Théodelinde de Beauharnais

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Friedrich Dürck : Princess Theodelinde von Leuchtenberg, 1836

Théodelinde de Beauharnais , full name Théodelinde Louise Eugénie Auguste Napoléone de Beauharnais (born April 13, 1814 in Mantua , Italy , † April 1, 1857 in Stuttgart ) was a princess of Leuchtenberg. By marrying Wilhelm von Urach , she became Countess of Württemberg.

Life

origin

Theodelinde was the fourth daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais (1781-1824), Duke of Leuchtenberg , and his wife Princess Auguste of Bavaria (1788-1851), eldest daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his first wife Princess Auguste Wilhelmine of Hessen-Darmstadt . Her paternal grandparents were Viscount Alexandre de Beauharnais and his wife Marie Josephe Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie , who later became Empress Joséphine. In 1817 her grandfather, King Maximilian I Joseph, gave her father and his family the title of Duke of Leuchtenberg and Prince of Eichstätt . The descendants of the family sold this latter title in 1855.

Adolescence

Théodelinde was born in April 1814, the month in which the reign of Emperor Napoléon I came to an end after the Battle of Leipzig and his last defeat in the Battle of Paris with his deposition by the Senate and his abdication. In addition, her father Eugène de Beauharnais had to give up the rule as viceroy of Italy, which his stepfather Napoleon had given him in 1805, and had to flee with the family to his father-in-law, King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria in Munich. He made him Duke of Leuchtenberg and Prince of Eichstätt . Eugène acquired Ismaning Castle as a summer residence in 1816 , had it renovated by the court architect Leo von Klenze and built the Leuchtenberg Palace as his main residence from 1817 to 1823 .

In addition to Ismaning and Munich, the young Théodelinde also spent a long time in Eichstätt and with her mother in Italy. She tried to cure herself from an early-onset lung disease (possibly tuberculosis ) in the southern climate , although, according to her correspondence, she was apparently aware of the danger, because she wrote as a twenty-year-old that she was not afraid of death . They also visited with her sisters like her Aunt Hortense de Beauharnais in Arenenberg Castle at Constance, who lived there in exile. Pp. 142 and 143.

marriage

On February 8, 1841, Princess Théodelinde married the future Duke of Urach, Count Wilhelm von Württemberg (1810-1869), son of Duke Wilhelm von Württemberg , brother of King Friedrich von Württemberg , and his wife Freiin Wilhelmine Rhodis von in Munich at the age of 27 Tundersfeld. The marriage produced four daughters:

  • Auguste-Eugénie Wilhelmine Marie Pauline Friederike (1842–1916)
⚭ 1865 Count Parzival Rudolf von Enzenberg
⚭ 1877 Count Franz von Thun and Hohenstein
  • Marie Joséphine Friederike Eugénie Wilhelmine Théodelinde (1844–1864)
  • Eugénie-Amalie Auguste Wilhelmine Théodelinde (1848–1867)
  • Mathilde Auguste Pauline Wilhelmine Théodelinde (1854–1907)
⚭ 1874 Paolo Altieri, Prince of Oriolo and Viano (1849–1901)

Construction activity

Villa Leuchtenberg in Lindau. Owner of the most serene Princess Theodolinde of Württemberg , lithograph around 1855

Her husband Wilhelm von Urach's interest in art and history (he founded the Würtembergisches Geschichts- und Altertumsverein) and the novel Lichtenstein Wilhelm Hauffs published in 1826 inspired him to build Lichtenstein Castle , a German knight's castle in the noblest style of the Middle Ages , which was designed by the architect in 1842 Carl Alexander Heideloff was completed.

After buying her own three-story house in Stuttgart, Théodelinde was looking for a place of relaxation and summer retreat because of her poor health. She hoped to be able to continue the previous positive experiences of healing or at least relief from her stays in Italy in the mild climate of Lake Constance, and from 1851 she looked for a vacant villa there. Eventually she bought the former customs house on the banks of Lake Constance in Reutin (Lindau) and had Villa Leuchtenberg converted from 1853 to 1855 . P. 143

According to her correspondence, Countess Théodelinde really enjoyed the stays in her villa and the park on Lake Constance. However, she died after a short illness (presumably tuberculosis) in Stuttgart on April 1, 1857. She was buried in the Ludwigsburg crypt . Her heart came to the house chapel of the Palais in Munich.

Name in different phases of life

  • 1814–1841: Théodelinde Louise Eugénie Auguste Napoléone de Beauharnais
  • 1814–1814: Princess of Italy
  • 1814–1814: Princess of France
  • 1817–1841: Princess von Leuchtenberg, with the address Her Royal Highness
  • 1817–1841: Princess of Eichstätt
  • 1841–1857: Countess of Württemberg

literature

  • Arnold McNaughton: The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy. London 1973.
  • Lucrezia Hartmann: The Villa Leuchtenberg in Lindau. On the history of the house and its inhabitants. In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings. 128th year 2010, pp. 139-168. ( Digitized version) with vita of Théodelinde de Beauharnais

Web links

Commons : Théodelinde de Beauharnais  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Lucrezia Hartmann: The Villa Leuchtenberg in Lindau. On the history of the house and its inhabitants . 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Beauharnais, Théodelinde de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beauharnais, Théodelinde Louise Eugénie Auguste Napoléone de (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-German princess and, by marriage, Countess of Württemberg
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1814
PLACE OF BIRTH Mantua , Italy
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 1857
Place of death Stuttgart