Marianne Camasse, Countess of Forbach

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Maria Anna Countess von Forbach (1734–1807) with her two sons Christian von Zweybrücken (left) and Wilhelm von Zweybrücken (right). On the far right of the picture in the frame, the child's father, Duke Christian IV of Pfalz-Zweibrücken, painting by Johann Christian von Mannlich , 1763/1764 (detail)

Maria Johanna Francisca (called Marianne) Camasse , Countess von Forbach (born September 2, 1734 in Strasbourg , †  December 1, 1807 in Paris ) was a French dancer. As the morganatic wife of Duke Christian IV of Pfalz-Zweibrücken , he raised her to Countess von Forbach in 1757. She is the ancestor of the Barons von Zweibrücken.

Life

Camasse's parents were Jean Baptiste Camasse, actor at the Strasbourg theater, and Eleonore Roux. The parents stayed in Strasbourg in the 1730s, where several children were born, and were then accepted into the acting troupe of the Duke of Lorraine and bar Stanislaus I. Leszczyński , at his court in Lunéville , where another son was born in 1741 came. Relations between the courts in Lunéville and Versailles were very close at this time, as Maria Leszczyńska , the duke's daughter, had been the wife of Louis XV from 1725. Was queen of France.

The actors commuted between the two courtyards, including the Camasse. Marianne is said to have danced at the Komische Oper in Paris when she was eleven in 1745. The father Camasse died - as it is said - in a fire in Paris. In the spring of 1748 the mother and children Camasse moved to the electoral court in Mannheim . The mother died in Mannheim in April 1750. The children are listed there as extras in an undated list of the staff of the French drama troupe of Elector Karl Theodor . Marianne was trained as a dancer.

Duke Christian IV of Pfalz-Zweibrücken , painting by Georg Ziesenis

At the Mannheim court, Duke Christian IV of Pfalz-Zweibrücken, an agnate and presumptive heir of the elector, fell in love with the young dancer. Marianne had returned the first tickets indignantly. Christian protested his love and Marianne gained trust. The couple met at Marianne's sister's house. The sixteen-year-old followed the prince in love at the beginning of 1751 at his court in Zweibrücken . The literature reports of a secret marriage between the duke and the dancer in 1751, which, however, is rejected in recent research. Christian IV secretly converted from the Lutheran to the Catholic religion in Versailles in March 1755. The prince's marriage to the dancer on September 3, 1757 at an undisclosed location is documented by the Catholic priest Foliot von Zweibrücken with the legitimation of the three children that had been produced by then. During the Prince's lifetime, the Camasse was considered a mistress, her sons were natural, and the marriage of 1757 was kept secret and only became public knowledge after the Prince's death.

In 1759/1760 the prince had a palace built for Marianne in the Zweibrücker suburb, the style of which was based on the style of the Paris city palace of aristocratic families. The plans came from the Parisian architect Pierre Patte , the construction management was carried out by the architect Christian Ludwig Hautt . It burned down in August 1793, the remains were later removed.

The Château Barrabino in Forbach , the widow's seat of the Countess von Forbach
Painting of Madame de Pompadour by Boucher, model for Mannlich's portrayal of Countess von Forbach

After the partial enfeoffment with the Forbach lordship in 1756, the prince bought the von Stralenheim castle in Forbach (today's Château Barrabino ) , built in 1716 by the Swedish architect Jonas Erikson Sundahl , and had it converted by Hautt for Marianne. The prince had Marianne in 1757 by King Louis XV. of France or through his father-in-law Stanislaus I. Leszczyński , raise the Duke of Lorraine and Bar to Countess of Forbach. The Countess von Forbach is described as witty and charming. The painter Johann Christian von Mannlich frequented her court in Forbach, and in his memoirs he reported on life at her court. With regard to the oil painting of Countess von Forbach with her sons Christian and Wilhelm (currently in private ownership) made by Mannlich in 1763/1764, Mannlich commented:

“After his return to the city, he (Christian IV) commissioned me to paint a family portrait. It was supposed to depict Countess Forbach with the young counts, old Baron Stein and the countess's castle manager, Henri, as he is hanging the duke's portrait on the wall. My draft was applauded by the Lord. Since he wished to see me work on it, he ordered me to come to Petersheim, where the court usually stayed during the month of October (…) I also continued to work on the family portrait and soon brought it to completion. Shortly after the turn of the year 1763, Duke Christian received several pictures from Paris, including the portrait of Mme. De Pompadour by Boucher . The only thing he liked about this picture was the attitude of the marquise, and so he wrote to me in January 1764 that he would be very happy if there was still time to change Countess Forbach's position afterwards; in that case he wanted to send me the picture of Boucher. In my answer I replied that the clothes had only been sketched so far, and that Boucher believed that I could make some changes if he would kindly make the picture available to me. It got into my hands right away with the next post and resulted in various changes to my draft, but many more visits that I had to make and receive. Because everyone was curious to see the portrait of this famous woman, and I had to bring it to the Elector and the Electress in the palace to see. The following March, when the Duke arrived back in Mannheim, the group picture was completed, about which he was very satisfied. "

After the death of her husband in 1775, the Countess stayed alternately in Paris and In Forbach. As a result of the French Revolution , she had to leave the country in 1793 and her goods were declared national property.

Later, the Countess von Forbach is said to have frequented the court of the Empress Josephine , who was distantly related by marriage to Auguste von Bayern , the wife of Eugène de Beauharnais , and who is said to have appreciated her charm and her stories from bygone times.

Diderot , with whose family the countess kept close relations, dedicated his Lettre à la comtesse de Forbach sur l'éducation des enfants to her in 1772 . Appert , her personal chef from 1772 to 1784, later invented canned food.

The countess's siblings also benefited from their sister's alliance with the prince: an older sister Lolotte was known as a dancer. Petto sees the possibility that she is identical to the wife of Jacques Charles Ribon, the administrator of the County of Forbach. An older brother Jean Baptiste Camasse took on the name de Fontevieux and received the title of Kommerzienrat, an annuity and right to live in the castle in Bischweiler from the duke . A younger brother Pierre Camasse, a childhood friend of the painter Johann Christian Mannlich, took on the name de Fontenet, received the title of a privy councilor and spent his life at the courts as a lover of women.

progeny

The following children (von Forbach, later barons and barons von Zweybrücken) come from the morganatic marriage with Duke Christian IV of Pfalz-Zweybrücken. The dates of birth of the children are given differently, here quoted from Petto, who follows the historian Georg Christian Crollius from Zweibrücken .

  • Christian von Forbach (born November 20, 1752; † October 25, 1817), ⚭ 1783 Adelaide-Francoise de Béthune-Pologne (1761–1823)
  • Wilhelm von Forbach (born June 18, 1754 as Philipp, notarially renamed Wilhelm on June 24, 1770; † July 21, 1807), ⚭ 1780 Adelaide de Polastron (1760–1795)
  • Maria Anna Caroline von Forbach (* June 18, 1755; † (4/5). August 1806), ⚭ 1771 César-François de Lansalut, Marquis du Plessis
  • Karl Ludwig von Forbach (1759–1763)
  • Elisabeth Auguste Friederike von Forbach (* February 6, 1766; † April 14, 1836), ⚭ 1786 François-Esprit, Marquis du Chatellier-Dumesnil du Pully († 1790)
  • Julius August Maximilian von Forbach (1771–1773)

literature

  • Adalbert von Bayern : The Duke and the Dancer - The Strange Story of Christian IV of Pfalz-Zweibrücken and his family. Palatinate publishing house, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse 1966.
  • Charlotte Glück-Christmann (Ed.): The cradle of kings, 600 years of the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, Zweibrücken 2010.
  • Karl Lohmeyer and Julius Dahl: The baroque Zweibrücken and its masters, Waldfischbach 1957.
  • Walter Petto: The origins of Marianne Camasse, Countess von Forbach, and her siblings . In: Saarland family studies. Volume 9, Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 63-90.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Walter Petto: The origin of Marianne Camasse, Countess von Forbach, and her siblings . In: Saarland family studies. Volume 9, Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 64f.
  2. ↑ Walter Petto: The origin of Marianne Camasse, Countess von Forbach, and her siblings . In: Saarland family studies. Volume 9, Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 68f.
  3. ↑ Walter Petto: The origin of Marianne Camasse, Countess von Forbach, and her siblings . In: Saarland family studies. Volume 9, Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 72f.
  4. ↑ Eugen Stollreither (Ed.): A German painter and courtier, memoirs of Joh. Christian v. Mannlich (1741-1822), Berlin 1910, pp. 43-44.
  5. ^ Jean-Paul Barbier, Nicolas Appert, inventeur et humaniste. Royer, Paris 1994
  6. ↑ Walter Petto: The origin of Marianne Camasse, Countess von Forbach, and her siblings . In: Saarland family studies. Volume 9, Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 88f.
  7. ↑ Walter Petto: The origin of Marianne Camasse, Countess von Forbach, and her siblings . In: Saarland family studies. Volume 9, Saarbrücken 2002, p. 69
  8. ^ Georg Christian Crollius : Memorial Carl August Friderichs the only one. Zweibrücken 1785, addition to p. 188, online
personal data
SURNAME Camasse, Marianne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Camasse, Maria Johanna Francisca; Forbach, Countess of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French dancer, Countess von Forbach
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1734
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 1807
Place of death Paris