Joseph Louis Nicholas, Count of Windisch-Graetz, Baron of Waldstein and Thal (6 December 1744 – 24 January 1802) was a nobleman, a member of the

House of Windisch-Graetz The House of Windisch-Graetz, also spelled Windischgrätz, is an ancient Austrian aristocratic family, descending from Windischgrätz in Lower Styria (present-day Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia). The noble dynasty serving the House of Habsburg achieve ...

, and was chamberlain to Archduchess

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

of Austria.

Early life

He was the second son of Count Leopold Carl Joseph of Windish-Graetz (1718–1746) and his wife Countess Maria Antonia Josepha von Khevenhüller (1726–1746). As his father died young, he was the heir of his grandfather, Count Leopold Johann Victorin Windisch-Graetz. However, the estate was heavily indebted, forcing him to sell

Červená Lhota Castle Červená Lhota () is a Renaissance architecture, Renaissance castle in the South Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. It lies in the village of Červená Lhota in the Pluhův Žďár municipality, about northwest of Jindřichův Hradec. It stands a ...

Southern Bohemia The South Bohemian Region () is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part of the South Bohemian Reg ...

to the Barons of Gudenus in 1755 and the

Trautmannsdorf an der Leitha Trautmannsdorf an der Leitha is a town in the district of Bruck an der Leitha in Lower Austria in Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation o ...

estate in

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

in 1756.

Career

On 12 May 1781, he purchased the lordships of

Tachov Tachov (; ) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Mže River. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Tachov ...

, Ctěnice, and

Štěkeň Štěkeň is a market town in Strakonice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 900 inhabitants. Administrative division Štěkeň consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 c ...

from Ernestine Fuchs von Bimbach, the widow of Count Adam Philipp Losy von Losinthal. Here he founded his extensive family archive. His descendants later moved this archive to the former Kladruby monastery, which they had acquired after it had been

secularized In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

Personal life

Joseph Nicholas was twice married. His first wife was Countess Maria Josepha Reinharda Raimunda Erdödy de Monyorókerék et Monoszló (1748–1777) She died on 10 April 1777. On 30 August 1781 in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, he married his second wife, Duchess Maria Leopoldine Franziska of

Arenberg Arenberg, also spelled as Aremberg or Ahremberg, is a former county, principality and finally duchy that was located in what is now Germany. The Dukes of Arenberg remain a prominent Belgian noble family. History First mentioned in the 12th c ...

(1751–1812), the daughter of vastly wealthy

Charles Marie Raymond, 5th Duke of Arenberg Charles Marie Raymond d'Arenberg (Enghien, 1 April 1721 – Enghien, 17 August 1778) was the fifth Duke of Arenberg, 11th Duke of Aarschot and an Austrian field marshal. Biography Charles Marie was the eldest son of Duke Leopold Philippe of A ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Count Ludwig Robert of Windisch-Graetz (1782–1783), who died young. * Countess Sophie Luise Wilhelmine of Windisch-Graetz (1784–1848), who married Prince Karl of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, the son of

Dominic Constantine, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort Dominic Constantine, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (16 May 1762 – 18 April 1814) was the fourth and last reigning Prince of the Rochefort line of the House of Löwenstein-Wertheim. Early life Dominic Constantine was born in Nancy ...

, and Princess Leopoldine of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein, in 1799.Harald Stockert: ''Adel im Übergang. Die Fürsten und Grafen von Löwenstein-Wertheim zwischen Landesherrschaft und Standesherrschaft'', Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart, 2000, * Alfred Candidus Ferdinand of Windisch-Graetz (1787–1862), who married Princess Marie Eleonore Philippine Luise of Schwarzenberg, was daughter of Prince Josef Johann of Schwarzenberg and Duchess Pauline of

; he was raised to the rank of

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

in 1804. His wife was murdered during

1848 Revolution The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. * Weriand Alois Leopold Ulrich Johann Paul of Windisch-Graetz (1790–1867), who married Princess Maria Eleonore Karolina von

Lobkowicz The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is an important Bohemian noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest noble families of the region. Over the ce ...

, a daughter of Joseph Franz Maximilian, 7th Prince of Lobkowicz, in 1812; he was raised to the rank of prince in 1822. Count Joseph Nicholas died on 24 January 1802 in

. His widow, Duchess Maria Leopoldine Franziska, died on 26 August 1812.

References

External links

Website
of the city of

, with a photo of the former princely castle
Website
of the Kladruby monastery, with a photo of the former princely library

1744 births 1802 deaths 18th-century people from Bohemia 18th-century people from the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century Austrian nobility Counts of Austria Joseph Nicholas Austrian civil servants People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Royal reburials 18th-century civil servants {{Germany-noble-stub