Leopoldine von Sternberg

Leopoldine von Sternberg (Maria Leopoldine Walburga Eva; 11 December 1733, Vienna – 1 March 1809, Valtice) was a princess consort of Liechtenstein by marriage to Prince Franz Joseph I. She is noted to have belonged to the discussion circle of Eleonore of Liechtenstein, who acted as political advisers to Emperor Joseph II.

Life Leopoldine was born as the second child and the eldest daughter of Count Franz Philipp of Sternberg and his wife, Countess Leopoldine of Starhemberg, elder sister of Georg Adam, Prince of Starhemberg.

Countess Marie Leopoldine married Franz Joseph I, Prince of Liechtenstein, on 6 July 1750 in Valtice or Feldsberg.

After the death of her spouse in 1781, she lived permanently in Vienna with her youngest daughter, Maria Josepha Hermenegilde.

She belonged to the salon or discussion circle of five princesses, headed by Eleonore of Liechtenstein, who acted as the political advisers of Emperor Joseph II, and who met him once a week (four times a week after 1780) to discuss state affairs.

This circle consisted of Princess Eleonore of Liechtenstein, Princess Maria Josepha von Clary und Aldringen, Princess Maria Sidonia Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau, Princess Leopoldine von Liechtenstein, Count Franz Moritz von Lacy, and Prince Franz Xaver Wolfgang von Orsini-Rosenberg, the Master of the Imperial treasury.

Issue The couple had eight children: Joseph Franz de Paula Emanuel Philipp Isaias (Vienna, 6 July 1752 – Vienna, 17 February 1754) Leopoldina Maria Anna Francisca de Paula Adelgunda (Vienna, 30 January 1754 – Frankfurt, 16 October 1823), married in Felsberg on 1 September 1771 Karl Emanuel, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, and had issue (including Victor Amadeus, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg) Maria Antonia Aloysia Walburga Mechthildis (Vienna, 14 March 1756 – Vienna, 1 December 1821), a nun Franz de Paula Joseph (Vienna, 19 May 1758 – Vienna, 15 August 1760) Aloys I, Prince of Liechtenstein (1759–1805) Johann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein (1760–1836) Philipp Joseph Aloys Martinianus (Vienna, 2 July 1762 – Vienna, 18 May 1802), unmarried and without issue Maria Josepha Hermenegilde (Vienna, 13 April 1768 – Hütteldorf, 8 August 1845), married in Vienna on 15 September 1783 Nikolaus, 7th Prince Esterházy von Galántha (Vienna, 12 December 1765 – Como, 24 November 1833), and had issue.

Ancestry