Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (Maria Anna Josepha Antonia; 6 October 1738 – 19 November 1789) was the second child of

Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor Francis I (Francis Stephen; french: François Étienne; german: Franz Stefan; 8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Lorraine and Duchy of Bar, Bar, and Grand Duke of Tuscany. He became the rule ...

, and

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...

, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. As a child, and for a time the eldest surviving child, she was heiress presumptive, but she suffered from ill health and physical disability, and did not marry. In 1766 she became

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...

of the ''Frauenstift'' in Prague. Soon thereafter she moved to

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

and remained there for the rest of her life. Her palace in Klagenfurt, the ''Mariannengasse'', now houses the Episcopal Palace.

Biography

Early life

Archduchess Maria Anna (known as ''Marianna'') was born on 6 October 1738 at the

Hofburg Palace The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, the center of the vastly powerful Habsburg Monarchy. As the second but eldest surviving daughter of

, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and

, she was heiress presumptive of the hereditary lands of the Austrian Habsburgs between 1740 and 1741, until her younger brother Joseph (later to be the Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

) was born. Her mother gave her the customary education of the princely courts at that time. Maria Anna's musical talents were highly encouraged, but not her humanities talents. Maria Anna was the child least respected and loved by Maria Theresa—her younger brother Joseph and sisters Maria Elisabeth and Maria Christina always received the attention and care of the Empress: Joseph because he was the male heir, Liesl because she was considered the most beautiful of the daughters, and Mimi because she was the undisputed favorite child of her mother.

Reign of Maria Theresa

Maria Anna was highly intelligent but physically disabled. She suffered from bad health, worsened by the drafty and cold rooms of the Hofburg Palace. In 1757 she contracted pneumonia and almost died, the

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. They may be administered to those awaiting execution, mortall ...

being called for her. Although she survived, her breathing capacity was permanently damaged, and she also developed a fusion of her spine which caused her to have a lump on her back. After that time, she began to have a close relationship with her father, and reportedly became Francis I's favourite child. She shared his interest in science and conducted experiments in chemistry and physics. Despite being disabled, Maria Anna often played important roles in major events of state, including acting as sponsor at the christening of her youngest sister

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

.A. Fraser, ''Marie Antoinette: The Journey,'' p. 6 In July 1765 the whole Imperial family traveled to

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...

for the wedding of the second-oldest son, Leopold. They halted in

, where Maria Anna visited the small monastery that belonged to the Order of Saint Elisabeth, established there in 1710. The encounter with the sisters was to be a turning point in Maria Anna's life. Thea Leitner explains that the Archduchess became enthusiastic for the monastic life because the nuns did not care about appearances and Maria Anna always lived with the fear of being ridiculed because of her hump. The death of Emperor Francis I on 18 August 1765 was a devastating blow for Maria Anna. Because her mother was unable to find a royal husband for her, in 1766 Maria Anna was made Princess-Abbess of the Theresian Imperial and Royal Convent for Noble Ladies (''Frauenstift'') in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

with the promise of 80,000 florins per year. Despite the opposition of her mother, she decided to give up the Prague position and became an abbess in

with a smaller provision. A palace for her was built by

Nicolò Pacassi Nicolò Pacassi (5 March 1716 – 11 November 1790), also known as Nikolaus Pacassi, was an Italian-Austrian architect. He was born in Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria in a family of merchants from Gorizia. In 1753, he was appointed court archi ...

near the monastery as her residence, the construction of which was completed in 1771. To the abbess of the convent, she wrote: ::''Gott hat mir die Gnade gegeben, die Welt und ihre Eitelkeit zu erkennen, und dadurch mir die Stärke erteilt, mein Leben nicht als Klosterfrau, doch in der Einsamkeit und im Dienste der Nächsten zu schließen. Ich habe dazu Klagenfurt ausgewählt, und zwar Sie und ihre frommen Schwestern, hoffend, dass mein unvollkommener Wert durch Ihre guten Beispiele angeeifert, meine Seligkeit mir gewiss versichert wird.'' ::"God has given me the grace to know the world and its vanity, and thereby given me the strength to close my life not as a nun, but in solitude and in the service of neighbors. I have thus selected Klagenfurt, specifically you and your pious sisters, hoping that—my imperfect value spurred on by your good examples—my salvation is certainly assured to me."

During the time prior to her final move to Klagenfurt, Maria Anna completed her father's coin collection (which later became part of the Vienna Museum of Natural History) with the help of her mentor

Ignaz von Born Ignaz Edler von Born, also known as Ignatius von Born ( hu, Born Ignác, ro, Ignațiu von Born, cs, Ignác Born) (26 December 1742 in Alba Iulia, Grand Principality of Transylvania, Habsburg monarchy – 24 July 1791 in Vienna), was a min ...

, and established her own mineral and insect collection. She financed social projects, archaeological exhumations, artists and scientists. Maria Anna also wrote a book about her mother's politics. Her watercolors and drawings were praised in the professional world. Maria Anna was made an honorary member of the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

in 1767 and elected member of the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze The Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze ("academy of fine arts of Florence") is an instructional art academy in Florence, in Tuscany, in central Italy. It was founded by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1563, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. M ...

in 1769. Despite her talents and intelligence, Maria Anna was disliked by high society because her scientific interests were considered unsuitable for her gender, but she was appreciated by the scientific and art world. Gasser Xaveria Abbess Klagenfurt

Reign of Joseph

Empress Maria Theresa died on 29 November 1780, and four months later, Maria Anna moved permanently to Klagenfurt. She quickly developed a deep friendship with Xaveria Gasser, Abbess of the convent. Thanks to the generous financial support of the Archduchess the monastery hospital could soon be extended, and her own personal physician supervised the patients of the hospital. She also provided welfare assistance in the municipality of Klagenfurt. Her friends were nuns, artists, scientists, and nobles, including the Carinthian iron industrialist Maximilian Thaddäus von Egger. Some of them belonged to the

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. In 1783, the Klagenfurt Masonic Lodge was founded with a dedication "to charitable Marianna" (''Zur wohltätigen Marianna'') as she was called. Maria Anna devoted herself in Klagenfurt to her scientific interests. She discovered her love for archeology: she donated 30,000 florins for excavations at Zollfeld and also took part in the excavations herself. Close to her younger sister Maria Elisabeth, the two lived together in the same convents until their deaths. While her youngest sister,

, was traveling on her way to

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

in 1770, she stayed at Klagenfurt for one night. From the winter of 1788 Maria Anna's health deteriorated further. Her shortness of breath became worse and she could hardly move without a wheelchair. She died on 19 November 1789 in the presence of her closest friends. Reportedly, her last words were: ::''Es ist wohl ein gutes Land, ich hab es immer lieb gehabt. Es sind gute Menschen, mit denen ich vergnügt lebte und die ich hart verlasse.'' ::"It is indeed a good country, I've had always loved it. There are good people with whom I lived happily and I leave them reluctantly." Maria Anna left her entire inheritance (amounting to more than 150,000 guilders) to the monastery of Klagenfurt. Her brother, Emperor Joseph II, deducted the inheritance tax from the income. Her palace is now home to the Prince Bishop's residence, in the ''Mariannengasse''.

Gallery

File:Archduchess Maria Anne of Austria.jpg, Maria Anna Maria Anna of Austria 1762 by Liotard.jpg, Maria Anna in 1762 by Liotard File:Joseph II of Habsburg Lorraine and sisters.jpg,

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

with Maria Anna and Archduchess Maria Elisabeth File:Maria Theresia im Kreise ihrer Familie.jpg, Maria Anna's family

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

* *

Thea Leitner Thea Leitner (June 2, 1921 in Vienna – August 2016) was an Austrian author and journalist. She has written numerous books for young people and was decorated, in May, 2003 for service to Vienna with the "Silbernes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um d ...

: ''Habsburgs vergessene Kinder''. Piper, München 1996, * Friedrich Weissensteiner: ''Die Töchter Maria Theresias''. Kremayer & Scheriau, Wien 1991, * Constantin von Wurzbach
''Habsburg, Maria Anna (1738–1789)''
in: ''

Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich ''Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich'' (English, ''Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire'') (abbreviated ''Wurzbach'' from the author's surname) is a 60-volume work, edited and published by Constantin von Wurzbach, conta ...

'', vol. 7. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing House, Vienna 1861, p 26
online

External links

''Habsburg-Lothringen, Maria Anna'' in: austria-forum.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Anna Of Austria, Archduchess 1738 births 1789 deaths 18th-century Austrian people 18th-century Austrian women Austrian princesses Knights of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Burials at the Imperial Crypt Natural history collectors Daughters of emperors Children of Maria Theresa House of Habsburg-Lorraine Daughters of kings