Weriand, 1st Prince of Windisch-Graetz
Weriand Alois Leopold Ulrich Johann Paul, Prince of Windisch-Graetz, was a Slovenian-Austrian prince and landowner.
Early life
He was the third, but second surviving, son of Duchess Maria Leopoldine Franziska of Arenberg and Count Joseph Nicholas of Windisch-Graetz. His elder sister, Countess Sophie Luise Wilhelmine of Windisch-Graetz, married Prince Karl of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.Harald Stockert: Adel im Übergang. Die Fürsten und Grafen von Löwenstein-Wertheim zwischen Landesherrschaft und Standesherrschaft, Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart, 2000, His elder surviving brother was Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, who married Princess Marie Eleonore Philippine Luise of Schwarzenberg, and was raised to the rank of prince in 1804.His paternal grandparents were Count Leopold Carl Joseph of Windish-Graetz and Countess Maria Antonia Josepha von Khevenhüller. As his grandfather died young, his father was the heir of his great-grandfather, Count Leopold Johann Victorin Windisch-Graetz. His maternal grandparents were Charles Marie Raymond, 5th Duke of Arenberg and the former Countess Louise Margarethe von der Marck-Schleiden.
Career
Like his elder brother had been in 1804, he was raised to the rank of hereditary prince in 1822.From the assets of his mother's estate, he acquired numerous castles in what is now Slovenia, some of which he soon sold again. His main residences were Haasberg Castle in Carniola and Gonobitz Castle, which he acquired in 1826 and which also included the Seiz Carthusian monastery. For a short time he owned Žamberk Castle with Helvíkovice, Podsreda Castle in Kozje, Predjama Castle in 1846, and Wagensberg Castle in 1853.
Personal life
On 11 October 1812 at Vienna, Windisch-Graetz was married to Princess Maria Eleonore Karolina von Lobkowicz, a daughter of Joseph Franz Maximilian, 7th Prince of Lobkowicz and Princess Maria Karolina von Schwarzenberg. Together, they were the parents of:- Prince Karl Vincenz Weriand Joseph Gabriel of Windisch-Graetz, who married his cousin, Princess Mathilde of Windisch-Graetz, daughter of Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, in 1857; he was killed at the Battle of Solferino during the Second Italian War of Independence.
- Prince Hugo Alfred Adolf Philipp of Windisch-Graetz, who married Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a daughter of Paul Frederick, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Alexandrine of Prussia, in 1849. After her death in 1859, he married Princess Matilda Radziwill, the daughter of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Radziwill, 14th Duke of Nieśwież, and Princess Mathilde Christina of Clary-Aldringen, in 1867.
- Princess Gabriele Marianne Caroline Aglae of Windisch-Graetz, who married Count Friedrich Wilhelm Edmund von Schönburg-Glauchau, a son of Count Heinrich Gottlob Otto Ernest von Schönburg-Glauchau, and Princess Marie Klementine von Schönburg-Waldenburg, in 1852.
- Prince Ernst Ferdinand Weriand of Windisch-Graetz, who married Princess Camilla of Oettingen-Oettingen, a daughter of Prince Otto Carl of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg, and Countess Georgine of Königsegg-Aulendorf, in 1870.
- Prince Robert Johann Joseph of Windisch-Graetz, who died unmarried.