Josepha von Heydeck (1748–1771), was the royal mistress of

Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine 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 ...

, from 1765 until 1771.

Biography

Josepha Seyffert was the issue of a palatinate govermental secretary Seyffert and Maria Franziska Reichard. In 1765, after the death of Françoise of Parckstein, the previous mistress of the elector, she attracted the attention of elector Charles Theodore at the opera in Mannheim and was made his mistress. Josepha von Heydeck was described as pretty, sensible, merciful and kind. Upon the wish of the elector, she was discreet in her public appearances as Charles Theodore, though separated from his spouse electress Elizabeth Auguste, found it important that his spouse's position as electress should not be undermined. On 19 March 1767, she was given the fief of Heydeck, and at the birth of her daughter in 1768, Charles Theodore legitimized the child, and gave both mother and child the title Countess of Heydeck. On 24 October 1769, their son Karl August was born. She was given her own house in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

. She died in childbirth in 1771.

Figures

H C Brandt Gräfin Heydeck mit ihren Kindern

Several paintings by Josepha Seyffert, Countess von Heydeck, have been preserved. Two portraits are in the

Kurpfälzisches Museum The Kurpfälzisches Museum (Palatinate Museum) is a museum of art and archaeology in Heidelberg, Germany. It is located in the Palais Morass. It was founded in the late 1870s, when the city of Heidelberg purchased the private collection of the ...

of the city of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

. In the portrait by the painter Johann Peter Hoffmeister (* 1740 in Heidelberg; † 1772 in Mannheim) from 1770, she can be seen as a 22-year-old woman in the role of the Roman goddess Flora. A flower garland of roses, carnations and forget-me-nots hangs from the attached hair as a symbol of the deity. In a painting by the painter Johann Wilhelm Hoffnas, Josepha von Heydeck sits at a harpsichord and holds sheet music in her hand. This suggests that she also had a musical education. On a history painting by the painter

Heinrich Carl Brandt Heinrich Carl Brandt (11 November 1724, in Vienna - 6 May 1787, in Munich) was an Austrian-German court painter. He created portraits of several noble families in Mainz, Mannheim and Munich. He is probably best known for the ones commissioned ...

(1724--1787) from 1785, which is located in the Reiss Museum of the city of

, she is shown shortly before her death with her four children and two servants.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heydeck, Josepha von Mistresses of German royalty 1748 births 1771 deaths Deaths_in_childbirth