Name Princess Marie | ||
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Born 8 January 1874Munchen, Konigreich Bayern ( 1874-01-08 ) Issue Countess GiseleCountess ElisabethAuguste, Princess Adalbert of BavariaCountess ValerieCount Franz Joseph Children Count Franz Joseph, Countess Gisele, Countess Elisabeth, Countess Valerie Parents Archduchess Gisela of Austria, Prince Leopold of Bavaria Cousins Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria Grandparents Empress Elisabeth of Austria Similar People Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Archduchess Gisela of Austria, Franz Joseph I of Austria, Archduchess Auguste Ferdinan, Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of | ||
Princess elisabeth marie of bavaria
Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria (German: Elisabeth Marie Auguste Prinzessin von Bayern; 8 January 1874 – 4 March 1957) was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach. She was known as Princess of Bavaria till 1918.
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Birth and family
Elisabeth was born in Munich, Bavaria, the first child of Prince Leopold of Bavaria and his wife Archduchess Gisela of Austria, a daughter of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She had one younger sister, Princess Auguste Maria of Bavaria, and two younger brothers, Prince Georg of Bavaria and Prince Konrad of Bavaria.
She married, 2 November 1893, at Genoa, Italy, Otto Ludwig Philipp von Seefried auf Buttenheim, (* 26. September 1870 in Bamberg; † 5. September 1951 at Stiebar Palace in Gresten), Freiherr zu Hagenbach. Elisabeth and Otto eloped and married secretly, as they knew they would never be officially permitted to marry. Not only was Otto of much lower rank than Elisabeth, he was also a Protestant. In a letter announcing the marriage to his new parents-in-law, Otto stated that he and Elisabeth were so determined not to be parted that they had felt forced to choose between elopement and mutual suicide.
Elisabeth's father, and especially her grandfather, Prince Regent Luitpold, were incensed upon being presented with this fait accompli. It took years for Elisabeth's relationship with her father to recover; their reconciliation was mostly due to the efforts of her mother Gisela and grandfather, Emperor Franz Joseph. Both of the latter gave the couple their blessing after the marriage was announced, and Franz Joseph presented them with a palace near Vienna. He also appointed Otto a lieutenant of the 1st Regiment of Infantry at Troppau/Moravia and raised him to the rank of Count in 1904. At the time of the elopement, Franz Joseph had written to his wife that while he was not happy about the marriage, he felt that Elisabeth had shown courage and strength of character.
The marriage proved to be a very happy one, and the couple had five children; the first, Gisela, died as a baby. In 1908, Count Seefried auf Buttenheim inherited the palace of Stiebar in Gresten, Lower Austria, which has remained the family seat to the present day.
She died aged 83 in 1957, and was buried at the cemetery in Gresten.