Maria Wilhelmina von Neipperg

Countess Maria Wilhelmina von Neipperg (later Princess of Auersperg) (30 April 1738 - 21 October 1775) was an Austrian noble and court official, known as the mistress of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.

Maria Wilhelmina von Auersperg
Maria Wilhelmina von Auersperg

Life

She was the daughter of Count Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg and Countess Maria Franziska Theresia von Khevenhüller-Frankenburg. Her father was the teacher and friend of Emperor Francis I.

She appeared at the Imperial court as a maid-of-honour to the empress in 1755. The Emperor soon became infatuated with her. He had begun to lose interest in his wife, Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, who had born him 16 children, by then.[1][2][3]

In April 1756, she married Johann Adam Joseph, Prince von Auersperg, upon the wish of the empress Maria Theresa. She remained in a liaison with the Emperor until his death in 1765,[4] however she never had any position of being an official mistress, and their relationship, though known, was never confirmed.[5] She had no children.

Joachim Wilhelm von Brawe dedicated a tragedy to her.

References
  1. Mahan, 263.
  2. Leland Goldsmith, 171-172.
  3. Morris, 85.
  4. Mahan, 263.
  5. Renate Zedinger: Franz Stephan von Lothringen (1708-1765). Monarch, Manager, Mäzen. (Schriftenreihe der Österreichischen Gesellschaft zur Erforschung des 18. Jahrhunderts, Band 13) Böhlau, Wien 2008, ISBN 978-3-205-78109-7, S. 271f.

Bibliography
  • Goldsmith, Margaret Leland: Maria Theresa of Austria A. Barker, ltd. 1936
  • Mahan, J. Alexander: Maria Theresa of Austria READ BOOKS 2007 ISBN 1-4067-3370-9
  • Morris, Constance Lily: Maria Theresa – The Last Conservative READ BOOKS 2007 ISBN 1-4067-3371-7
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