Maria Anna Josepha of Bavaria (''Maria Anna Josepha Augusta''; 7 August 1734 – 7 May 1776) was a Duchess of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

by birth and

Margravine of Baden-Baden Baden was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and later one of the German states along the frontier with France primarily consisting of territory along the right bank of the Rhine opposite Alsace and the Electorate of the Palatinate, Palatinate. Ma ...

by marriage. She was nicknamed the ''savior of Bavaria''. She is also known as ''Maria Josepha'' and is sometimes styled as a ''princess of Bavaria''.

Biography

Maria Anna Josepha was born at the

Nymphenburg Palace The Nymphenburg Palace (german: Schloss Nymphenburg, Palace of the Nymphs) is a Baroque palace situated in Munich's western district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. Combined with the adjacent Nymphenburg Palace Park it consti ...

in 1734. She was the fifth child of Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria (later

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

) and his wife Maria Amalia of Austria. She was baptised with the names ''Maria Anna Josepha Augusta''. A member of the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

, rulers of the

Electorate of Bavaria The Electorate of Bavaria (german: Kurfürstentum Bayern) was an independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria. The Wittelsbach dynasty which ruled the Duchy of Ba ...

, she was styled a Duchess of Bavaria. She married Louis George of Baden-Baden, the ruling

Margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

and son of the late Louis William of Baden-Baden and his wife Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg, the latter was the regent of Baden-Baden for the infant Louis George. The couple were married at the Schloss Ettlingen in Baden on 20 July 1755; the bride was aged 20, the groom 53. The couple remained childless; although Louis George did have one surviving daughter, Elisabeth, from his previous marriage, but as a female she was barred from the succession to the Margraviate. Her husband had been married previously to Maria Anna of Schwarzenberg by whom he had four children but only one survived infancy. Maria Anna was the only daughter of Prince Adam Franz Karl of Schwarzenberg and Eleonora of Lobkowicz. Her husband died in 1761 and was succeeded by his brother

Augustus George, Margrave of Baden-Baden Augustus George, Margrave of Baden-Baden (August Georg Simpert; 14 January 1706, Rastatt, Margraviate of Baden – 21 October 1771) was the ruling Margrave of Baden-Baden from 1761 till his death in 1771. He succeeded his brother Louis Georg ...

. As such, his wife the Belgian born

Maria Victoire d'Arenberg Princess Marie Victoire of Arenberg (Marie Victoire Pauline; 26 October 1714 – 13 April 1793) was a member of the House of Arenberg and later the Margravine of Baden-Baden as consort of Augustus George of Baden-Baden. She is credited for h ...

became the most important female at the court of Baden-Baden. Maria Anna developed a great passion for diplomacy. She forged links with

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

in order to protect the Bavarian throne as her brother,

Maximilian III Joseph Maximilian III Joseph, "the much beloved", (28 March 1727 – 30 December 1777) was a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Bavaria from 1745 to 1777. Biography Born in Munich, Maximilian was the eldest son of Holy Roman Empero ...

, was childless and feared for the succession.Bavaria later went to

Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria Charles Theodore (german: link=no, Karl Theodor; 11 December 1724 – 16 February 1799) reigned as Prince-elector and Count Palatine from 1742, as Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1742 and also as prince-elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777 to his ...

(1777), a cousin of the Sulzbach line of the House of Wittelsbach As a widow, Maria Anna Josepha returned to her native Bavaria where she died at the Nymphenburg Palace in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, over a year before her brother. She was buried at the

Theatine Church, Munich , image = MünchenTheatinerkirche a.jpg , pushpin map = Bavaria#Germany , pushpin label position = top , coordinates = , location = Salvatorplatz 2aMunich, Bavaria , country ...

, traditional burial place of Bavarian royalty.

Ancestors

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Anna Josepha Of Bavaria, Duchess German royalty 1734 births 1776 deaths 18th-century German people 18th-century German women German princesses House of Wittelsbach Margravines of Baden-Baden Nobility from Munich House of Zähringen Duchesses of Bavaria Burials at the Theatine Church, Munich Daughters of emperors Children of Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor Daughters of kings