Maria Anna von Österreich

Maria Anna Isabella von Österreich-Teschen was born on January 6, 1882, in Linz as the second child of Archduke Friedrich of Austria-Teschen and the German princess Isabella von Croÿ-Dülmen. She belonged to the Teschen branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and held the titles of Austrian archduchess, Hungarian and Bohemian royal princess, and Duchess of Teschen. Her father was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ferdinand and a grandson of Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary. As Duke of Teschen and an Imperial and Royal Field Marshal, Friedrich became commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Austria-Hungary in 1914, a position he held until 1917. Maria Anna’s mother, Isabella, came from the ancient Croÿ family and was the daughter of Prince Rudolf Maximilian Constantin von Croÿ and Princess Natalie de Ligne. Through her ancestors, Maria Anna was also related to prominent members of the Habsburg family, including Archduke Albrecht, the Spanish royal house, and Queen Maria Christina of Spain. Maria Anna grew up with eight siblings. Seven reached adulthood; two of her sisters died as children or adolescents. Her siblings included Maria Christina, Maria Henriette, Gabriella, Isabella, Maria Alice, and her younger brother Albrecht, who eventually became the only son and heir to the Duchy of Teschen. The family lived at various times in Pressburg or Linz and spent the summers at Weilburg Castle near Baden in Lower Austria. Some of Maria Anna’s children were also born there later. In the late 1890s, her ambitious mother sought particularly prestigious husbands from the imperial family for Maria Anna and her sisters. She placed great hopes in Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the throne at the time. In 1898, however, it became clear that Franz Ferdinand was courting not one of her daughters but the court lady Sophie Chotek. Despite the difference in rank, he remained committed to his choice and married Sophie in 1900. Maria Anna’s mother and older sisters regarded this as a serious humiliation and developed a deep hostility toward Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Under his wife’s influence, Maria Anna’s father also refused to support the future heir to the throne. On May 25, 1903, Maria Anna married Prince Elias of Bourbon-Parma in Vienna. He was a son of Robert, the last titular Duke of Parma, and Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Robert’s family was exceptionally large: his two marriages produced a total of 24 children. Several of his sons from his first marriage were intellectually disabled because of the close kinship of their parents. After his father’s death in 1907, Elias assumed legal guardianship of his ill brothers and responsibility for administering the family property. Maria Anna and Elias had eight children: Elisabeth, Karl Ludwig, Maria Franziska, Robert Hugo, Franz Alfons, Johanna Isabella, Alice Maria, and Maria Christina. Their son Karl Ludwig died of polio in 1912 at the age of seven. Most of their daughters remained unmarried. Alice Maria married the Spanish infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, in 1936. The youngest daughter, Maria Christina, was born in Vienna in 1925. Maria Anna’s children did not establish larger family lines of their own; only Alice Maria later had children, becoming the mother of three. After Robert of Parma died, a dispute over the inheritance and family property broke out. His eldest surviving son, Heinrich, who was himself intellectually disabled, inherited the titular ducal title. An Austrian court declared him and five of his siblings legally incapable of managing their affairs and appointed Elias as their guardian and as administrator of the family assets. These included Chambord Castle in France. In 1910, the family members concerned agreed to divide the property. As guardian, Elias received half of the estate, including Chambord. The inheritance dispute also damaged relations with Elias’s half-siblings. In 1911, his half-sister Zita of Bourbon-Parma married Archduke Karl, the future Emperor Charles I. Because of the property questions, Zita and Elias developed an especially poor relationship. After Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914, Zita became the wife of the Austrian heir to the throne and thus a central figure at court. The family conflict further complicated Maria Anna’s and Elias’s position. During the First World War, some of Elias’s brothers served in the armed forces of Austria-Hungary, while others joined the Belgian side. In 1915, the French government confiscated Chambord Castle because Elias, as administrator of the property, was serving in an enemy army. After the death of Emperor Franz Joseph, Emperor Karl unexpectedly removed Maria Anna’s father from his position as commander-in-chief in December 1916. The family regarded this as another humiliation and suspected that Zita had influenced the decision. Following the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the Teschen estates were confiscated in 1920 under the Austrian Habsburg Law. Maria Anna’s parents and several of her siblings subsequently moved to their estates in Hungary. The Bourbon-Parma family, however, was not subject to the law and was able to remain in Austria; its own properties were not confiscated. At the same time, Zita’s brothers Sixtus and Xavier brought a lengthy lawsuit in France against Elias, demanding a larger share of their father’s inheritance. The proceedings lasted until 1932 and ended with their claims being rejected. The French state was also ordered to compensate the family for the confiscation of Chambord Castle. When Elias’s ill brother Heinrich died in 1939, the titular ducal title of Parma and Piacenza passed to Giuseppe, who was likewise legally incapable of managing his affairs. Elias remained his guardian and served as titular regent. Maria Anna died in Lausanne on February 25, 1940, at the age of 58. She was buried at the family’s Lower Austrian estate in Mönichkirchen. After her husband Elias died in 1959, her son Robert Hugo became, as Robert II, head of the House of Bourbon-Parma and holder of the nominal claim to the ducal title of Parma and Piacenza.