Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz

Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz (11 December 1856 – 9 August 1929) was an Austrian noblewoman and a noted archaeologist.

Princess Marie
Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg, née Princess of Windisch-Graetz
Born	11 December 1856[1] Vienna, Austrian Empire
Died	9 August 1929(1929-08-09) (aged 72) Ludwigslust, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Spouse	Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg ​ ​ (m. 1881; died 1923)​
Issue	Duke Paul Friedrich Duchess Marie Louise Duchess Marie Antoinette Duke Henry Borwin Duke Joseph of Mecklenburg
Names Marie Gabriele Ernestine Alexandra, Princess of Windisch-Graetz
House	House of Windisch-Graetz (by birth) House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (by marriage)
Father	Hugo, Prince of Windisch-Grätz
Mother	Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Early life and ancestry

Princess Marie Gabriele Ernestine Alexandra was born in Vienna in 1856 as the daughter of Hugo, Prince of Windisch-Grätz (himself son of Weriand, Prince of Windisch-Graetz and Princess Maria Eleonore Carolina of Lobkowicz) and his wife, Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (herself the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Paul Frederick and Princess Alexandrine of Prussia).

Biography

In Schwerin on 5 May 1881, she married her first cousin, the German-born Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, second son of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and his wife, Princess Augusta Reuss of Köstritz.^[2] The couple had three surviving children, all of whom were raised as Roman Catholics, Marie's religion,^[3] and lived a quiet life in Venice, where they befriended Cardinal Sarto (later Pope Pius X), who often visited the family and acted as their spiritual advisor.^[4]

On 21 April 1884 Duke Paul Frederick deferred his and his sons' rights of succession to Mecklenburg-Schwerin in favour of his younger brothers and their sons, so they would take precedence over him and his.^[2][5] In 1887 her husband, raised a Lutheran, converted to Roman Catholicism, the religion of his wife and their common children.^[6]

Marie née Windisch-Graetz surveyed several archaeological excavations in Austria and Carniola, including excavations at Hallstatt Archaeological Site in Vače. Some of the artifacts were sold to museums in Harvard, Oxford and Berlin by her daughter Duchess Marie Antoinette of Mecklenburg.^[7]

In 1906 after raising the concerns of his nephew Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, about his expenses Duke Paul Frederick and his wife were ordered to submit expenditures to the comptroller of the royal household.^[8]

Children

• Duke Paul Friedrich of Mecklenburg (1882–1904)
• Duchess Marie Louise of Mecklenburg (1883–1883)
• Duchess Marie Antoinette of Mecklenburg (1884–1944)
• Duke Henry Borwin of Mecklenburg (1885–1942) married 1. Elizabeth Tibbits Pratt (1860-1928); 2. Natália Oelrichs (1880-1931) and 3. Karola Ernestine von Alers (1882-1974), daughter of Wilhelm Karl Georg von Alers and Adelaide Marie Pauline Ernstine von Chamisso de Boncourt.
• Duke Joseph of Mecklenburg (1889–1889)

References

1. Fries, Jana Esther; Gutsmiedl-Schümann, Doris (2013). Ausgräberinnen, Forscherinnen, Pionierinnen: Ausgewählte Porträts früher Archäologinnen im Kontext ihrer Zeit (in German). Waxmann Verlag. p. 44. ISBN 9783830978725. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
2. Huberty, Michel; Alain Giraud; F. B. Magdelaine (1945). L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome VI : Bade-Mecklembourg. pp. 233, 239. ISBN 978-2-901138-06-8.
3. "The Spirit of Roman Catholicism". The Toronto World. 27 October 1884. p. 2.
4. "The Pope as a Matchmaker". Yukon World. 12 February 1905. p. 4.
5. "News by the Mail". Bruce Herald. 3 June 1884. p. 3.
6. "Catholic News". New Zealand Tablet. 26 August 1887. p. 31.
7. "Naturhistorisches Museum Wien - Duchess of Mecklenburg".
8. "European Intelligence in News and Comment". The New York Times. 8 April 1906. p. SM7.

Literature

• Viola Maier: Die Herzogin Marie von Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1856–1929). In: Julia K. Koch, Eva-Maria Mertens (eds.): Eine Dame zwischen 500 Herren. Johanna Mestorf, Werk und Wirkung (= Frauen, Forschung, Archäologie. Bd. 4). Waxmann, Münster etc., 2002, ISBN 3-8309-1066-5, pp. 257–265.
• Andrea Rottloff: Archäologen (= Die Berühmten). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2009, ISBN 978-3-8053-4063-2 pp. 87–89.
• Grewolls, Grete (2011). Wer war wer in Mecklenburg und Vorpommern. Das Personenlexikon (in German). Rostock: Hinstorff Verlag. p. 6319. ISBN 978-3-356-01301-6.