Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este

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Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este

Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este (born  December 10, 1776 in Milan , †  June 23, 1848 near Wasserburg in Bavaria) was Archduchess of Austria-Este and from 1795 to 1799 Electress of Bavaria .

Maria Leopoldine grew up as the child of the Archduke and Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria and Maria Beatrice d'Este in Milan . In 1795 she was married to Elector Karl Theodor of Palatinate Bavaria . The marriage remained childless, so that when Karl Theodor died in 1799, the Palatinate-Bavarian electoral dignity was transferred to the Wittelsbach branch of Palatinate-Zweibrücken .

Childhood and family

Ferdinand Karl and Maria Beatrice of Austria-Este

Archduchess Maria Leopoldine Anna Josephine Johanna was born in Milan on December 10, 1776 as the third child of Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria and Maria Beatrice d'Este . Ferdinand, the third surviving son of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria , had been chosen by his mother to marry Maria Beatrix, the wealthy heiress of the duchies of Modena and Reggio on the father's side and Massa and Carrara on the mother's side. Maria Theresa had this dynastic connection with the bride's grandfather, Duke Franz III, as early as 1750 . of Modena , agreed in a marriage and succession contract. The marriage, through which the later Austria-Este line was founded, took place in Milan in 1771. The 15-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who was present there composed the musical singspiel Ascanio in Alba .

The marriage gave birth to nine children: the eldest daughter Maria Theresa married Prince Victor Emanuel of Savoy (1759-1824) in 1789, the later King Victor Emanuel King of Sardinia-Piedmont , the eldest son Joseph Franz (1775-1776) and the third daughter Maria Antonia (1784–1786) died in infancy. The third-born Maria Leopoldine was followed by Franz , who was Franz IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1814 to 1846 . Ferdinand embarked on a military career and became an Austrian field marshal, was given the general command in Hungary in 1816 and the general and civil government in Galicia in 1830 . Maximilian was a famous specialist in artillery and fortifications and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order . Karl Ambrosius was appointed Archbishop of Gran and Primate of Hungary in 1808 . The youngest daughter Maria Ludovika became the third wife of Emperor Franz I of Austria in 1808 . In 1780 Ferdinand became governor of Lombardy . Since his political room for maneuver was restricted by his brother Emperor Joseph II , he developed lasting effectiveness in the cultural and social area. Napoleon's invasion of Milan in 1796 forced him to flee with his family into exile in Vienna .

Marriage to Elector Karl Theodor of Palatinate Bavaria

Elector Karl Theodor of Bavaria

Before fleeing Northern Italy , Ferdinand had married his 18-year-old daughter Maria Leopoldine to the Palatinate-Bavarian Elector Karl Theodor of Palatinate-Bavaria . The Palatinate Elector , who had ruled Mannheim since 1742 , was the heir to the Bavarian Elector Max III. After Joseph's death at the end of 1777, all of the Wittelsbach lines were united to form the Electorate of Palatinate-Bavaria , with the exception of the small Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld , where there was still a Wittelsbach branch line. Since the Wittelsbach house contracts of the 18th century stipulated the rulership of the united electorate in Munich , Karl Theodor had to move his residence from Mannheim to Munich at the beginning of 1778. He left Mannheim reluctantly and immediately resumed older exchange plans with Austria in Munich , according to which the whole of Bavaria was to be exchanged for the Austrian Netherlands and a Wittelsbach kingdom on the Middle and Lower Rhine with the capitals Brussels , Düsseldorf and Mannheim should be created. Emperor Joseph II already had troops marched into Upper Palatinate and Lower Bavaria . But the Bavarian-Austrian project failed due to the resistance of the Pfalz-Zweibrückener Agnaten and the Prussian King Frederick the Great , who in the Bavarian War of Succession and the subsequent Peace of Teschen in 1779 achieved that the borders of Bavaria were established and the succession of the Wittelsbach lines regulated in the house contracts confirmed were. A revival of the exchange project was prevented in 1785 by a merger of German princes, the so-called Fürstenbund .

Since Karl Theodor did not have a successor capable of succession, he was also concerned with the question of succession in the electorate during the Munich reign. After his only legitimate son from the marriage concluded in 1742 with his cousin Elisabeth Auguste von Pfalz-Sulzbach died after his birth in 1761, but he wanted to prevent the succession of the Pfalz-Zweibrücken nephews, he immediately considered the death of his wife, who lived in the Palatinate on August 17, 1794 a new marriage with a princess from the House of Habsburg . She should give him the longed-for heir to the throne and strengthen the influence of the imperial family at the Bavarian court in the sense of reviving the exchange plans. Emperor Franz II chose his Milanese cousin Maria Leopoldine as his bride, whose appearance and upbringing were highly praised. It took some persuasion to convince the young girl, who had just turned 18, of the advantages of marrying the 70-year-old Bavarian Elector, who was in poor health. After the marriage contract , which was drawn up in Vienna, arrived in Milan, the wedding ceremony was celebrated halfway between Milan and Munich in Innsbruck on February 15, 1795 in the presence of the bride's parents.

Electress of Bavaria 1795–1799

Maria Leopoldine, who is said to have exclaimed at the first sight of her aged groom: Thank God that he is so old , quickly distanced herself from him and made it clear that there were no descendants from their connection to be expected. Their refusal caused an uproar in diplomatic circles, as the marital agreement of the Bavarian electoral couple was a matter of political weight. The Austrian-Bavarian hopes for electoral succession were not fulfilled. During the four-year marriage, Maria Leopoldine snubbed her husband again and again, even in public. With the new Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken Maximilian Joseph , who made his inaugural visit to Munich in April 1795 after the sudden death of his brother, Duke Karl II. August von Pfalz-Zweibrücken , she maintained confidential contact and opposed him - contrary to the interests of her husband - the Bavarian electoral throne in prospect.

On February 12, 1799, Karl Theodor suffered a stroke, from which he died four days later on February 16. During this period, Maria Leopoldine paved the way for the Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken to take over power by immediately writing a handwritten letter to him about the elector's agony , truthfully denying the protocol question about pregnancy and finally denying the Austrian envoy access to the sick bed wanted to get the dying electors to sign a new barter contract in one last clear moment . Because of this active intervention, she lived on as the savior of the Wittelsbach throne in the memory of the Bavarian royal family. King Ludwig I of Bavaria thanked her in 1845 on the occasion of her 50th anniversary in Munich for the fact that Wittelsbachers still rule Bavaria .

Life as a widow elector

Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este, widow elector of Bavaria

On March 12, 1799, the new Elector Max IV Joseph , from 1806 King Max I Joseph, entered the Bavarian capital to the cheers of the population. Maria Leopoldine decided to stay in Bavaria from now on. The widow's contract, which her father Archduke Ferdinand negotiated for her, granted her a rich apanage , an apartment in the Herzog-Max-Burg in Munich and as a summer residence Schloss Berg on Lake Starnberg . Before she could settle in her new home, however, she had to leave Bavaria in the summer of 1799. In agreement with Emperor Franz of Austria, Maria Leopoldine stayed in Laibach , where she lived incognito for two years and is said to have given birth to a child. However, nothing is known about the details. In September 1801 she returned to Munich. To the surprise of the court, she renounced the Berg Castle that had been awarded to her and instead bought the small, impoverished Stepperg estate, a day's journey from Munich , west of Neuburg an der Donau .

Private life

Maria Leopoldine von Österreich-Este, Countess von Arco, with her two sons Aloys and Maximilian

On November 14, 1804, Maria Leopoldine married Count Ludwig von Arco , who descended from the nobility of the northern Italian family of Counts Arco ( raised to the status of counts free by Emperor Sigismund in 1413 ). Despite being married again, as a widowed Electress of Bavaria, she remained a member of the electoral, from 1806 royal house and continued to enjoy her princely widow's pension. The couple went on annual family trips to visit relatives in Italy . In 1837 they spent an extended period in Paris with their son Aloys and their daughter-in-law .

Maria Leopoldine led a lively social life in Munich. She loved festivities and Mardi Gras balls as well as the sophisticated exchange of ideas. In order to obtain first-hand information, she sought contact with the envoys accredited in Munich, read the most important domestic and foreign press, especially the French newspapers, every day, and made trips abroad every year to learn about the constitutional status States studied on the spot. From these trips across Europe, she left extensive diaries and correspondence, which offer insights into the customs and mostly arduous travel circumstances of that time, but also astute observations of the mentalities and characters of the countries visited. King Ludwig I sought and valued her political advice, as did diplomats and Bavarian statesmen. Her brother-in-law, Minister of State Maximilian Joseph Graf von Montgelas , was her daily guest in his retirement.

From the marriage with Ludwig Graf Arco three children were born, the two sons Aloys Graf von Arco-Stepperg , called Louis, and Maximilian Graf von Arco-Zinneberg as well as the daughter Caroline (1814-1815), who was only three weeks old. The sons later founded the counts lines of the Counts Arco-Stepperg and Arco-Zinneberg. After the marriage between Aloys and Margravine Irene Pallavicini (1811–1877) in 1830 remained childless, in 1868 he had a daughter Sophie (1868–1952) from the Munich dancer Pauline Oswald (1851–1902), who he did in 1877 after his death Irenes got married. Sophie, after Bavarian nobility legal title Arco Countess of Stepperg led and 1890 Ernst Graf Moy de Sons (1860-1922), married also childless marriage, the line-Arco Stepperg died out. The younger Max Graf von Arco-Zinneberg, who became famous as an eagle hunter, had been married to Leopoldine Countess von Waldburg-Zeil and Trauchburg (1811–1886) since 1833 , but with thirteen children left behind a rich descendant that still exists today.

As a mother, Maria Leopoldine was just as dominant and demanding as she was devoted and self-sacrificing. Both sons profited from their business successes; for it pursued its acquisition policy more and more with the aim of providing them with a secure position and establishing a majorate for them so that they could be accepted into the Chamber of Imperial Councils . The young Counts Arco were later considered the richest councilors in Bavaria.

Business life

In the Stepperger years, Maria Leopoldine laid the foundations of her business existence with great skill, to which she devoted herself from Munich around 1814. At first she strained the patience of the royal court by personally selling goods at Dulten and in small shops. This local business activity, which was illegal for members of the royal family, was soon given up in favor of larger projects, such as the acquisition of goods and breweries, some of which came from secularized monastery property. She acquired agricultural properties in Swabia , Upper and Lower Bavaria as well as important breweries, such as B. Mattsies , Aham , Biburg , Zinneberg , Höhenrain , Egmating , Höhenkirchen , Brannenburg , the state breweries Freising and Haag , the Kaltenhausen brewery and many more. She even had the ambition to buy up all of the Bavarian state breweries, which she did not achieve. They rehabilitated the goods and businesses and sold them on or kept some of them in their ownership. In some goods, e.g. B. Kaltenhausen carried out technical innovations and developed them into modern large companies. Her real estate earned her the reputation of being the richest woman in Bavaria. She gave her sons an aristocratic palace in the center of Munich for their respective weddings.

In the 1830s, Maria Leopoldine turned to securities and shares trading, true to the motto: in order to really enjoy your independence, you have to have your wealth in your portfolio and as a true cosmopolitan you don't have to hang on to anything . In addition, trading in portfolio assets seemed more interesting and promising for the future. She showed a particularly lucky hand in her stock exchange transactions at home and abroad. In 1837 she achieved one million guilders on the Paris Stock Exchange with railway shares.

End of life

Crypt chapel for Maria Leopoldine on the Antoniberg
In memory of the freestyle artist on an economic building near Steppberg Castle

On June 23, 1848, Maria Leopoldine had an accident on one of her inspection trips to Salzburg . On the Achatzberg near Wasserburg am Inn, her carriage collided with an oncoming wagon. Although she was recovered alive, she collapsed dead shortly afterwards.

She found her final resting place in the crypt chapel built by Ludwig Foltz in 1852/55 on the St. Antoniusberg in the immediate vicinity of her favorite seat Stepperg. In place of their fatal accident, their sons had a neo-Gothic granite memorial column built, adorned with the alliance coat of arms of Palatinate-Bavaria / Austria-Este and the electoral hat and bearing the inscription: Maria Leopoldine, widowed Electress of Bavaria, died June 23 1848 .

personality

Maria Leopoldine was already considered an outstanding woman personality among her contemporaries. You have to be one of the strongest , she once stated, in order to be able to smash the panes and, in particular, have great independence of wealth and ambition, but our good country does not develop many beings of this kind . She herself proved to be such a being, a cosmopolitan with a keen mind and a broad horizon, a provocateur with independent, incorruptible judgment and an unconventional disposition. These characteristics were paired with a dynamic, enterprising spirit and a fun-loving, sociable lifestyle. Maria Leopoldine anticipated many demands and achievements of the women's movement of the late 19th century in her biography. The historian Heinz Gollwitzer describes it as an early example of women's emancipation in high-ranking circles .

progeny

⚭ 1830 Margravine Irene Pallavicini (1811–1877), childless
⚭ 1877 Pauline Oswald (1851–1902)
Children:
Sophie (1868–1952) ⚭ Count Ernst Moy de Sons (1860–1922), childless
⚭ Countess Leopoldine von Waldburg zu Zeil and Trauchburg (1811–1886)
Children:
Marie (1834–1892) ⚭ 1856 Karl Graf zu Leiningen-Billigheim (1823–1900)
Therese (1835–1906) ⚭ 1854 Maximilian Count of Loë zu Wissen (1817–1879)
Sophie (1836–1909) ⚭ 1860 Franz Erbgraf zu Waldburg-Wolfegg (1833–1906)
Helene (1837–1897) ⚭ 1856 Heinrich Frhr. from and to Franckenstein (1826–1883)
Ludwig (1840–1882) ⚭ 1872 Adolfine Countess von Schaesberg (1854–1874), ⚭ 1879 Princess Josephine von Lobkowicz (1853–1898)
Karl (1841–1873) ⚭ 1867 Countess Mathilde von Wolff Metternich (1840–1925)
Irene Maria Elisabetha (1842–1917) ⚭ 1861 Friedrich Graf von Oberndorff (1829–1913)
Anna (1844–1927) ⚭ 1866 Count Alfred Stolberg zu Stolberg (1835–1880)
Mechtild (1845–1874) ⚭ 1868 Count Ferdinand von Bissingen-Nippenburg (1837–1919)
Nikola (1848-1870)
Maximilian (1850–1916) ⚭ 1875 Olga Freiin von Werther (1853–1937)
Franz (1851-1914)
Christiane (1852–1923) ⚭ 1878 Count Konrad von Preysing-Lichtenegg-Moos (1843–1903)
  • Caroline (1814–1815), Countess of Arco

literature

Web links

Commons : Maria Leopoldine von Österreich-Este  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 16 f.
  2. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 19
  3. ↑ Brigitte Hamann (ed.): The Habsburgs. A biographical lexicon. 3rd edition Munich 1988.
  4. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 23-27.
  5. ^ Wieczorek, Alfred, Probst, Hansjörg, Koenig, Wieland (eds.): Lust for life and piety, Elector Carl Theodor (1724–1799) between the Baroque and the Enlightenment. Handbook and exhibition catalog, 2 volumes, Regensburg 1999.
  6. ^ Schütze, Max: Friedrich II. And the Fürstenbund: The efforts of the great Prussian king to create an imperial alliance., Munich and Ravensburg 2012.
  7. ^ Imperial Chancellor Baron Thugut to Count Ludwig von Lehrbach, Vienna, August 28, 1794, Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 31 ff.
  8. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 43 ff.
  9. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 36
  10. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 53–62.
  11. ↑ undated Autograph letter to Max Joseph, French, Bavarian Main State Archive Secret House Archive Estate Max I. Joseph 118, on this Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 74 f.
  12. ↑ Bavaria, Adalbert von: Max I. Joseph von Bayern, Munich 1957, p. 355.
  13. ↑ Bavaria, Adalbert von: Max I. Joseph von Bayern, Munich 1957, p. 356.
  14. ↑ Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Fürstensachen 837, Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv MF 55633/1 Prod. Ad 9 and MF 55625, also Krauss-Meyl: The “Enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 79–82.
  15. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 86 ff.
  16. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 88 ff.
  17. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 114–124.
  18. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 330–355.
  19. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 287-293, 310-330
  20. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 174–179.
  21. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 290 f.
  22. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 136–163.
  23. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 247-251.
  24. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 243-255.
  25. ^ Maria Leopoldine to Sigmund Graf Berchem, Munich March 2, 1828, quoted in. according to Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 270.
  26. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 261 f.
  27. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 379-390.
  28. ↑ Maria Leopoldine to Sigmund Graf Berchem, Munich August 1, 1828, cited above. according to Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, p. 242.
  29. ↑ Krauss-Meyl: The “enfant terrible” of the royal family. Regensburg 2013, pp. 164–241.
  30. ^ Heinz Gollwitzer: Ludwig I of Bavaria. Kingship in March. A political biography . Munich 1986, p. 326 f.
predecessor Office Successor
Elisabeth Auguste von Pfalz-Sulzbach Electress of Bavaria
1795–1799 		Caroline of Baden
personal data
SURNAME Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maria Leopoldine Anna Josephine Johanna of Austria-Este
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archduchess of Austria-Este and Electress of Bavaria
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1776
PLACE OF BIRTH Milan
DATE OF DEATH June 23, 1848
Place of death Wasserburg am Inn