Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria

Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria (7 July 1878 – 13 March 1960; was the daughter of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and his third wife Infanta Maria Theresa of Portugal. married three times. He had no children with his first wife Princess Margaretha of Saxony, but he and his second wife Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies welcomed Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, who became heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary; and Archduke Otto Franz Joseph of Austria who was the father of Charles I of Austria, the last Emperor of Austria and two more children.

Elisabeth and her older sister Archduchess Maria Annunciata of Austria (later Abbess of the Theresia Convent in the Hradschin, Prague) were the result of her father's third marriage to her mother Infanta Maria Theresa of Portugal, daughter of the deposed King Miguel I of Portugal. In addition, her father was a younger brother of Franz Joseph I of Austria, the reigning emperor at the time of her birth. He was also a sibling of Maximilian I of Mexico, who became Emperor of Mexico for a short time. Marriage

Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie married Prince Alois of Liechtenstein in Vienna on 20 April 1903. There had been some debate as to whether this was an equal union. The bride's uncle Emperor Franz Joseph I attended the wedding with the intention of making it clear he regarded the House of Liechtenstein as a legitimate reigning dynasty. As the House of Liechtenstein had become sovereign, the couple were ruled equal in birth, and the Emperor was happy to see a member of his family making a dynastic marriage, after the morganatic marriage of her half-brother Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Later, the Emperor also became the godfather of the couple's eldest son, Franz Joseph, who was named after him. Elisabeth and Alois lived in various castles within Austria, including Gross-Ullersdorf Castle.

The couple had eight children together:

NameBirthDeathNotes Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein 16 August 1906 13 November 1989 (aged 83) married in 1943 Countess Georgina von Wilczek, had issue Princess Maria Theresia 14 January 1908 30 September 1973 (aged 65) married in 1944 Count Arthur Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz, had issue Prince Karl Alfred 16 August 1910 17 November 1985 (aged 75) married in 1949 Archduchess Agnes Christina of Austria, had issue Prince Georg Hartmann 11 November 1911 20 January 1998 (aged 86) married in 1948 Duchess Marie Christine of Württemberg, had issue Prince Ulrich Dietmar 29 August 1913 13 October 1978 (aged 65) unmarried and had no issue Princess Marie Henriette 6 November 1914 13 October 2011 (aged 96) married in 1943 Count Peter von Eltz genannt Faust von Stromberg, had issue Prince Alois Heinrich 20 December 1917 14 February 1967 (aged 49) unmarried and had no issue Prince Heinrich Hartneid 21 October 1920 29 November 1993 (aged 73) married in 1968 Countess Amalie von Podstatzky-Lichtenstein, had issue

She owned 31 motor cars and was regarded as one of the more enthusiastic motorists among imperial women in Europe. She converted the stables at her Hungarian castle Stuhlweissenburg to garages but pursued her hobby quietly and studiously, so that the great majority of the public were not even aware of her large collection.

Prince Alois renounced his rights to the succession on 26 February 1923, in favor of their son Franz Joseph, who would accede to the throne on 25 July 1938 as Franz Joseph II. Prince Alois himself died on 17 March 1955 from influenza at Vaduz Castle in Liechtenstein. Due to his renunciation, he never became the prince of Liechtenstein.

Ancestry