by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2013
Elisabeth of Württemberg, Archduchess of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia
Elisabeth of Württemberg (Elisabeth Wilhelmine Luise) was born on April 21, 1767, in Treptow an der Rega in Brandenburg-Pomerania, now Trzebiatów, Poland. She was one of the twelve children of Friedrich II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg and Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Elisabeth had eleven siblings:
- Friedrich I, King of Württemberg (1754 – 1816), first King of Württemberg, married (1) Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel; had issue (2) Charlotte, Princess Royal; no issue
- Ludwig (1756 – 1817), married (1) Maria Czartoryska; had issue (2) Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg; had issue
- Eugen (1758 – 1822), married Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern; had issue
- Sophie Dorothea (1759 – 1828), married to Paul I, Emperor of Russia; had issue
- Wilhelm Friedrich Philip (1761 – 1830), married Wilhelmine von Tunderfeld-Rhodis; had issue
- Ferdinand Friedrich August (1763 – 1834), married Princess Kunigunde von Metternich
- Friederike (1765 – 1785), married to Peter, Duke of Oldenburg; had issue
- Friederike (born and died 1768 )
- Karl Friedrich Heinrich (1770 – 1791)
- Alexander (1771 – 1833), married Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; had issue
- Karl Heinrich (1772 – 1833), married Christianne-Caroline Alexeï
At the age of 15, Elisabeth went to Vienna to prepare to become the bride of Archduke Franz, the nephew of the then Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph II. Here the Protestant princess was educated by nuns at the Church and Monastery of the Visitation and she converted to Roman Catholicism. Elisabeth married Archduke Franz (the future emperor) on January 6, 1788, when she was 20 years old.
She was very close to Emperor Joseph and his final illness in February 1790 greatly upset the then-pregnant Elisabeth. She fainted upon seeing the dying emperor and on February 18, 1790, gave premature birth to a daughter Archduchess Ludovika Elisabeth. The labor had lasted more than 24 hours and Elisabeth, age 22, died the same day due to complications. Holy Roman Emperor Joseph died two days later. Archduchess Elisabeth was buried at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, in the Imperial Crypt in the Franzensgruft (Franz’s Vault) where her husband and his three other wives are also buried. Elisabeth’s baby, Ludovika Elisabeth, lived only until June 24, 1791, and is buried in the Imperial Crypt in the southwest pier of Ferdinandsgruft (Ferdinand’s Vault) along with a number of other Habsburgs who died young. After her death, her husband became Holy Roman Emperor and then Emperor of Austria.
Tomb of Elisabeth of Württemberg, first wife of Holy Roman Emperor Franz II/Emperor Franz I of Austria; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer
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