Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria
(1831-1903)
Born 17 January 1831 Budapest
Died 14 February 1903 Wien
Married (1) 4 October 1847 Wien
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este, Prince of Modena, son
of Francesco IV, Duke of Modena, Archduke of Austria-Este
and Princess Maria Beatrice de Savoie
Born 20 July 1821 Modena
Died 15 December 1849 Bruenn
Married (2) 18 April 1854 Wien
Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria, son of Archduke Karl
Ludwig of Austria, Duke of Teschen and Princess Henriette
von Nassau-Weilburg
Born 29 July 1818 Wien
Died 20 November 1874 Gross-Seelowitz
On 4 October 1847 in Vienna, aged only sixteen, she married Archduke
Ferdinand of Austria-Este, Prince of Modena. On 2 July 1849 she gave birth
to a daughter, Maria Theresia, but, on 15 December the same year, her husband
died. For a while she was rumoured to become the wife of the young Emperor,
Franz Joseph, but his mother, the redoubtable Sophie, resented the Hungarian
line of the Habsburgs to which Elisabeth belonged. As a result, a week
before the Emperor's
wedding, she married Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria and they became
the parents of six children.
In 1874, the forty-three-year old Elisabeth was widowed again. She
then brought her children up with the strong support of her brother-in-law,
Archduke Albrecht, who also made her son Friedrich his heir. Elisabeth
worked in the social field and, being musical, allowed Johannes Brahms
to try out his piano quintet in her palace.
Almost seventy-two years old, she died in Vienna on 14 February 1903.
She did see her daughter Maria Christina become the wife of Alfonso XII,
King of Spain, but it took until 1913 for her
eldest daughter, Maria Theresia, to become the last Queen of Bavaria.
Source: Leo van de Pas |
