Maria Theresia (TV series)
_(13).jpg)
Maria Theresia is an Austrian - Czech miniseries by Robert Dornhelm with Marie-Luise Stockinger (parts 1 and 2, 2017 ) and Stefanie Reinsperger (parts 3 and 4, 2019 ) as Maria Theresia .
Parts 1 and 2 were presented on December 11, 2017 in Esterházy Palace and broadcast for the first time on ORF on December 27 and 28, 2017 . In 2019, a two-part sequel was created under the working title Maria Theresia II with Stefanie Reinsperger in the title role, which was broadcast for the first time on ORF on December 27 and 28, 2019.
action
Parts 1 and 2 tell about two decades of Austrian history from 1723 to Maria Theresa's coronation as Hungarian queen on June 25, 1741. The focus is on the love story between Maria Theresa and her husband Franz Stephan von Lothringen . Parts 3 and 4 tell the time up to the coronation as the Bohemian Queen in 1743.
Part 1
Prague 1723. Six-year-old Maria Theresa sees her life clearly mapped out; one day she will marry Franz Stephan of Lorraine and have many children with him. Everyone is waiting for the longed-for male descendant of Maria Theresa's father Charles VI. , nine years later he has still not been born. Due to the advanced age of Empress Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, the doctor has meanwhile given up all hope, one can only pray for a miracle. Professor Gottfried Philipp Spannagel therefore recommends deepening the upbringing of the firstborn Maria Theresa in order to prepare her for a possible reign.
Charles VI Eugen von Savoyen asks to start the wedding negotiations with Franz Stephan von Lothringen. Prince Eugene, however, has other plans, he has planned a different bridegroom for Maria Theresa, who should guarantee that there will be no war with Prussia. Eugen begins negotiations with Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow , Maria Theresa is to be married to Crown Prince Friedrich according to their plans . He also offers Franz Stephan Maria Theresia's sister Anna as a wife, Franz Stephan initially agrees to the proposal. However, Maria Theresa only wants Franz Stephan as her husband.
The church suggests to Maria Theresa not to marry at all and to go to the monastery instead. Maria Theresa then secretly begins, with the support of Spannagel, to prepare for rule and to study the history and politics of Europe. Count Nikolaus I. Esterhazy discovered this by chance and made it public. Spannagel ends up temporarily in prison, Maria Theresa is to be sent to the monastery. Instead, Maria Theresa suggests that Franz Stephan should give up his Duchy of Lorraine in favor of France , and in return he should get Tuscany . France should recognize the Pragmatic Sanction for this , Franz Stephan should marry Maria Theresa.
Franz Stephan initially rejects the proposal. The Prussian Prince Friedrich has already been married, so Prussia also demands the marriage between Maria Theresa and Franz Stephan, who is weak and harmless from the Prussian point of view. Maria Theresa learns that Prince Eugene wanted to sell her to Prussia. He is already dying, however, and on his deathbed he recommends Count Philipp Kinsky as his successor.
After Spannagel initiated Franz Stephan into the political and military situation, he finally agreed to Maria Theresa's proposal. On the birthday of Maria Theresa's mother, Franz Stephan accepted the conditions and asked for Maria Theresa's hand. Philipp Graf Kinsky is not very enthusiastic about this, at the birthday party she receives the news of Prince Eugen's death. Franz Stephan and Maria Theresia are married, Maria Theresa later gives birth to her first two daughters, the longed-for male descendant, like her parents, remains out for the time being. To escape the farm, Franz Stephan and Maria Theresa go to Tuscany. Franz Stephan is planning to build a cotton factory based on the English model there and is looking for and finding investors. In Tuscany, Kinsky brings them the news that Charles VI. suffered a serious hunting accident as a result of which he died.
Part 2
After the death of her father Charles VI. Maria Theresa and Franz Stephan return to the Viennese court with their third daughter, Maria Theresa has to take over her father's throne. On the way home she recognizes the hunger, need and misery that reigns in her kingdom. Franz Stephan was initially excluded from politics, for example from participating in the Privy Council , so he went his own way. He has fun with the ladies at court, especially Elisa Fritz. As an entrepreneur, he also deals with the trade in cotton and silk and the establishment of a cloth manufacture. Maria Theresa sees Franz Stephans place in the army, but he rejects the war on principle.
Several European princes lay claim to the Habsburg hereditary lands or the Roman-German Empire. There is danger from the south, north and west, and the Prussian Marshal Grumbkow is still at the Viennese court. It is uncertain whether the pragmatic sanction will be accepted by everyone. She makes Count Kinsky, whom she previously despised because of his supposed closeness to the late Prince Eugene, as her political advisor. He advises her to get support from Count Nikolaus I. Esterhazy. She initially rejects the idea after Esterhazy betrayed her when he discovered she was secretly studying politics and history.
Maria Theresa makes Marshal Grumbkow a member of the Privy Council. Friedrich II suggested to Maria Theresa that he could support Franz Stephan in the election of the emperor, in return he asked for Silesia . Maria Theresa does not accept Friedrich's offer. She does not feel that she is taken seriously by her own farm. In the meantime the news comes that Marshal Grumbkow has been exposed as a double spy, arrested at the Prussian border and executed for treason. Grumbkow spied on the one hand for the Prussians at the Viennese court, on the other hand he was bribed by Prince Eugene. There is also a rumor that Grumbkow Karl VI. should have poisoned. Grumbkow wanted Maria Theresa on the throne because he saw in her a weak opponent of Prussia.
After the invasion of Prussian troops to the cheers of the population in Silesia, Maria Theresa tries to alleviate the hunger among the soldiers in order to increase their motivation. Soon after, the Prussians invade Bohemia . The nobility flees Vienna after numerous balls have been canceled. Her own court sometimes turns away from her in derision, Princess Karolina falls ill with smallpox , from which she later dies. Franz Stephan feels excluded from Maria Theresa's life and like the fifth wheel on the car. Maria Theresa is increasingly overwhelmed. In Elisa Fritz, who had previously seemed more attached to Franz Stephan, Maria Theresia found a loyal supporter who managed to persuade the nobility to return to the Viennese court and to steer the mood at court in their favor. The Prussians offer the armistice if the annexed territories are granted to Prussia. In the meantime, the longed-for male descendant Joseph is born .
The Bavarians declare war on Austria, France joins the war against the Austrians. Maria Theresa tries to raise the morale of her troops with the support of the church and promises them better equipment and food. She is also looking for support from the Hungarians. Count Nikolaus Esterházy also offers her this, but also wants to win her heart. Franz Stephan is jealous, rumors are already circulating at court that the Pope would be ready to annul their marriage. Esterházy has to realize that he cannot win the heart of Maria Theresa and that she would only sacrifice him out of a sense of duty to her country. Before the Hungarian Parliament she presents herself as a defenseless mother and wife who appeals to the courage of men. Esterházy stood up for her in front of the assembly, she received the Hungarian support, the Hungarians promise her 60,000 soldiers. Maria Theresa is finally crowned Queen of Hungary.
part 3
After the loss of Silesia to Frederick II , the armistice with Prussia does not seem to last long. Enemies who want to conquer parts of the Habsburg Empire seem to be lurking everywhere . Behind the back of Maria Theresa, Franz Stephan von Lothringen does business with Prussia and Friedrich II in his palace on Wallnerstrasse, among other things he equips him with uniforms and tents.
Maria Theresia also pays a personal price for her commitment as head of state, because her husband Franz Stephan turns to other women. She accuses Franz Stephan of enjoying immoral gambling while the war is lost. Franz Stephan, on the other hand, argues that the income from his immoral gambling would finance their moral war. Maria Theresa also accuses her mother-in-law, Elisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans, of being an informant for the French king.
She feels abandoned, jealous, and suspicious. Contrary to the advice of her advisors, she seeks military support from Baron von der Trenck , who is known for his daring but also for his cruelty. He promises her to win back the Bavarian lands for her and to bring her the Nuremberg Egg as a trophy. In her desperate situation, Maria Theresa seems to be throwing her own values and morals overboard. From the front she received the message that the situation in the west was changing, Trenck was marching towards Munich, the Bavarians were giving way. There are also reports of looting in Bavaria by Trenck. He also does not take prisoners who could serve as objects of exchange for his own captured nobles, but instead has them executed immediately against the rules. Trenck finally defeats the Bavarians and sends Maria Theresa the Nuremberg egg.
Part 4
Trenck's mission brought the desired military success, but Maria Theresa has to recognize that it also opened the door to crime and cruelty. Trenck's Pandours brought hardship and misery to the civilian population, raping and murdering them. Maria Theresa is harshly judging him but also herself. From now on, morality is paramount, she has the chastity commission set up, headed by Father Johannes. In the worst case, there is a risk of deportation to the Banat with the so-called Temeswarer water surge .
On the orders of the Papal Nuncio , Father Johannes also has the palace watched by Franz Stephan in Wallnerstrasse, who is suspected of being the Grand Master of the Freemasons . He is also said to do business there with Protestant countries, also to the displeasure of the Catholic Church. Maria Theresa decreed a strict Catholicism for her surroundings, her police took action against gambling and prostitution. She also wants to meet her husband, from whom she increasingly feels alienated.
After Maria Theresa Franz Stephan suggests a private separation so that he can only meet on official occasions, he confesses to her that he is the Grand Master of Freemasons. The Jesuits only observed his palace in Wallnerstrasse to compile a list of Freemasons. As for a list of women drawn up by the Jesuits, most of them were the wives of foreign bankers, for whom it was too dangerous to see him in person and would send their wives in instead. The money that he can raise so that Maria Theresa can finance the war comes from deals with Prussia and Friedrich II.
Trenck is brought before the Imperial Court for murdering nobles, hiding booty, colluding with the enemy, accepting bribes, rape and looting. Maria Theresa later learned from Father Johannes that he had died. He wrote his will in prison, then called a priest to come and confess. He informed him that he would die at noon the next day. In a letter to Maria Theresia Trenck wrote that he had no regrets and that he could fully enjoy his life in battle, but did not want to live in prison.
The Spanish inquisitors accuse Franz Stephan's friends of sodomy and Satanism , and the inquisitors demand the death penalty for them by burning them. Franz Stephan tries to buy them out and smuggle them across the border. Dolls are to be burned in their place, the church will excommunicate them . Maria Theresa then promises to withdraw some measures that she had introduced under the influence of Father Johannes. After Maria Theresia and Franz Stefan get closer again, Maria Theresia confesses to her younger sister Maria Anna that she is pregnant from an affair. In the course of confession, Father Johannes Maria Anna elicits this secret. Father Johannes then becomes a permanent member of the war council and field vicar of the Habsburg army. Franz Stefan is disappointed because Maria Theresa had promised to put an end to Father Johannes' ambitions.
After Maria Theresa's troops succeed in liberating Prague from the French who support Bavaria, the Bohemian estates swear allegiance to Maria Theresa, Maria Theresa is to be crowned Queen of Bohemia. Maria Theresa receives the news from her sister Maria Anna that her daughter was born dead. In a letter Maria Anna accuses God and the Church. Maria Theresa subsequently deprived Father Johannes of all powers, the papal nuncio, not least after generous financial support from Franz Stephan, sided with Maria Theresa and abandoned Father Johannes.
Production and Background
On the occasion of Maria Theresia's 300th birthday on May 13, 2017, the ORF designed a program focus, which ends with this television film. The shooting of parts 1 and 2 took place from April 18, 2017 to June 27, 2017 in Vienna , the Czech Republic , Slovakia and Hungary . Filming locations included Valtice Castle , which served as a replacement for the Vienna Hofburg , and the town of Kroměříž . The Austrian radio , Beta Film, the Czech television Česká televize , the Slovak television Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska (RTVS), and the Hungarian MTVA were involved. The film was produced by the Austrian MR Film and the Czech Maya Production .
Following the first broadcast of the first part, ORF repeated the broadcast of the documentary Maria Theresia - Legacy of a Ruler by Georg Riha on ORF III , followed by the second part of the universe history game documentary Maria Theresia - Majesty and Mother of Monika Czernin (film writer) and Ernst Gossner (stage director) with Gerti Drassl in the title role.
The first broadcast on Arte took place on December 28, 2018. Parts 3 and 4 were shown on Arte for the first time on April 9, 2020.
A sequel with the working title “Maria Theresia II” for the period after 1740 with Stefanie Reinsperger in the title role was filmed from May 13 to mid-July 2019 under the direction of Robert Dornhelm in Vienna and the Czech Republic . The filming locations included Prague , Brno and Valtice Castle , which again served as a substitute for the Vienna Hofburg . The two-part series was first broadcast on ORF in the 2019 Christmas program.
In December 2019 it was announced that the book was being worked on in parts five and six.
Historical deviations
The Prussian Marshal Grumbkow was not executed, but died of natural causes.
reception
Reviews
DerStandard.at wrote that the film could score thanks to actors like Karl Markovics, Fritz Karl or Julia Stemberger and also thanks to entertaining staging and all sorts of amusing ideas. Stockinger would also convince as the future ruler. The film is "good entertainment for the masses", because "not the exact reproduction of historical events, but sweeping necklines and small frivolities are the common thread in the first part of Maria Theresa." [...] "As charming as it may be to shoot in the respective national language, that's how difficult the subsequent synchronization is to iron out the confusion of languages - and you can hear and see that. "
The daily newspaper Kurier said that one could be positively surprised by the production. In terms of visual effort, the production can compete with major international television producers, and the leading actress is well chosen. However, there are also some flaws in the project and in places the film is involuntarily funny.
Heike Hupertz described the series in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as “the equally opulently furnished, equally smug, sculptural and majestic Austrian-Czech-Slovak response” to The Crown and Catherine the Great with Helen Mirren . The young regent Elizabeth II in The Crown ( Claire Foy ) would correspond to “Marie-Luise Stockinger, who is enchantingly assertive”. The older queen in The Crown ( Olivia Colman ), on the other hand, has less in common with the fulminant, spirited later Maria Theresa in series three and four. Stefanie Reinsperger embodies this as a “feminist-maternal icon between a loving wife and a political steam engine, whose thing is power, but not elegant restraint”. Reinsperger's Maria Theresia is more of a mirror image of the free-spirited, intellectually brilliant and unscrupulous Katharina, the great, as designed by Helen Mirren in the HBO series.
Audience ratings
When it was first broadcast on ORF on December 27, 2017, the first part was followed by around 1.1 million viewers, with a market share of 36 percent. The second part was followed by an average of 1.2 million people, the market share was 38 percent.
In the Czech Republic , the first part reached two million people and a 42.4 percent market share when it was first broadcast in early January 2018, the second part 2.16 million and 46.8 percent market share.
Episode list
season 1
| No. ( total ) |
No. ( St. ) |
Original title | First broadcast AT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Part 1 | December 27, 2017 ( ORF 2 ) |
| 2 | 2 | Part 2 | December 28, 2017 ( ORF 2 ) |
season 2
| No. ( total ) |
No. ( St. ) |
Original title | First broadcast AT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | part 3 | Dec. 27, 2019 ( ORF 2 ) |
| 4th | 2 | Part 4 | December 28, 2019 ( ORF 2 ) |
Awards and nominations
- Award in the Best Young Women category ( Marie-Luise Stockinger )
- Nomination in the category Best Producer TV Film
Rose d'Or 2018
- Nomination in the Limited Series & TV Movie category
- Nomination in the category Best Image Creation for TV Fiction ( Tomáš Juříček )
Web links
- Maria Theresa in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Maria Theresia at crew united
- Maria Theresia II at crew united
- Maria Theresia website of MR Film
- Maria Theresia II on the website of MR Film
- Maria Theresia - Part 3 and 4 on the ORF website
Individual evidence
- ^ "Maria Theresia" in Esterhazy Palace. In: orf.at , December 12, 2017, accessed on December 13, 2017.
- ↑ a b ORF review 12/2017, page 7. ORF review , edition 12/2017, page 7.
- ↑ ORF review 12/2017, page 163. ORF review , edition 12/2017, page 163.
- ^ ORF2: TV program: Maria Theresia (film). ( Memento from December 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) In: tvheute.at . Retrieved December 2, 2017.
- ^ ORF premiere: In two parts: Maria Theresia. Retrieved December 23, 2019 .
- ^ A b c d Robert Dornhelm makes Marie-Luise Stockinger the young "Maria Theresia". In: orf.at . Retrieved December 2, 2017.
- ^ "Maria Theresia" in a double pack on December 28th in ORF 2nd OTS report from December 27th, 2017.
- ↑ a b 300 years of Maria Theresia: Comprehensive ORF program focus. In: orf.at . Retrieved December 2, 2017.
- ↑ ORF hit in sight: This is how Maria Theresa's young years on TV are. In: Kleine Zeitung , December 12, 2017, accessed on December 12, 2017.
- ↑ Shooting of Dornhelm's top-cast and imposing two-part event “Maria Theresia”. In: orf.at . Retrieved December 2, 2017.
- ^ Maria Theresa: Audience in the riding hall. In: Tiroler Tageszeitung , June 3, 2017, accessed on March 8, 2020.
- ^ Maria Theresa | Czech Film Commission. In: filmcommission.cz . Retrieved December 2, 2017.
- ^ Marie-Luise Stockinger as a young "Maria Theresia" in the ORF Christmas program. OTS notification dated December 12, 2017, accessed on December 13, 2017.
- ↑ ARTE: Maria Theresia ( Memento from April 5, 2019 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved December 19, 2018.
- ^ Transfigured strategist - Arte shows two-parter about Maria Theresia . Article dated December 19, 2018, accessed December 19, 2018.
- ↑ Wilfried Geldner: The emancipation of a courageous princess. In: Mittelbayerische Zeitung . March 24, 2020, accessed March 24, 2020 .
- ↑ Stefanie Reinsperger is the new "Maria Theresia" . OTS announcement of April 16, 2019, accessed April 16, 2019.
- ^ Imperial and imposing: filming of "Maria Theresia II". June 6, 2019, accessed December 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Buhlschaft becomes a monarch: New two-part TV series about Maria Theresa. In: Salzburger Nachrichten . December 27, 2019, accessed December 27, 2019 .
- ^ "Maria Theresia" on ORF: Robert Dornhelm's opulent two-parter. In: derStandard.at , December 12, 2017, accessed on December 13, 2017.
- ↑ derStandard.at: two-part "Maria Theresia" on ORF: history with décolletés . Article dated December 28, 2017, accessed December 29, 2017.
- ↑ TV review: Maria, Theresia! In: Kurier.at , December 28, 2017, accessed on December 28, 2017.
- ↑ Heike Hupertz: "Maria Theresia" on Arte: She is the state. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . April 7, 2020, accessed April 7, 2020 .
- ↑ "Maria Theresia" breaks the million-viewer limit on ORF. In: Kurier.at , December 28, 2017, accessed on December 28, 2017.
- ↑ Up to 1.3 million in the “Maria Theresia” final on ORF 2 . OTS notification dated December 29, 2017, accessed December 29, 2017.
- ↑ derStandard.at: Dornhelm's "Maria Theresia" with almost 50 percent market share in the Czech Republic . Article from January 3, 2018, accessed on January 3, 2018.
- ^ Kurier: ROMY Academy: It's about the best of the best . Article dated March 3, 2018, accessed March 3, 2018.
- ^ Kurier: The winners of the Akademie-Romy 2018 . Article dated April 5, 2018, accessed April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Maria Theresia" nominated for Rose d'Or . OTS bulletin of July 12, 2018, accessed on July 12, 2018.
- ↑ ROMY Academy Awards: The playing field for experts. In: Kurier.at . March 11, 2020, accessed March 11, 2020 .