Maria Anna of Austria (1738–1789)
Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha Antonia of Austria from the House of Habsburg-Lothringen (born October 6, 1738 in Vienna , † November 19, 1789 in Klagenfurt ) was the second daughter of Emperor Franz I and Empress Maria Theresa . In 1766 she became abbess in the women's monastery founded by Maria Theresa in Prague , which Maria Anna was in charge of until her death. She lived almost exclusively in Klagenfurt in the palace she had built, today's Episcopal Palace .
Life
Archduchess Maria Anna, also known as Marianna , was the second daughter of Maria Theresia and Franz Stephan von Lothringen . As was customary at the royal courts of the time, her mother left her training to educators. Maria Anna's musical talent was greatly encouraged, but not her humanities talents. Maria Anna was the child who was least respected and loved by Maria Theresa - the main character was the heir to the throne Joseph, and she also had to take a back seat behind her sisters Maria Elisabeth and Marie Christine. Maria Elisabeth was considered the most beautiful of the daughters, and Marie Christine was her mother's favorite child.
Maria Anna was in poor health, which was made worse by the drafty, cold rooms of the Hofburg. In 1757 Maria Anna fell ill with pneumonia, which was so severe that she received the sacraments . She got well again, but suffered from constant shortness of breath and an overgrowth of the spine. Since then a close relationship has developed with her father. She shared his scientific interests with him.
In July 1765 the family traveled to Innsbruck for the wedding of their second eldest son, Leopold . They stopped in Klagenfurt . Marianna visited the little Elisabethinen monastery . The encounter with the sisters was to have a lasting impact on her future life. Biographer Thea Leitner explains Maria Anna's enthusiasm for monastic life with the fact that the nuns did not attach any importance to external appearances and Maria Anna did not have to fear ridicule because of her humpback. Her father died on August 18, 1765 and she withdrew from court life.
Since Maria Theresa could not find a marriage candidate for Maria Anna, in 1766 she made her head of the aristocratic convent of Prague. Maria Anna never took up this position, but an income of 20,000 guilders secured her livelihood. In addition to scientific studies, she worked as a genre painter and engraver . In 1767 she became a member of the Imperial Copper Engraving Academy in Vienna; In 1769 she became a member of the Academy of Arts in Florence . Against her mother's resistance, she decided to move to Klagenfurt . Nikolaus Pacassi built a residence in the immediate vicinity of the monastery, the construction of which was completed in 1771.
She wrote to the abbess of the monastery:
- “God gave me the grace to recognize the world and its vanity, and thereby gave me the strength not to end my life as a nun, but in solitude and in the service of my neighbor. I have chosen Klagenfurt for this, namely you and your pious sisters, hoping that my imperfect worth will be encouraged by your good examples and that my happiness will certainly be assured. "
During the time until she moved, Marianna devoted herself to her father's extensive collection - from which the Natural History Museum later emerged - and built up her own collection of minerals and insects. Her mentor was Ignaz von Born . She completed her father's coin collection and wrote a specialist book on the commemorative coins issued during Maria Theresa's reign.
Her watercolors and drawings were praised in the professional world. Marianna was an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and an elected member of the Academy of Arts in Florence.
Maria Theresa died on November 29, 1780; four months later the Archduchess Maria Anna moved to Klagenfurt. She soon developed a deep friendship with Xaveria Gasser, the abbess of the monastery. Thanks to the generous financial support of the Archduchess, the monastery hospital was soon expanded. Her personal doctor also looked after the hospital's patients. She also provided valuable help with welfare work in the municipality of Klagenfurt.
Her circle of friends included nuns, artists, scientists and nobles, including the Carinthian iron industrialist Maximilian Thaddäus von Egger . Some of them were members of Masonic lodges . In 1783, the Klagenfurt Freemason Lodge "To the charitable Marianna" was founded. Maria Anna also devoted herself to her scientific interests in Klagenfurt. She discovered her love for archeology. She donated 30,000 guilders for excavation work near Virunum on the Zollfeld and also took part in the excavations herself.
Since the winter of 1788, her health deteriorated more and more. Her breathlessness got worse and she could only move around in a wheelchair. She died in 1789 in the presence of her closest friends.
- “It must be a good country, I've always loved it. They are good people with whom I lived happily and whom I leave hard. "
Maria Anna bequeathed her entire private property to the Elisabethinnen convent in the amount of more than 150,000 guilders. Her brother, Emperor Joseph II , exempted the monastery from inheritance tax. The Prince-Bishop's Residence is now located in her palace on Mariannengasse.
ancestors
literature
- Brigitte Hamann : Maria Anna. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 191 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Thea Leitner : Habsburgs forgotten children . Piper, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-492-21865-2
- Friedrich Weissensteiner : The daughters of Maria Theresa . Kremayer & Scheriau, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-218-00591-4
- Constantin von Wurzbach : Habsburg, Maria Anna (1738–1789) . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 7th part. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1861, p. 26 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Eva Kernbauer, Aneta Zahradnik (eds.): Court portrait culture. The portraits of Archduchess Maria Anna (1738–1789). Edition Applied . Berlin: de Gruyter 2016.
Web links
- Klagenfurt personalities
- Entry on Maria Anna of Austria (1738–1789) in the Austria Forum (biography)
Individual evidence
- ^ Thea Leitner : Habsburgs forgotten children
- ↑ Ferdinand Jitschinsky: Brief description of the founding and existence of the kk Theresian aristocratic women's monastery at Prague Castle up to the present day, along with the most important historical moments , Prague 1855. Full text online in the Google book search
- ↑ Ursula Köhler-Lutterbeck; Monika Siedentopf: Lexicon of 1000 women , Bonn 2000, p. 224. ISBN 3-8012-0276-3
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Maria Anna of Austria |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Habsburg-Lothringen, Maria Anna Josepha Antonia Archduchess of |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | second daughter of Maria Theresia and Franz Stephan von Lothringen, abbess |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 6, 1738 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 19, 1789 |
| Place of death | Klagenfurt |