On his father's death he became, aged twenty-five, the Head and Senior of the House of Windisch-Graetz. After studying in Bonn and Prague he received his Doctorate in Jurisprudence at the University of Prague. On 18 June 1877 he married Princess Gabrielle von Auersperg. Of their seven children only two daughters survived them. 
As a young man Alfred was very active in public life. He spoke in the Diet (Parliament) of the Kingdom of Bohemia, in the Reichsrat in Wien, where he represented the interest of Bohemia, and as hereditary 
member of the Herrenhaus (House of Lords) on the necessity for an understanding between the nationalities. In 1893 the Emperor asked him to form a coalition Cabinet as Prime Minister. The Government resigned in 1895 because of its failure to bring about a compromise agreement between the demands of the different nationalities, especially the Czechs and the Germans. In 1895 he was appointed President of the Herrenhaus, the high office which he held until the fall of the Monarchy. 

By founding the District Agricultural Association he gave great impetus to the recovery of the region's agriculture. In his properties in Bohemia and Slovakia, no distinction was ever made between Czechs 
and Germans. The Managing Director of all his properties, with the offices in Prague, was a Czech and more than half of the forest engineers were Czech. They and the Germans had all studied at the 
university of Prague, and they got on very well together. Most of the young foresters were sons and grandsons of foresters who had also been employed by Alfred's family. Some remarkable employee dynasties established themselves, like the Dworsak family, who spelt their name in the Czech or German way at different times depending on pragmatic consideration. They were secretaries, office managers, butlers, housekeepers and rangers, were mostly Germanised but could always produce a Czech from their midst if necessary. Alfred spoke Czech quite elegantly while his wife was fluent with a German accent. 
In November 1918 Alfred and his wife found themselves with their estates in a foreign country. They were advised to take up Czechoslovakian citizenship, which would have been advantageous in terms of the Czech government's planned agrarian reform. They refused as they had both, out of tradition and deep personal commitment, served their country and Emperor all their lives. The fall of the Monarchy, the dismembering of their country and the lonely death of the young Emperor in his exile in Madeira left them shattered and lost. Their allegiance was to the great old Austria and to the mperial House of Habsburg, and they intended to hold on to that allegiance as long as they lived. 

In the course of the agrarian reform by the Czech government, not only did Alfred pay a capital levy of 42,000,000 Czech Kronen (at the time roughly 4,200,000 American dollars) but the Government 
confiscated the entire property of Stekna, nearly all the property of Liesko in Slovakia, a great part of the property of Kladrau, practically all farms and one third of the forests of the Tachau estate, leaving him the castles, manor-houses and churches which were unsaleable by themselves and the upkeep of which was exorbitant. 
As he insisted on continuing to pay pensions to all old retainers on the confiscated properties and not on reducing the number of employees on his much diminished forest property, the estate experienced great financial difficulties. In the midst of the general catastrophe it was quite extraordinary how unconcerned Alfred and his wife seemed by the loss of title and property, but the economic plight which the entire region was experiencing had made them feel their responsibilites even more acutely. 

Alfred died on 24 November 1927 and his wife followed him on 1 June 1933. With them an era ended and the people of Tachau knew it. The title and the entailed inheritance went to Prince Ludwig Aladar, a first cousin once removed. 
 

Source: Leo van de Pas