Marie Festetics

Countess Marie Festetics

Marie Countess Festetics de Tolna (Hungarian Mária Festetics ; born October 20, 1839 in Tolna , Tolna County , Hungary ; † April 17, 1923 in Söjtör , Zala County , Hungary) was a lady in waiting for the Austrian Empress Elisabeth from the Festetics de Tolna family .

Life

Maria Festetics was born as the eighth child of Sándor Festetics, Count of Tolna (* 1805, † 1877) and his wife Maria Josefa, Baroness von Boxberg (* 1810, † 1892). The mother came from Amberg in the Upper Palatinate , but came to what was then the Austrian Empire as a toddler (of which the Kingdom of Hungary was also part at the time ), as her father was in Austrian military service. Josefa von Boxberg never learned the Hungarian language (despite the fact that she spent almost all of her life in Hungary). As a result, the children grew up bilingual (German and Hungarian) and therefore mastered both languages ​​at the native level.

Maria spent her childhood in Tolna ( Tolna County ). After the family got into financial difficulties, the property in Tolna had to be given up and they moved to Söjtör ( Zala county) .

Growing up in Söjtör, she had a lot of contact with the Hungarian politicians Ferenc Deák (who was born in Sajtör and with whom the Festetics family was on friendly terms) and Gyula Andrássy . In December 1871, at Deáks and Andrássy's instigation, Marie was appointed lady-in-waiting to the empress. She hesitated for a long time before accepting the post, fearing that she would no longer be able to lead a life of her own and she had heard rumors about the difficult empress. However, she soon found a liking to Elisabeth and adored her all her life. She had to refuse several marriage proposals at the request / order of the Empress, who did not want to do without her. At the Viennese court, apart from the Empress, she only had close contact with her compatriot Ida Ferenczy . Elisabeth's mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie , hated the Hungarians as rebels and punished the Hungarian lady-in-waiting with disregard.

Act

Marie Festetics' diaries are a valuable historical source, in which she describes life at the imperial court and, above all, that of the empress in detail. Unlike many other sources, the Festetics diary is open to the public. It is located in the National Széchényi Library in Budapest.

Elisabeth's biographer Corti particularly emphasized Marie Festetics' extraordinary knowledge of human nature, which is evident in her notes. Corti: “It is remarkable how this woman always senses in advance which personalities will later be of unfortunate influence for her mistress. The Countess enters her concern in the diary on the very day that the personalities enter the life of the Empress; so it is not an afterthought, but shows that this woman has the right instinct, an extremely keen observation and excellent intellectual gifts. If Frau von Ferenczy is loyal, simple and devoted, Countess Festetics is undoubtedly the most intellectually superior and astute woman from the circle that Elisabeth is gradually gathering around her. "

Brigitte Hamann underscores the lady-in-waiting for her empress. In the Festetics diary there are enthusiastic entries such as (1872): “She is the embodiment of the term loveliness. Once I think it is a lily, then again: a swan, a fairy or an elf. "

Marie Festetics was extremely loyal in her diary entries - occasionally she was outraged by gossip stories without including their contents in her diary, and remarked, for example: “I would never forgive myself for saving a story like this from oblivion! Dreadful!"

Despite all the admiration and loyalty, Marie Festetics often criticized the Empress's behavior and stated in around 1873: “She is a fanatic and her main occupation is brooding. [...] She needed something to do, and since the only one she would have is contrary to her nature, everything lies idle in her. "Corti:" The countess never tires of thinking about her mistress. "

Over the years, Marie became Elisabeth's most popular lady-in-waiting (alongside Ida von Ferenczy , who carried the title of 'Reader to the Empress') and became her constant companion. The work as a lady-in-waiting, which Elisabeth had to accompany on her numerous trips and hikes, became too strenuous for Marie Festetics over the years. “I died,” she wrote in her diary in 1882 after a long walk. Therefore, in January 1883, Charlotte von Majlath was appointed court lady and companion of the empress at the Viennese court. In 1890 another Hungarian, the only 24-year-old Countess Janka Mikes, was appointed lady-in-waiting, who seemed better suited to the high sporting ambitions of the empress. In 1894 she was followed by Irma Sztáray as a lady-in-waiting and companion on the empress's marches. Marie Festetics was transferred to “back office” together with Ida von Ferenczy.

Marie Festetics was desperate about Elisabeth's murder and wrote to Ida Ferenczy: “We will still mourn a lot together, Ida, the best belonged to us. Nobody will steal it from us, it is a jewel - we have always loved it, not like many who only thought of it when the dagger pierced their heart. "

After the Empress' death, Marie Festetics had to vacate her apartment in the Hofburg . She moved into an apartment in Vienna's third district that she had bought earlier. Ida von Ferenczy, who met the same fate, lived in a neighboring apartment. After the Empress's death, Marie Festetics spent a lot of time on her estate in Söjtör, she went on trips, she went to many places that she once visited with Elisabeth. She usually spent the winters in Vienna, in her apartment on Reisnerstrasse. Emperor Franz Joseph visited her there every year shortly after the New Year. She sold her apartment in Vienna shortly before her death, which took place in Söjtör.

Others

The biologist Antal Festetics is Marie Festetics' great-nephew.

Web links

Biography "Lady-in-waiting Marie, Countess von Festetics"

literature

• Gudula Walterskirchen , Beatrix Meyer (Ed.): The diary of Countess Marie Festetics. Empress Elisabeth's most intimate friend. Residenz-Verl. St. Pölten 2014, ISBN 978-3-7017-3338-5 .
• Katalin Béres, Beatrix Meyer: Az én kedves csendes Söjtöröm . Festetics Mária udvarhölgy és családja. Söjtör 2014. ISBN 978-963089978-9 (Hungarian)
• Egon Caesar Conte Corti : Elisabeth, the strange woman. According to the Empress's written estate, her daughter's diaries and other unpublished diaries and documents. Pustet, Salzburg and others, 1934.
• Brigitte Hamann : Elisabeth. Reluctant Empress. Revised new edition, paperback edition, 10th edition. Piper, Munich et al. 2008, ISBN 978-3-492-22990-6 ( Piper 2990 series ).
• Beatrix Meyer, Empress Elisabeth and their Hungarians. Allitera, Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3962331306 .
• Egy udvarhölgy naplójából ("From the diary of a lady-in-waiting"), diary entries from Maria Festetics from Gödöllő and Budapest; Compiled by Maria Kiss-Tolnayné, Gödöllő 2009, ISBN 978-963-87853-1-2 (Hungarian)