Maria Leopoldine, Princess of Liechtenstein


Leopoldine von Sternberg was a princess consort of Liechtenstein by marriage to Prince Franz Joseph I. She is noted to have belonged to the discussion circle of Eleonore of Liechtenstein, who acted as political advisers to Emperor Joseph II.

Life

Leopoldine was born as the second child and the eldest daughter of Count Franz Philipp of Sternberg and his wife, Countess Leopoldine of Starhemberg, elder sister of Georg Adam, Prince of Starhemberg.
Countess Marie Leopoldine married Franz Joseph I, Prince of Liechtenstein, on 6 July 1750 in Valtice or Feldsberg.
After the death of her spouse in 1781, she lived permanently in Vienna with her youngest daughter, Maria Josepha Hermenegilde.
She belonged to the salon or discussion circle of five princesses, headed by Eleonore of Liechtenstein, who acted as the political advisers of Emperor Joseph II, and who met him once a week to discuss state affairs.
This circle consisted of Princess Eleonore of Liechtenstein, Princess Maria Josepha von Clary und Aldringen, Princess Maria Sidonia Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau, Princess Leopoldine von Liechtenstein, Count Franz Moritz von Lacy who was Austrian field marshal and Prince Franz Xaver Wolfgang von Orsini-Rosenberg, the Master of the Imperial treasury.

Issue

The couple had eight children: