Anna Maria Princess of Eggenberg, née Brandenburg-Bayreuth (born 30 December 1609 in

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

; died 8 May 1680 in

Ödenburg Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely. When ...

) was a

Margravine 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 a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Empir ...

Brandenburg-Bayreuth The Principality of Bayreuth () or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (''Markgraftum Brandenburg-Bayreuth'') was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Since Burgrave Frederi ...

and, by marriage Johann Anton I von Eggenberg, a ''

Fürst ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German language, German word for a ruler as well as a princely title. ' were, starting in the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ...

in'' (princess) of Eggenberg.

Life

Anna Maria was a daughter of the

Margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

Christian von Brandenburg-Bayreuth from his marriage with Marie of Prussia, daughter of

Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia Albert Frederick (; ; 7 May 1553 – 27 August 1618) was the Duke of Prussia, from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach bran ...

. She was married according to the Roman Catholic rite into the Styrian noble family of Eggenberg on 23 October 1639 in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

to Prince Johann Anton I von Eggenberg, Duke of Krumau, who subsequently received the opportunity to acquire the shire of

Gorizia and Gradisca The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (; ; ), historically sometimes shortened to and spelled "Goritz", was a crown land of the Habsburg dynasty within the Austrian Littoral on the Adriatic Sea, in what is now a multilingual border area of ...

along the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

coast two years later from his boyhood friend, Emperor Ferdinand III. The marriage ceremony had been negotiated by Christian Wilhelm von Brandenburg and prince Johann Anton I thereby secured for himself Brandenburg's support for his claim to a seat in the Imperial Diet. She demonstrated a strong character and conviction by holding on firmly to her family's Protestant faith in spite of her marriage to the son of Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, chief minister of Emperor Ferdinand II, who had prosecuted the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

in the Habsburg hereditary lands as well as the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. Upon the early death of her husband in 1649 Anna Maria, together with her father and Wolf von Stubenberg held the guardianship of both underage sons, agreeing to remain in Habsburg hereditary lands and to raise them in the Catholic tradition, as well as administration of the Eggenberg possessions. This, as well as her extensive correspondence with her two sons, showed her to be a wise, circumspect and loving mother. During her guardianship, coins were minted featuring portraits of both sons at the mint in

Český Krumlov Castle Český Krumlov Castle () is a castle in Český Krumlov in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It dates back to 1253 when the first castle was built by the Vítkovci family, the main branch of the powerful Bohemian family Rosenberg ...

. The princess was also a significant patron supporting the construction of the pilgrimage church of Mary of the Snows (, ) near Krumau () in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. Having died unexpectedly at the young age of 39, Johann Anton I left his family with only a draft of a

testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

that was both unsigned and not notarized but left the bulk of the possessions to the eldest son. Princess Anna Maria refused to recognize the draft as legitimate and administered the Eggenberg possessions until 1664 when the two brothers took over control, though it wasn't until 1672 that they actually settled on a division of the possessions amongst themselves. Anna Maria further demonstrated her mothering instincts by going personally to the emperor himself to request that her daughter be compensated with an equivalent sum as a

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

.''Jahrbücher der Literatur, Band 107–108'', C. Gerold, 1844, S. 39
Digitalisat
Upon a visit to the town of

() in Hungary in 1670, she found the religious tolerance more open than in the staunchly Catholic

Duchy of Styria The Duchy of Styria (; ; ) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution i ...

and relocated her court in 1674 there to a small city palace, compared with the castle in Krumau or the Palais Herberstein, a city palace in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. In Sopron, she was allowed to hold Protestant services in her courtyard across the street from the former Protestant Church of St. George, which had previously been turned over to the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s. That city palace in Sopron still bears her name as the Eggenberg House () and is still adorned with the coat of arms of the princes of

above the main gate and the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. ...

coat of arms beneath what was the pulpit above the courtyard. She died in this house on 8 May 1680 and is interred with her parents in the City Church () of

Issue

Ancestors

References

Literature

*Barbara Kaiser. ''Schloss Eggenberg''. Graz: Christian Brandstätter Verlag, 2006, p. 60. (available in German or English editions through the Universalmuseum Joanneum) * Walther Ernest Heydendorff. ''Die Fürsten und Freiherren zu Eggenberg und ihre Vorfahren''. Graz: Verlag Styria, 1965, pp. 161–163, 175–184. * Christian von Stramberg, Anton Joseph Weidenbach. ''Denkwürdiger und nützlicher rheinischer Antiquarius: Welcher die wichtisten und angenehmsten geographischen, historischen und politischen Merkwürdigkeiten des ganzen Rheinstroms, von seinem Ausflusse in das Meer bis zu seinem Ursprunge darstellt'', Band 1, Teil 4, R. F. Hergt, 1863, p. 413 ff. {{DEFAULTSORT:Eggenberg, Anna Maria von, nee Brandenburg-Bayreuth 1609 births 1680 deaths 17th-century German people 17th-century Austrian people Austrian nobility Anna Maria People from Bayreuth German expatriates in Hungary 17th-century Austrian women 17th-century German women Daughters of monarchs