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Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg

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Not to be confused with Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg.
Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg
Duchess of Teschen
Tenure10 February 1822 – 29 December 1829
Born(1797-10-30)30 October 1797
Palace Eremitage, Bayreuth,
Kingdom of Prussia
Died29 December 1829(1829-12-29) (aged 32)
Vienna, Austrian Empire
Burial
Imperial Crypt, Austrian Empire
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1815)​
Issue
Details...
Names
Henrietta Alexandrine Friederike Wilhelmine
HouseNassau-Weilburg
FatherFrederick William, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg
MotherBurgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg

Henrietta Alexandrine Friederike Wilhelmine of Nassau-Weilburg, then of Nassau (areas now part of Germany) (30 October 1797 Palace Eremitage, Bayreuth – 29 December 1829, Vienna) was the wife of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen.[1][2] Her husband was a notable general of the Napoleonic Wars and victor of the Battle of Aspern-Essling against Napoleon I of France.

Family

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Henrietta was the youngest daughter of Frederick William of Nassau-Weilburg (1768–1816) and his wife Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg. Her maternal grandparents were Buggraf Georg Wilhelm von Kirchberg, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg (1751-1777) and his wife, Princess Isabelle Auguste Reuss of Greiz (1752-1824). Her paternal grandparents were Karl Christian of Nassau-Weilburg and Princess Wilhelmine Carolina of Orange-Nassau, both members of the different branches of an ancient House of Nassau.

Wilhelmine Carolina was a daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange and his wife, Anne, Princess Royal. Anne was in turn the second child and eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and his wife, Margravine Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

Marriage

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On 15 September/17 September 1815 in Weilburg, Henrietta was married to a much older Archduke, Charles Louis of Austria. The bride was almost eighteen years old and the groom forty-four. Her husband was a son of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife, Infanta Maria Louisa of Spain. However he had been adopted and raised by his childless, but rich aunt, Archduchess Marie Christine of Austria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxony, Duke of Teschen. He was the heir to the vast Duchy of Teschen and would succeed in 1822. The marriage was allowed even though she was a Protestant and remained as such throughout her life, despite the fact that almost all members of House of Habsburg were staunch Catholics. This marriage was a very happy one with an agreement that all their children were to be raised as Catholics.

Henriette's husband: Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen

She has been known as the person who popularized the Christmas tree in Vienna after it was already introduced by Fanny von Arnstein in 1814 during the Vienna Congress.[3]

Henrietta died young of scarlet fever, which she had caught while nursing her children through the same illness. She is the only Protestant buried in the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church. This was allowed by order of her brother-in-law Emperor Francis I, who said, "She dwelt among us when she was alive, and so she shall in death".

Together, Henrietta and Charles had seven children, two girls and five boys, one of whom didn't reach adulthood:

Issue

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Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ Vandome, Agnes F. (2011-10-31). Leopold II of Austria (Archduke, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Later Emperor of Austria). Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford University Press.
  2. ^ Vaduz-Vienna, LIECHTENSTEIN The Princely Collections. "Bust of Princess Henriette Alexandrine Friederike of Nassau-Weilburg (1797–1829), married to Archduke Charles of Austria (1771–1847)". LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna.
  3. ^ "News Detail". Jüdisches Museum Wien (in German). Retrieved 2021-09-20.
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