Sicily (1901–1964), Duke of Calabria and Infante of Spain (3 children)
  • Maria Christina Albertina Enrichetta Luisa Pia Carlotta (* June 7, 1925 - † 2009)

With the exception of Alicia Maria Teresa, all of the offspring remained unmarried.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Neues Wiener Journal , May 25, 1903, p. 2.
  2. ^ The Habsburgs, p. 303.
  3. ↑ Of the 12 children from Roberto's first marriage to Maria Pia of Naples-Sicily , 6 were mentally handicapped.
  4. ↑ In his second marriage, Roberto Maria Antonia of Portugal married with whom he also had twelve children (including Zita von Bourbon , who later became the wife of Emperor Charles I )
  5. ↑ see also the article Sixtus Affair
  6. ↑ Information according to The Peerage.com
personal data
SURNAME Austria-Teschen, Maria Anna von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Austria-Teschen, Maria Anna Isabelle Epiphanie Eugenie Gabrielle von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Archduchess
DATE OF BIRTH January 6, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Linz , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 1940
Place of death Lausanne , Switzerland