by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Coat of Arms of the Princes of Dietrichstein; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Johanna Beatrix of Dietrichstein was the wife of her maternal uncle Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein. Born circa 1625 in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria, she was the fifth of the eleven children and the fourth of the seven daughters of Maximilian, 2nd Prince of Dietrichstein, Baron of Hollenburg, Finkenstein, and Thalberg and his first wife Princess Anna Maria of Liechtenstein. Johanna Beatrix’s paternal grandparents were Siegmund II, Count of Dietrichstein, Baron of Hollenburg, Finkenstein and Thalberg and his second wife Johanna von der Leiter Baroness von der Leytter zu Behrn und Vicenz auf Amerang. Her maternal grandparents were Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein and Baroness Anna Maria von Boskowitz and Černahora.

Johanna Beatrix had ten siblings:

• Marianna Cäcilia of Dietrichstein (born and died 1619), died in infancy
• Anna Franziska von Dietrichstein (1621 – 1685), married Imperial Field Marshal Count Walter Leslie, no children
• Franz Anton of Dietrichstein (born and died 1622), died in infancy
• Marie Eleonore of Dietrichstein (1623 – 1687), married (1) Count Lév Vilém Kaunitz, had one son (2) Count Frederick Leopold of Oppersdorf, no children
• Maria Klara of Dietrichstein (1626 – 1667), married Count Johann Friedrich of Trauttmansdorff, Baron of Gleichenberg, had six children
• Ferdinand Joseph 3rd Prince of Dietrichstein (1636 – 1698), married Princess Maria Elisabeth of Eggenberg, had twenty children but only five survived childhood
• Maria Margareta Josefa of Dietrichstein (1637 – 1676), married Prince Raimondo Montecuccoli, Duke of Melfi, had four children
• Maximilian Andreas of Dietrichstein (1638 – 1692), married Countess Maria Justina of Schwarzenberg, had twelve children but only five survived childhood
• Maria Theresia of Dietrichstein (1639 – 1658), married Karl Adam, Count of Mansfeld-Vorderort-Bornstädt, no children
• Karl of Dietrichstein (born and died 1639), died in infancy

Johanna Beatrix had six half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Countess Sophie Agnes Mansfeld-Vorderort-Bornstädt:

• Maria Josepha of Dietrichstein (1641 – 1676)
• Franz Anton of Dietrichstein (1643 – 1721), unmarried, a Jesuit priest
• Joseph Ignaz of Dietrichstein (born and died 1644), died in infancy
• Philipp Sigmund of Dietrichstein (1651 – 1716), married (1) Baroness Marie Elisabeth Hofmann of Grünbühel-Strechau (2) Baroness Dorothea Josepha Jankovský z Vlašimi, no children
• Maria Rosina Sophia of Dietrichstein (1652 – 1711), married (1) Count Franz Eusebius of Pötting, had three children, all died in infancy (2) Count Václav Ferdinand of Lobkowicz, had five children
• Maria Charlotte of Dietrichstein (1655 – 1682)

Like his ancestors, Johanna Beatrix’s father Maximilian, 2nd Prince of Dietrichstein was in the service of the House of Habsburg. He served as a diplomat, Lord Chamberlain, Conference Minister, and a Privy Councillor for Holy Roman Emperors Ferdinand II and Ferdinand III. Because of this, Johanna Beatrix and her siblings grew up mostly in Vienna.

Johanna Beatrix’s husband Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 6, 1644, nineteen-year-old Johanna Beatrix married her thirty-three-year-old maternal uncle Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein, son of Karl I, the first Prince of Liechtenstein and Baroness Anna Maria von Boskowitz and Černahora.

Johanna Beatrix and Karl Eusebius had nine children:

• Princess Eleonora Maria of Liechtenstein (1647 – 1704), married Prince Johann Seyfried von Eggenberg, had seven children
• Princess Anna Maria of Liechtenstein (1648 – 1654), died in childhood
• Princess Maria Theresia of Liechtenstein (1649 – 1716), married James Leslie, 2nd Count Leslie of the Holy Roman Empire (his father was a Scottish lord, Alexander Leslie, 14th Baron of Balquhain, 1st Count of the Holy Roman Empire), had one son
• Princess Johanna Beatrix of Liechtenstein (1650 – 1672), married her second cousin Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein, had two children
• Prince Franz Dominik Eusebius of Liechtenstein (born and died 1652), died in infancy
• Prince Karl Joseph of Liechtenstein (born and died 1652), died in infancy
• Prince Franz Eusebius Wenzel of Liechtenstein (1654 – 1655), died in infancy
• Princess Cäcilie of Liechtenstein (born and died 1655), died in infancy
• Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein (1657–1712), married his first cousin Princess Edmunda Maria Theresia of Dietrichstein, had seven children

Johanna Beatrix’s husband Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein began to invest in a personal art collection and he became one of the preeminent Central European art collectors of his time. He laid the foundation for the Liechtenstein Museum, formerly a private art museum in Vienna, Austria. It has not been run as a museum since 2012 and is now called Palais Liechtenstein. The Palais Liechtenstein remains home to part of the private art collection of the Princely House of Liechtenstein, one of the largest private collections in the world, started by Karl Eusebius and is available for visit by booked guided tours.

Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Czech Republic; Credit – Von Ojin – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6438939

Johanna Beatrix predeceased Karl Eusebius, dying at the age of fifty, on March 26, 1676, in Brno, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic. She was buried in the Old Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic. Karl Eusebius survived his wife by eight years, dying at the age of 72, on April 5, 1684. He was also buried in the Old Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Karl Eusebius left his son and successor Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein a rich inheritance and an extensive collection of artworks that were multiplied by his son and other descendants.

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Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan. (2021) Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-eusebius-prince-of-liechtenstein/ (Accessed: 17 June 2023).
• Johanna Beatrix von Dietrichstein-Nikolsburg (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johanna_Beatrix_von_Dietrichstein-Nikolsburg (Accessed: 17 June 2023).
• Johanna Beatrix of Dietrichstein (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johanna_Beatrix_of_Dietrichstein (Accessed: 17 June 2023).
• Maximilian, Prince of Dietrichstein (2022) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian,_Prince_of_Dietrichstein (Accessed: 17 June 2023).
• Maximilian von Dietrichstein (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_von_Dietrichstein (Accessed: 17 June 2023).
• Princely House of Liechtenstein. 2023. Biographies of all Reigning Princes – 17th century. [online] Available at: <https://fuerstenhaus.li/en/die-biographien-aller-fuersten/17-century/> [Accessed 17 June 2023].