Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz
Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz was an Austrian noblewoman and a noted archaeologist.
Early life
Princess Marie Gabriele Ernestine Alexandra was born in Vienna in 1856 as the youngest daughter of Hugo, Prince of Windisch-Grätz and, his first wife, Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Among her siblings were Hugo, 3rd Prince of Windisch-Graetz ; Princess Alexandrine, Princess Olga. After her mother died in 1859, her father married Princess Matilda Radziwill, with whom he had three more children: Prince Ernst Wilhelm of Widisch-Graetz ; Princess Aloisia Maria Mathilde of Widisch-Graetz and Princess Elisabeth Maria Mathilde of Widisch-Graetz ; all of whom died unmarried.Her paternal grandparents were Weriand, 1st Prince of Windisch-Graetz and Princess Maria Eleonore Carolina of Lobkowicz. Her maternal grandparents were Grand Duke Paul [Frederick, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin|Paul Frederick] and Princess Alexandrine of Prussia.
Archeological interests
Marie née Windisch-Graetz surveyed several archaeological excavations in Austria and Carniola, including excavations at Hallstatt Archaeological Site in Vače. Some of the artifacts were sold to museums in Harvard, Oxford and Berlin by her daughter Duchess Marie Antoinette of Mecklenburg.Personal life
In Schwerin on 5 May 1881, she married her first cousin, the German-born Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg|Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin], second son of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and his wife, Princess Augusta Reuss of Köstritz.The couple had five children, three of whom survived to adulthood, including:
- Duke Paul Friedrich of Mecklenburg
- Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg, who died young.
- Duchess Marie Antoinette of Mecklenburg
- Duke Henry Borwin of Mecklenburg, who married Elizabeth Tibbits Pratt. After her death in 1928, he married Natália Oelrichs. After her death in 1931, he married Karola Ernestine von Alers, a daughter of Wilhelm Karl Georg von Alers and Adelaide Marie Pauline Ernstine von Chamisso de Boncourt.
- Duke Joseph of Mecklenburg, who died young.
On 21 April 1884 Duke Paul Frederick deferred his and his sons' rights of succession to Mecklenburg-Schwerin in favour of his younger brothers and their sons, so they would take precedence over him and his. In 1887 her husband, raised a Lutheran, converted to Roman Catholicism, the religion of his wife and their common children.
In 1906, after raising the concerns of his nephew Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, about his expenses Duke Paul Frederick and his wife were ordered to submit expenditures to the comptroller of the royal household.
Literature
- Viola Maier: Die Herzogin Marie von Mecklenburg-Schwerin. In: Julia K. Koch, Eva-Maria Mertens : Eine Dame zwischen 500 Herren. Johanna Mestorf, Werk und Wirkung. Waxmann, Münster etc., 2002,, pp. 257–265.
- Andrea Rottloff: Archäologen. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2009, pp. 87–89.