Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg

Henrietta Alexandrine Friederike Wilhelmine of Nassau-Weilburg, then of Nassau (30 October 1797 – 29 December 1829) was the wife of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. Her husband was a notable general of the Napoleonic Wars and victor of the Battle of Aspern-Essling against Napoleon I of France.

Family

Henrietta was the youngest daughter of Frederick William of Nassau-Weilburg and his wife Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg. Her maternal grandparents were Buggraf Georg Wilhelm von Kirchberg, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg, and his wife, Princess Isabelle Auguste Reuss of Greiz. Her paternal grandparents were Karl Christian of Nassau-Weilburg and Princess Wilhelmine Carolina of Orange-Nassau, both members of the different branches of the ancient House of Nassau.

Wilhelmine Carolina was a daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange and his wife, Anne, Princess Royal. Anne was in turn the second child and eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and his wife, Margravine Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

Marriage

On 15 or 17 September 1815 in Weilburg, Henrietta was married to a much older Archduke Charles Louis of Austria. The bride was almost eighteen years old and the groom forty-four. Her husband was a son of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife, Infanta Maria Louisa of Spain. However he had been adopted and raised by his childless, but rich aunt, Archduchess Marie Christine of Austria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxony, Duke of Teschen. He was the heir to the vast Duchy of Teschen and would succeed in 1822. The marriage was allowed even though she was a Protestant and remained as such throughout her life, despite the fact that almost all members of House of Habsburg were staunch Catholics. This marriage was a very happy one with an agreement that all their children were to be raised as Catholics.

She has been known as the person who popularized the Christmas tree in Vienna after it was already introduced by Fanny von Arnstein in 1814 during the Vienna Congress.

Henrietta died young of scarlet fever, which she had caught while nursing her children through the same illness. She is the only Protestant buried in the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church. This was allowed by order of her brother-in-law Emperor Francis I, who said, "She dwelt among us when she was alive, and so she shall in death".

Together, Henrietta and Charles had seven children, two girls and five boys, one of whom did not reach adulthood.

Issue Issue Name Portrait Lifespan Notes Archduchess Maria TheresaQueen of the Two Sicilies. 100px1816–1867 Married Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, had issue Archduke AlbrechtDuke of Teschen 100px 1817–1895 Married Princess Hildegard of Bavaria, had issue Archduke Karl Ferdinand 100px 1818– 1874 Married Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria, had issue Archduke Friedrich FerdinandCommander-in-Chief of the Austrian Navy 100px 1821–1847 Died unmarried Archduke Rudolph 1822–1822 Died in childhood Archduchess Maria Karoline 100px 1825–1915 Married her first cousin Archduke Rainer of Austria, no issue Archduke Wilhelm FranzGrand Master of the Teutonic Knights 100px 1827–1894 Died unmarried

Ancestry