Mathilde of Austria-Teschen
Archduchess Mathilde Marie Adelgunde Alexandra of Austria (* January 25, 1849 in Vienna , † 6. June 1867 in Hetzendorf in Vienna) was a member of the Austrian dynasty Habsburg-Lothringen .
Life
origin
Mathilde was born as the second daughter of Lieutenant Field Marshal Archduke Albrecht (1817–1895) and Princess Hildegard Luise of Bavaria (1825–1864). On her mother's side she was a granddaughter of the abdicated King Ludwig I of Bavaria and niece of Maximilian II of Bavaria . Their first names go back to their mother's sisters, the princesses Mathilde (1813–1862), Adelgunde (1823–1914) and Alexandra (1826–1875) of Bavaria, with whom Archduchess Hildegard had a very close relationship.
Mathilde had two older siblings. Maria Theresa (1845–1927) became the wife of Duke Philipp von Württemberg (1838–1917) in 1865 . Her only brother Karl Albrecht (1847–1848) died of smallpox at the age of 18 months .
Childhood and youth
Mathilde grew up in extremely rich circumstances. Her father, Archduke Albrecht, inherited the so-called Weilburg (actually Weilburg Castle ) in Baden near Vienna from his mother Henriette von Nassau (1797–1829) at the age of 12 , who in turn built it for her and named it after her ancestral home Her husband Archduke Karl (1771–1847) had given her summer residence in 1821 . The latter maintained and administered the castle for the underage son and usually spent the five warmest months of the year there with his children as a widow until his death. Archduke Albrecht continued this tradition with his family almost every summer in Baden, where Archduchess Hildegard enjoyed great popularity and was popularly known as Angel Heart because of her charity - to which she also raised her daughters Marie Therese and Mathilde .
In the cold season the family of Vienna on the inhabited Augustinerbastei directly to the Hofburg adjacent Palais Archduke Albrecht (today Albertina after preserved in collection). The contact with the imperial family was close, also because Empress Elisabeth liked to surround herself with her cousin Archduchess Hildegard.
Due to Archduke Albert's official obligations, his wife and her children lived apart from him for most of the year. At the time of Mathilde's birth, she stayed in Salzburg , for longer periods also in Berchtesgaden and in Munich , before the family moved to Ofen ( Buda , now part of the city of Hungary) for longer periods of time after the Archduke was appointed military and civil governor in Hungary Budapest ) was united, where her first, from the fall of that year and until 1860 the now from April 1852 gräflich Sandor'sche Palais after repairing the damage from 1848/1849 again comfortably furnished Buda Castle was available.
At the age of 15, Mathilde lost her mother, who was sick in March 1864 on the return journey from her stay in Munich to the funeral of her brother Maximilian II of Bavaria (1811–1864) and died in Vienna at the beginning of April.
In keeping with her conservative Catholic upbringing, the young princess received confirmation on October 28, 1865 in the Vienna Hofburg Chapel . The firm donor was Cardinal Prince Archbishop von Rauscher , the company sponsor was her aunt Adelgunde of Bavaria, married Duchess of Modena. When Cardinal Rauscher baptized the pair of twins in the Albrechtspalais two months later, from whom her sister Archduchess Marie-Therese had been delivered on December 23, Mathilde was given the honor, in the presence of the emperor and all members of the imperial house staying in Vienna as her deputy godmother Niece Marie Amelie von Württemberg (1865–1883) to act for the absent godmother Queen Victoria .
At the emperor's request, the young princess was instructed in history and literature by Leopold Neumann, a professor of diplomatic history and international law at the University of Vienna in 1866 and 1867 .
Mathilde's circle of friends included Archduchess Marie Therese (1849–1919) , who later became Queen of Bavaria, whose mother Elisabeth (1831–1903) had married Archduke Karl Ferdinand (1818–1874), Mathilde's uncle, in her second marriage .
A distant cousin, Archduke Ludwig Salvator (1847-1915) from the Italian branch line of the Habsburgs, is said to have fallen in love with Mathilde and viewed her as his bride, but they were not engaged. However, Mathilde was to become Queen of Italy at the side of Prince Umberto of Savoy (1844–1900) in order to improve the tense relations between Austria and Italy.
death
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Archduchess Mathilde von Österreich-Teschen died on June 6, 1867 at 6 am in the imperial guest house at Schloss Hetzendorf at the age of 18 as a result of burns. The body was at night on June 10, 1867 by torchlight accompanied by the entire royal household of the deceased and a large silent crowd for laying out in the Imperial Hofburg Chapel transferred and afternoon in the June 11, 1867 Imperial Crypt under the Vienna Capuchin monastery buried. The solemn funeral was preceded on the same day by the separate burial of the heart in the heart crypt of the Habsburgs in the Loreto Chapel of the Augustinian Church in Vienna . The archduchess' sarcophagus was placed in the imperial crypt next to that of her mother. Today Archduchess Mathilde, her mother Archduchess Hildegard and her brother Archduke Karl Albrecht rest next to each other in the 1908/1909 part of this burial place, also known as the Capuchin Crypt, the so-called "New Crypt".
Course of the accident leading to death
The young Archduchess suffered the severe burns that led to her death two weeks earlier, on May 22, 1867, in the Archducal Palais Albrecht in Vienna through a dress that had caught fire for an unexplained cause.
Princess Marie zu Erbach-Schönberg mentions the event in her memories. On May 25, 1867, she wrote in her diary:
“Something very sad happened in Vienna: the eighteen-year-old Archduchess Mathilde, daughter of Archduke Albrecht, was half burned. On the evening of five thirty on the 22nd she was standing at her bedroom window and looking down at the street when she suddenly felt a terrible heat. She turned around and saw that her dress was on fire [...] One cannot understand how the accident happened because there was neither fire nor light in the room. There was probably a match on the floor that she must have stepped on. "
In her diary entry of June 7, 1867, she mentions the death of "the unfortunate Archduchess Mathilde, who succumbed to her burns."
Prince Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe describes the circumstances of his death in a letter to Duke Adolph von Nassau : "I dined with her yesterday, she sat next to me and was so amiable, looked so beautiful, and now she is covered in cotton wool with ice packs. Archduke Albrecht wanted to go out with her for dinner today at 5 1/2 o'clock . Everyone withdrew, including Archduchess Elisabeth with her beautiful daughter Therese , who was there right now . Archduchess Mathilde went to her room to arrange to go out. looks out of the window when she feels a stab in the calf, she looks around - there she sees the flame! She runs out into the corridor, screaming, probably over 25 paces until a lackey comes who throws a coat over her - unfortunately she but does not hold on with force, whereby the fire regains air until a second comes and then finally the fire is mastered by water jacket, etc. But unfortunately there are significant burns, so that Pf s is extremely worrying. [...] The shoulders, a few arms, and the whole back are badly burned down from the neck, even further down the back. Happily, nothing is burned in front, which is a small consolation in the terrible misfortune! "Prince Wilhelm also suspected that Mathilde might have stepped on a match as the cause of the fire.
According to another version, the Archduchess had put on a dress made of Indian muslin for a visit to the theater . At the time, this type of fabric was impregnated with glycerine to give the fabric more body. Before going to the theater, she wanted to smoke another cigarette. When suddenly her father, who had strictly forbidden her to smoke, came in, she hid the cigarette behind her puffy dress. The easily flammable, glycerine-impregnated fabric immediately went up in flames. The Archduchess suffered second and third degree burns. Rescue attempts were unsuccessful, she died about two weeks after the tragic accident.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Baden-Weilburg on burgen-austria.com
- ^ Carl von Duncker: Field Marshal Archduke Albrecht , F. Tempsky, Vienna and Prague, 1897 ( digitized version )
- ↑ Little Chronicle. - (Archduchess Hildegarde †.). In: Die Presse , Abendblatt, April 2, 1864, p. 1 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ Confirmation in Neue Zeit. Olmüzer Zeitung , 18th year Nro. 246 of October 27, 1865 ( digitized version )
- ^ Bulletin by Dr. Gustav Braun, kk professor and Dr. Schmerling, kk Regierungsrath, Vienna, December 24, 1865, in Wiener Zeitung No. 294 of December 24, 1865, p. 954 ( digitized version )
- ↑ Bolzano Newspaper No. 296 of December 30, 1865 ( digitized version )
- ↑ A. Hölder: Statistical monthly , Österreichisches Statistisches Zentralamt, Austria, 1889, p. 232
- ^ The transfer of the body of Archduchess Mathilde from Hetzendorf Castle near Vienna to the Hofburg Chapel in the second supplement to No. 24 of the "Teschen-Bodenbacher Anzeiger" of June 15, 1867, p. 237
- ↑ See church book (or matriculation) of the parish Hetzendorf, death book Sign. 03-02 (1860-1886), entry 1867/19
- ↑ The funeral of Archduchess Mathilde in Gmundner Wochenblatt XXVII. Vintage, nro. 25 of June 18, 1867, p. 306. The weekly newspaper incorrectly dates the funeral to June 12th. It took place on June 11th.
- ↑ Princess Marie zu Erbach-Schönberg, Princess von Battenberg: Decisive years . Publishing house of "Litera" AG, Darmstadt 1923, p. 142 and 143 .
- ↑ Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Section 130 II No. 3308, fol. 223-224 (May 22, 1867).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Austria-Teschen, Mathilde von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Austria-Teschen, Mathilde Marie Adelgunde Alexandra von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian nobles |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 25, 1849 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 6, 1867 |
| Place of death | Hetzendorf Castle near Vienna |