Messages

1

The Wittlesbachs / Re: Helene of Thurn und Taxis (Duchess in Bavaria)

« on: September 23, 2016, 02:43:30 PM »

Hi synnadene! Wow, where did you find these rare pictures of Helene? She looks extremely strict and unhappy, almost angry - especially in the second picture. But I like them. It's always fantastic to see something new... 

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The Wittlesbachs / Re: The current members of the House of Wittelsbach

« on: September 26, 2013, 03:16:32 AM »

Are there some news about the child (son) of Prinzessin Auguste von Bayern (33)?
In July she was eight months pregnant... since then I've heard no more of it.

I haven't heard anything about Auguste's child. I also tried to find some information about the child of Princess Felipa and Christian Dienst. I guess the baby must have been born around April.

3

Italian Royal Families / Maria Luisa, Countess of Bardi

« on: May 20, 2013, 11:19:20 AM »

Back to Maria Luisa, Countess of Bardi. Yesterday I came across the English Wikipedia article of Maria Luisa that refers to a book written by Giovanni Spillmann in 1875.

It is told that Henri and Maria Luisa spent their honeymoon in Egypt where Maria Luisa was affected with a fever. She was taken to the French town of Cauterets where she had to take sulphur baths. She was also brought to Lourdes where she was emmersed into the holy water. Finally when her doctors said that there was no hope for her anymore, she was brought to Pau where she died on 23 February 1874.

Has anyone of you collected some more information about Maria Luisa? Does anyone know Spillmann's book?

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The Wittlesbachs / Re: Max Emanuel in Bayern

« on: April 07, 2013, 09:05:45 AM »

A slightly different version of the well-known wedding picture

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The Wittlesbachs / Re: Max Emanuel in Bayern

« on: April 07, 2013, 08:50:36 AM »

Duchess Amalie

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The Habsburgs / Re: Archduke Albrecht (1817-95), and his family

« on: April 07, 2013, 08:19:07 AM »

A small, but rare photograph of Mathilde playing some kind of piano.

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The Wittlesbachs / Re: Duke Max and Duchess Ludovica (née Princess of Bavaria) in Bavaria - Empress Elisabeth's parents

« on: March 30, 2013, 04:34:27 AM »

BTW  , talking about illegitimate daughters of Max, do you think this lady posing with him is one of them?

Well, I did some research on the photographer Franz Weisbrod. He worked in Frankfurt / Main, not in Munich. His photographs had the signature "F. Weisbrod, phot.", since the early 1870s you read "F. Weisbrod, Nachfolger" on the photos. The German word "Nachfolger" means "successor", so I guess since then his son or someone who assumed his photo atelier took the pictures.

To sum up: The photo of Max and this woman was obviously taken in Frankfurt before 1870. So I thought of family connections between Munich and Frankfurt. There is Mathilde of Hessen-Darmstadt, of course, but in my opinion it can't be her.

Although it would be great to have a pic of one of Maximilian's illegitimate daughters, I can't imagine that the duke took one of these daughters to an atelier in Frankfurt (why not Munich?) to take some photos ... He was a liberal mind, of course, but if he had taken his illegitimate daughters into public, I guess we would know much more about them now.

Besides, we have to keep in mind that Max was still married to Ludovica, sister and aunt of many kings and queens, and that he was the father of the Empress of Austria. I guess, in the 19th century there would have been a public outcry if Max had appeared somewhere with his illegitimate daughter. No chance.

8

The Wittlesbachs / Re: Duke Max and Duchess Ludovica (née Princess of Bavaria) in Bavaria - Empress Elisabeth's parents

« on: March 29, 2013, 10:48:22 AM »

Dis Ludovika have a good relationship with her daughter-in-law Infanta D. Maria José ?

Duke Carl Theodor was heartbroken after his beloved first wife Princess Sophie had died. It was hard for Ludovica to see her favourite son suffer so much. Besides, she wasn't happy about the fact that he couldn't make up his mind to marry again.

In 1873, Marie and Francesco of Naples convinced Carl Theodor to have a look at Marie José. The young Infanta and her mother stayed with some relatives in Offenbach, when they met the former king and Carl Theodor in the park - by accident, of course ... After a long and nice conversation, Carl Theodor proposed to Marie José, but the Infanta wanted to have some time to think about an engagement. We have to keep in mind that the duke was much older than Marie José. Carl Theodor was disappointed, but in early 1874 Marie José said "yes".

Ludovica liked Marie José very much. It's also a nice fact that Marie José's father Miguel of Braganza was Ludovica's first love she was refused to marry. Most of the time, Ludovica lived with her son and his family. That's why we have quite a lot of photos showing the old duchess and some of Carl Theodor's children.

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The Wittlesbachs / The duke's illegitimate children

« on: March 29, 2013, 09:54:18 AM »

That's a really interesting topic. Although I've bought each book, magazine and newspaper I was able to find within the last 15 years, I couldn't pick up much information about Maximilian's illegatimate children. By the way, he didn't seem to have any illegitimate sons, because in books there has unexceptionally been the talk of "daughters".

It seems to be confirmed that Max used to have dinner with these daughters. Also Brigitte Hamann mentioned that in her biography about Elisabeth.

Strange enough, Duke Max turned to be some kind of maverick in his later years. He lived in his rooms in the Maxpalais in Munich and didn't want to see neither his family nor most of the servants. Marie Redwitz, Duchess Amélie's lady-in-waiting, saw him for the first time when he was lying on his deathbed.

Marie Larisch - well, it's up to you if you believe in her stories - told that Marie of Naples wanted to see her father shortly before his death. When she was on her way to him, she met "one of the duke's illegitimate daughters he loved so much" on the stairs and talked to her. If this is the truth, Max's illegitimate daughters were allowed to enter the palais and they got to know the duke's legitimate children. Besides, it seems like the duke favoured his illegitimate daughters also in old age and has kept close contact to them over the years.

I've never come across any names or birth dates. That's a pity!

10

The Habsburgs / Re: Empress Elisabeth, Part IV

« on: February 03, 2011, 05:47:09 PM »

The Empress ridding with....? (I think that one of the girls must be one of her daughters, perhaps Marie Valerie)

In most of my books these girls are identified as Marie Valérie and her cousin Maria Theresia of the Two Sicilies, only child of Mathilde Trani.

11

The Habsburgs / Re: Help with Photo Identification, Question or Caption

« on: January 31, 2011, 04:12:18 PM »

Here are some pictures of Beladona...she is interested in anyone can help her identifying persons in the pictures...First,a picture of Countess Hoyos with Archduchess Margarethe...which Countess Hoyos is this?

This young lady is Ida Countess Hoyos, Freiin von Sprinzenstein (1870-1946), daughter of Ernst Hoyos (1830-1903) and wife of Karl IV. zu Schwarzenberg.

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The Habsburgs / Re: Empress Elisabeth, Part IV

« on: November 27, 2010, 04:19:43 PM »

I found this family portrait quite interesting... according to the caption that it has: it shows the imperial family of Austria joined and a painting of Sissi is behind them on the wall but at the same time you can see at the right at top the ghost of the dead Empress!! This is one of the strangest family portraits that I've ever seen!!

Actually this painting is well-known. You can find it in almost every photobook about Elisabeth.

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The Habsburgs / Re: Empress Elisabeth, Part IV

« on: November 27, 2010, 04:17:28 PM »

The person looks more like Otto than Franz Ferdinand...

The caption says "Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand d'Este" ;-)

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French Royals / Re: Sophie, Duchess d'Alençon Part II

« on: November 21, 2010, 04:47:59 PM »

It is still in the hands of one of her decendents.

Well, if it belongs to the Hohenberg family, it isn't in possession of Sophie's descendants anymore.

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Italian Royal Families / Re: Queen Maria Sophia of Two-Sicilies,nee Duchess in Bavaria , Part II

« on: November 20, 2010, 10:42:54 AM »

Eric, this is what I have:

Marie Redwitz, Duchess Marie José's lady-in-waiting, wrote in her book "Hofchronik":

1919. The Queen of Naples has also returned to her parents' house and lived, just like the Duchess (= Marie José) herself, on the second floor.

Arrigo Petacco ("Die Helden von Gaeta") quotes an interview Marie gave an Italian journalist called Ansaldo in November 1924. By then, Marie was still living in the Maxpalais. Petacco knows that she was her nephew Ludwig Wilhelm's guest. It's quite strange to imagine that the former Queen and the Reichsbank (today Deutsche Bank) had to live under one roof.

One of Marie's servants, Mr. Barcellona, said in 1923: Every evening at 5 o'clock the Queen's sister, the Duchess of Trani, comes here (= Maxpalais) to have tea with the Queen. The Duchess lives in the hotel "Vier Jahreszeiten" in the Maximilianstraße. Then I usually read aloud from the newspapers, because the Duchess of Trani, although she is younger than the Queen, isn't able to read without her glasses. The Duchess of Trani is 80 years old. The Queen says that their conversations are gloomy. Then the Queen always accompanies her sister to the hotel, which is quite far away, because it's dark when she leaves and something could happen to her.