Maria von Österreich

Maria von Österreich, also known as Archduchess Maria of Austria, was born in Innsbruck on June 16, 1584, and died there on March 2, 1649. She came from the House of Habsburg and was the daughter of Ferdinand of Tyrol and his second wife, Anna Katharina of Mantua. Her life was closely connected with that of her mother, particularly through their shared turn toward religious life. After the death of her husband in 1595, Anna Katharina of Mantua entered the Order of the Servites of Mary. Maria followed the same path later: in 1612, she too joined the order and became a religious sister. As a member of an important Habsburg family, she thus chose a religious life in Innsbruck. Maria is also remembered through a court portrait created by Hans von Aachen. Portraits of Maria and her mother are still located in the cloister of the Servite church in Innsbruck, near their shared burial place. There, mother and daughter rest in two superimposed, gilded sarcophagi. Each coffin is identified by an inscription. Anna’s sarcophagus is particularly richly decorated, with a crown and two crossed scepters resting on a cushion. Above the double tomb is also Anna’s archducal hat, preserved under glass. Maria von Österreich therefore represents a connection between Habsburg heritage, courtly commemorative culture, and religious life. Her recorded life dates and the shared tomb with her mother preserve the memory of a woman who joined the Order of the Servites of Mary in the early seventeenth century and remained in her birthplace, Innsbruck, until her death.