Archduchess Mathilda of Austria

Mathilda of Austria
Archduchess of Austria
File:Matilde de Áustria-Teschen.5.jpg Mathilda
Born	(1849-01-25)25 January 1849 Vienna
Died	Schloss Hetzendorf, Austria
Full name German: Mathilde Marie Adelgunde Alexandra
House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen
Mother	Princess Hildegard of Bavaria

Archduchess Mathilde of Austria (Mathilde Marie Adelgunde Alexandra; 25 January 1849, Vienna – 6 June 1867, Schloss Hetzendorf near Vienna) was an Austrian noblewoman. She was the second daughter of Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen and Princess Hildegard of Bavaria (1825–1864).

Family

Her forenames were derived from her mother's sisters, Mathilde, Grand Duchess of Hesse (1813–1862), Adelgunde, Duchess of Modena (1823–1914) and Princess Alexandra of Bavaria (1826–1875), with whom Hildegard had a very close relationship.

Mathilde had two elder siblings: Maria Theresia (1845–1927) in 1865 married Duke Philipp of Württemberg (1838–1917) and her only brother, Karl Albrecht (1847–1848), who died of smallpox at the age of 18 months.

Life

After the death of his father Archduke Karl, Archduke Albrecht inherited in 1847 the Weilburg Palace in Baden bei Wien, that Karl had built for his wife Princess Henrietta of Weilburg (1797–1829). Albrecht and his family usually spent the summer there, where Archduchess Hildegard especially found of its renowned public baths. Because of his charity, he was popularly named Engelsherz (Angel's Heart). During the winter, the family lived in Vienna. Her family was very close to the imperial family, and Empress Elisabeth greatly enjoyed the company of her cousin Archduchess Hildegard.

Among Mathilde's circle of friends was the Archduchess Marie Therese (1849–1919), later Queen of Bavaria, who was of the same age and also the stepdaughter of Karl Ferdinand (1818–1874), Mathilde's uncle.

A distant cousin, Archduke Ludwig Salvator (1847–1915), of the Italian Habsburg line, fell in love with Mathilde and sought to marry her, but they never became engaged. Mathilde was intended to become Queen of Italy as the wife of Umberto of Savoy (1844–1900) in order to improve the already tense relations between Austria-Hungary and Italy.

During her stay in Munich for the funeral of her brother King Maximilian II (1811–1864) in March 1864, Mathilde's mother became ill with a lung inflammation and pleurisy, and died; Mathilde was 15 years old.

Death

Mathilde died at the age of 18 in Schloss Hetzendorf, the Viennese home of Empress Elisabeth, on 6 June 1867. The archduchess had put on a gauze dress to go to the theatre. Before leaving for the theatre, she wanted to smoke a cigarette but shortly thereafter her father, who had forbidden smoking, approached her, and she hid the cigarette behind her dress, immediately setting light to its very flammable material and giving her second and third-degree burns. Her death was witnessed by her whole family.

File:Tomb of Mathilde of Austria-Teschen at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria.jpg

Tomb of Mathilde of Austria-Teschen at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria

Archduchess Mathilde was buried in the imperial vault in the Imperial Crypt beside her mother and her brother Karl Albrecht.

Ancestry

Family of Archduchess Mathilda of Austria

16. Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor               8. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor                       17. Maria Theresa of Austria               4. Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen                             18. Charles III of Spain               9. Maria Luisa of Spain                       19. Maria Amalia of Saxony               2. Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen                                   20. Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg               10. Frederick William, Duke of Nassau                       21. Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau               5. Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg                             22. Georg, Landgrave of Kirchberg, Count of Sayn-Hachenburg               11. Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg                       23. Countess Elisabeth Augusta Reuss of Greiz               1. Mathilda of Austria                                         24. Count Palatine Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken               12. Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria                       25. Countess Palatine Maria Franziska of Sulzbach               6. Ludwig I of Bavaria                             26. Landgrave George William of Hesse-Darmstadt               13. Landgravine Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt                       27. Countess Marie Luise Leiningen-Dagsburg-Heidesheim               3. Princess Hildegard of Bavaria                                   28. Ernest Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen               14. Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg                       29. Princess Ernestine of Saxe-Weimar               7. Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen                             30. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg               15. Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz                       31. Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt

External links

• Archduchess Mathilde of Austria-Teschen & The Secret Cigarette