Princess Joséphine Caroline of Belgium


Princess Joséphine Caroline of Belgium was the youngest daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. She was also the sister of Albert I of Belgium.

Biography

Joséphine Caroline married her maternal first cousin Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen on 28 May 1894 in Brussels. He was the youngest son of her mother's oldest brother, Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern. Their relationship was described as a happy one. They lived in Namedy Castle on the Rhine which they had purchased in 1909. During World War I, she made her home a military hospital for wounded soldiers while her husband served as a Prussian lieutenant general. Exhausted from years of warfare, he died shortly after his return to Namedy in 1919, at age 51. In 1935, Joséphine Caroline entered a Benedictine convent in Namur, taking the name of Sister Marie-Josephine, and remained a nun for the rest of her life. She is buried in the Couvent des Soeurs de Notre-Dame in Namur.

Marriage and issue

On 28 May 1894 in Brussels, she married her maternal first cousin Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern, third son of Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern and Infanta Antónia of Portugal. They had the following children;
  • Princess Stephanie Josephine Karola Philippine Leopoldine Marie of Hohenzollern she married Prince Joseph-Ernst Fugger of Glött on 18 May 1920 and they were divorced on 25 May 1943.
  • Princess Marie Antoinette Wilhelmine Auguste Viktoria of Hohenzollern she married Baron Egon Eyrl von und zu Waldgries und Liebenaich on 27 November 1924. They had four children:
  • *Baroness Veronika Eyrl von und zu Waldgries und Liebenaich she died at the age of fifteen.
  • *Baroness Stephanie Eyrl von und zu Waldgries und Liebenaich she married Josef von Zallinger-Stillendorf on 27 November 1950. They have four children.
  • *Baroness Elisabeth Eyrl von und zu Waldgries und Liebenaich she married Bernhard Baron von Hohenbuhel gennant Heufler of Rasen on 9 August 1954. They have six children.
  • *Baron Carl Josef Eyrl von und zu Waldgries und Liebenaich he married Countess Isabelle Ceschi a Santa Croce on 12 April 1975. They have four children.
  • Prince Albrecht Ludwig Leopold Tassilo of Hohenzollern he married Ilse Margot von Friedeburg on 19 May 1921. They had five children:
  • *Princess Josephine Wilhelma of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
  • *Princess Luise-Dorothea of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen she married Count Egbert of Plettenberg on 11 June 1947. They have seven children.
  • *Princess Rose-Margarethe of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen she married Edgar Pfersdorf on 15 September 1955. They have four children.
  • *Princess Maria of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen she died at one day old.
  • *Prince Godehard-Friedrich of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen he married Heide Hansen on 29 August 1971. They have two children.
  • Princess Henriette Leopoldine Wilhelmine of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen she died at four days old.

Honours