Maria Anna of Bavaria, Queen of Saxony

Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria (German: Maria Anna Leopoldine Elisabeth Wilhelmine von Bayern; 27 January 1805 – 13 September 1877), known as 'Marie' was Queen of Saxony from 1836 to 1854 as the second wife of King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony.

Maria Anna of Bavaria
Painting by Stieler, 1842
Queen consort of Saxony
Tenure6 June 1836 – 9 August 1854
Born(1805-01-27)27 January 1805
Munich
Died13 September 1877(1877-09-13) (aged 72)
Wachwitz, Dresden
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1833; died 1854)
Names
Maria Anna Leopoldine Elisabeth Wilhelmine
HouseWittelsbach
FatherMaximilian I Joseph of Bavaria
MotherCaroline of Baden

Biography

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A painting of Maria Anna with two of her sisters: Princesses Sophie and Ludovika.

Maria Anna was born in Munich, the daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his second wife, Karoline of Baden. She was the identical twin sister of Princess Sophie of Bavaria, mother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. She and her sister were their parent's second set of twins.[1] Their younger sister, Ludovika, was mother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Queen Maria Sophie of the Two Sicillies.[2]

Marriage

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On 24 April 1833 in Dresden, Maria married Frederick, Crown Prince of Saxony, whose brother Prince John of Saxony was married to her sister Amalie. In 1836, Frederick succeeded his uncle Anthony as king, making her queen. There were no children from the marriage.[3] Her husband, King Frederick Augustus II, died in 1854.

In 1836, during the great famine of Erzgebirge and Vogtland in Saxony, Maria Anna organized the first women committees to help, "Frauenvereinsanstalt der obererzgebirgischen und vogtländischen Frauenvereine" — this was in 1859 renamed "Zentralausschuß der obererzgebirgischen und vogtländischen Frauenvereine" and existed until 1932. She constructed the chapel Gedächtniskapelle in 1855. She is known as the correspondent of the writer Ida von Hahn-Hahn (1805–1880).

Maria Anna died in Wachwitz, Dresden, aged 72.

Ancestry

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Literature

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  • Martha Schad: Bayerns Königinnen. Piper, 2005

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Sepp, Christian (2019). Ludovika. Sisi's mother and her century. Munich. pp. 57–60.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ See the biography of her son Karl-Theodor: Sexau, Richard. Fürst und Arzt, Dr. med. Herzog Carl Theodor in Bayern: Shicksal zwischen Wittelsbach und Habsburg. Graz: Verlag Styria, 1963.
  3. ^ Kroll, Frank-Lothar (2004). The Rulers of Saxony. Munich: CH Beck. p. 241. ISBN 3-406-52206-8.
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  Media related to Maria Anna of Bavaria (1805-1877) at Wikimedia Commons

Maria Anna of Bavaria, Queen of Saxony
Cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach
Born: 27 January 1805 Died: 13 September 1877
German royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Maria Theresa of Austria
Queen consort of Saxony
6 June 1836 – 9 August 1854
Succeeded by