Joseph Francis, 7th Prince of Lobkowicz

Joseph Franz Maximilian, 7th Prince of Lobkowitz (also spelled Lobkowicz) (8 December 1772 – 16 December 1816) was an aristocrat of Bohemia, from the House of Lobkowicz. He is known particularly for his interest in music and as a patron of Ludwig van Beethoven.

Early life He was born in Vienna, son of Ferdinand Philipp Joseph, 6th Prince Lobkowicz (1724–1784) and Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy-Carignano (1748–1828). In 1786 Emperor Joseph II made him Duke of Roudnice (Herzog von Raudnitz in German, vévoda roudnický in Czech).

His paternal grandparents were Phillip Hyacinth, 4th Prince of Lobkowicz, and Countess Anna Maria von Althann. Joseph Franz's father succeeded his brother, Wenzel Ferdinand, as reigning Prince of Lobkowitz in 1739. His maternal grandparents were Louis Victor, Prince of Carignano and Princess Christine of Hesse-Rotenburg (daughter of Ernst II Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg).

Patron of music

The prince was an amateur musician, playing violin and cello, and sang with a bass voice. Countess Lulu Thürheim, sister-in-law of Prince Razumowsky, said of him: "This Prince was as kindhearted as a child and the most foolish music enthusiast. He played music from dusk to dawn and spent a fortune on musicians. Innumerable musicians gathered in his house, whom he treated regally."

He was a member of the Gesellschaft der Associierten, an important concert-sponsoring organization of his time which sponsored, among other events, the 1798 premiere of Joseph Haydn's The Creation.

In 1799, Lobkowitz commissioned a set of six string quartets from Haydn. The composer was both busy and in ill health, and he managed to complete only two of them; these were published as the composer's Opus 77 and were the last quartets he was to complete.

Lobkowitz had a private orchestra at his palace in Vienna, the Palais Lobkowitz; in the hall of the palace, this orchestra performed in 1804 Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (which was dedicated to the Prince) before the first public performance.

In 1808, Beethoven was offered the post of Kapellmeister at Cassel, where Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, had his court. Prince Lobkowitz, together with Archduke Rudolph and Prince Kinsky, successfully persuaded Beethoven to stay in Vienna by offering a yearly pension of 4,000 florins. In 1811 Prince Lobkowitz, in financial difficulty, discontinued paying his share. They had twelve children, including:

Princess Gabriella von Lobkovicz (1793–1893), who married Prince Vincenz Nepomuk von Auersperg, youngest son of Prince Wilhelm I of Auersperg. Princess Maria Eleonora Carolina von Lobkovicz (1795–1876), who married Weriand, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, a son of Count Joseph Nicholas of Windisch-Graetz. Ferdinand Joseph, 8th Prince of Lobkovicz (1797–1868), who married Princess Maria of Liechtenstein, a daughter of Prince Moritz Joseph of Liechtenstein (a son of Prince Karl Borromäus of Liechtenstein) and Princess Maria Leopoldine Josepha Aloysia Esterházy de Galántha. Prince Johann Nepomuk Karl Philipp von Lobkovicz (1799–1878), who married Karolina von Wrbna und Freudenthal, a daughter of Eugen von Wrbna und Freudenthal. Prince Joseph Franz Karl von Lobkowicz (1803–1875), who married Countess Antonie Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau. After her death in 1835, he married Maria "Sidonia" von Lobkowicz, a daughter of August, Prince von Lobkowicz and Bertha, Princess of Schwarzenberg. Prince Ludwig Johann Karl Alois Carl von Lobkowicz (1807–1882), who married Léopoldine von Liechtenstein, also a daughter of Moritz Joseph von Liechtenstein. Princess Anna von Lobkowicz (1809–1881), who married Count Franz Ernst von Harrach zu Rohrau und Thannhausen. Princess Sidonia Karolina von Lobkowicz (1812–1880), who married Count Ferdinánd III Lipót Pálffy-Daun von Erdöd. Prince Karl Johann von Lobkowicz (1814–1879), who married Julie von Redwitz.

He died 1816 in Třeboň in South Bohemia, and was buried in Roudnice nad Labem.

Descendants Through his daughter, Princess Gabriella, he is a direct ancestor of Princess Michael of Kent ( Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz), the wife of Prince Michael of Kent, who is a grandson of King George V.

Ancestors