Antoinette, Crown Princess Of Bavaria
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Antoinette Roberte Sophie Wilhelmine (7 October 1899 – 31 July 1954), commonly referred to as Antonia, was the last Crown Princess of Bavaria before
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. By birth, she was a member of the
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
ish
House of Nassau-Weilburg The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806. On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...
as the child of
Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg William IV (French: ''Guillaume Alexandre''; 22 April 1852 – 25 February 1912) was Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 17 November 1905 until his death in 1912. He succeeded his father, Adolphe. Like his father, William mostly stayed out of politics ...
and
Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal (; born Maria Ana do Carmo Henrique Teresa Adelaide Joana Carolina Inês Sofia Eulália Leopoldina Isabel Bernardina Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Francisca de Assis e de Paula Inácia Gonzaga; 13 July 1861 – 31 July ...
. Antonia was a survivor of the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...
.


Family

Born at
Schloss Hohenburg Schloss Hohenburg is a Baroque architecture, Baroque ''schloss'' (palace) in Lenggries, Bavaria, Germany. History Construction by the Herwarth family Count Ferdinand Joseph von Herwarth had the palace built in classical Baroque style in 1712&nd ...
, at
Lenggries Lenggries is a municipality and a village in Bavaria, Germany. It is the center of the Isarwinkel, the region along the Isar between Bad Tölz and Wallgau. The town has about 9,500 inhabitants. By area, it is the largest rural municipality (" Geme ...
in
Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat of the district gove ...
, Antonia was the fourth daughter of
Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg William IV (French: ''Guillaume Alexandre''; 22 April 1852 – 25 February 1912) was Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 17 November 1905 until his death in 1912. He succeeded his father, Adolphe. Like his father, William mostly stayed out of politics ...
, who reigned between 1905 and 1912, and
Marie Anne Marie Anne or Marie-Anne is the name of: Aristocrats *Princess Marie Anne of France (1664-1664?), daughter of King Louis XIV of France *Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal (1861-1942), Portuguese infanta and Grand Duchess consort of Luxembourg * Marie ...
, a princess of the Portuguese
House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...
. She was the younger sister of two successive grand duchesses: Marie-Adélaïde and Charlotte. In the family she was called "Toni".


Marriage and children

Antonia became the second wife of
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine by the Rhine (''Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand''; English: ''Rupert Maria Leopold Ferdinand''; 18 May 1869 – 2 August 1955), was the last heir ...
. The two were engaged on 26 August 1918. At the time, Rupprecht was ''
Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (; from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire, (''Reichsgeneralfeldmarsch ...
'' in the Imperial German army, and had successfully commanded the German Sixth Army at the
Battle of Lorraine The Battle of Lorraine (14 August – 7 September 1914) was a battle on the Western Front during the First World War. The armies of France and Germany had completed their mobilisation, the French with Plan XVII, to conduct an offensive through ...
. This led to criticism of the close ties between the Luxembourgish
Grand Ducal Family The grand ducal family of Luxembourg constitutes the House of Luxembourg-Nassau, headed by the sovereign grand duke, and in which the throne of the grand duchy is hereditary. It consists of heirs and descendants of the House of Nassau-Weilburg, wh ...
and the royalty of the
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
at a time when Luxembourg was occupied by Germany. This added to the pressure already on
Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), s ...
, who was forced to abdicate on 10 January 1919.Thewes (2003), p. 86 Despite the abdication of her elder sister, and the overthrow of the
Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...
in favour of a
republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
, the two were married on 7 April 1921 at
Schloss Hohenburg Schloss Hohenburg is a Baroque architecture, Baroque ''schloss'' (palace) in Lenggries, Bavaria, Germany. History Construction by the Herwarth family Count Ferdinand Joseph von Herwarth had the palace built in classical Baroque style in 1712&nd ...
. Antonia and Rupprecht had six children: * Prince Heinrich Franz Wilhelm of Bavaria (28 March 1922–14 February 1958) he married Anne Marie de Lustrac on 31 July 1951. * Princess Irmingard Marie Josefa of Bavaria (29 May 1923–23 October 2010) she married Prince Ludwig of Bavaria on 20 July 1950. They have three children. *Princess Editha Marie Gabrielle Anna of Bavaria (16 September 1924 – 4 May 2013) married Tito Tomasso Maria Brunetti on 12 November 1946. They had three daughters. She remarried Professor Gustav Christian Schimert on 29 December 1959. They have three sons. *Princess Hilda Hildegard Marie Gabriele of Bavaria (24 March 1926 – 5 May 2002) married Juan Bradstock Lockett de Loayza on 12 February 1949. They had four children. *Princess Gabriele Adelgunde Marie Theresia Antonia of Bavaria (10 May 1927 – 19 April 2019) married Karl Emmanuel Herzog von Croÿ, later 14th Duke of Croÿ on 17 June 1953. They have three children. *Princess Sophie Marie Therese of Bavaria (born 1935) married Jean, 12th Duke of Arenberg on 18 January 1955. They have five children.


Later life

In 1925, she served as patron of the first ever Chrysanthemum Ball in Munich. Being anti-Nazi and connected to a resistance plot, the family was forced to flee to the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
and then
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
in 1939. Five years later, the Nazis had occupied Hungary and were looking to arrest her husband, Rupprecht, who was underground in Italy. It was Nazi policy, that if one family member was accused of a crime, the entire family would be held liable. Hitler personally ordered the arrest of Princess Antonia and her children. A meeting with the British Foreign Office's summary reports Rupprecht as telling
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...
that he "remained convinced that the Führer was insane." During their imprisonment Antonia contracted
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...
and was hospitalized in
Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...
. Once well, Antonia was shipped to the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...
where her adult children were also being imprisoned. As the Soviets got closer to the Third Reich, they were transported to Flossenburg concentration camp and finally to
Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...
. The United States Army liberated the Dachau camp in 1945. During her time in the camps, Antonia was repeatedly tortured by Nazis for information on her husband, which she refused to share. Princess Antonia made it through
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
but the typhus,
malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...
and torture took its toll. Immediately after liberation, she returned to
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
to recuperate. Although liberated that same month, the imprisonment greatly impaired Antonia's health. Princess Antonia rarely talked about her time in the camps. It is a possibility that she also spent time in
Buchenwald Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (Old Reich) territori ...
, but there are no official reports of this. She adamantly refused to set foot in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
ever again. She lived the rest of her life in Italy and Switzerland. On 31 July 1954, Princess Antonia passed away in
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, having fulfilled her promise of never returning to Germany. Her husband, Prince Rupprecht, died little over a year later, in August, 1955.


Ancestry


Footnotes


Bibliography

* Schlim, Jean Louis. ''Antonia von Luxemburg: Bayerns letzte Kronprinzessin''. München: LangenMüller, 2006. . * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonia Of Luxembourg, Princess 1899 births 1954 deaths People from Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen House of Nassau-Weilburg House of Wittelsbach Luxembourgian royalty Bavarian princesses Luxembourgian people imprisoned abroad Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Dachau concentration camp survivors German expatriates in Hungary German expatriates in Switzerland Daughters of dukes 20th-century Luxembourgian women Crown princesses