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Sisi as a Mother

Sisi as a Mother : Love Affairs of Empress Elisabeth’s Favourite Granddaughter, Ella Part 2

Love Affairs of Empress Elisabeth’s Favourite Granddaughter, Ella Part 2

Magdalena Techetová 2015.07.05. 12:05

Empress Elisabeth’s Favourite Granddaughter, Ella

Part 2

Love Affairs of Empress Elisabeth’s Favourite Granddaughter, Ella

Acknowledgements: To my Dear Friend, Magdalena Techetová. Thank you very much for translating this article from Czech into English.

Marie Valerie was sitting by Ella on her bed and they were talking about everything again properly. During that time, Franz Salvator went to Vienna to the Emperor, who, of course, was very interested in his favourite granddaughter’s matter of heart. He said: „There’s nobody like her in the whole family.“ Ella wrote her grandpa a letter for which the Emperor answered by a telegraph...

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Love Affairs of Empress Elisabeth’s Favourite Granddaughter, Ella

In 1904 the twelve-year-old Ella started to go to a Scottish grammar school in the first district of Vienna. Her teacher (and also the governess of her younger siblings) was Elsa Köhler, a well known pedagogue, who contributed to the reform of teaching foreign languages and improved psychology very much. The court priest of Wallsee (the place where Archduchess Valerie and Franz Salvator lived) called the eighteen years old Ella „the good angel from Wallsee“ and her mother wished: „May her life is fulfilled by the deepest and best content which I was denied to have.“

In January 1911 Ella had her first court ball and with this opportunity her portrait appeared on the page of the social magazine, Sport & Salon. Since then, her mother was taking her more and more often to the big celebrations at the court. But Marie Valerie was also complaining that her daughter, who was already the age to get married, did not meet any special and worthy people during these occasions.

Pictures above: Picture left: Hedvig, Ella's sister and Ella. Picture right: Hedvig and Ella

Picture right: Ella at her first ball

In April 1909 Marie Valerie started to look for a tutor and guide for her two oldest sons, Franz and Hubert. Count Georg von Waldburg zu Zeil was presented to her and Marie Valerie judged: „But I don’t find him as a truly valuable discovery“, which should change very soon.

Count von Waldburg zu Zeil started his service 1st August 1909 and Marie Valerie’s comment was: „He’s better than I expected…“, but she also noticed that her oldest daughter (seventeen years old that time) found him very nice. Aunt Gisela in München wanted Ella to marry her nephew, the Bavarian Prince Heinrich (1884 - 1916), the Bavarian Prince Arnulf’s son, who was her husband, Leopold’s brother.

Left: Marie Valerie and Franz Salvator with their children. Right: Marie Valerie with her sons

In June 1911 Marie Valerie gave birth to another daughter, Agnes who, unfortunately, lived only for eight hours. At that time Valerie’s almost adult sons returned to Wallsee – the eighteen-year-old Franz and seventeen-year-old Hubert – accompanied by Count Waldburg zu Zeil. During the first day after their coming, father Engelbert came to the Archdutchess Marie Valerie and told her that it was very visible from Ella’s shining look that she loved Count Georg.

Archdutchess Valerie‘s opinion was that a marriage like this was not too desirable, but was not impossible. The free decision of someone spotless, which Waldburg was. Ella admitted to her mother that she had known for year that she loved Georg.

Count Georg, whose whole name was Georg Julius Kaspar Konrad, was the son of Count Klemens von Waldburg zu Zeil und Hohenems (1842 - 1904) and Princess Klementine von Oettingen (1844 - 1894). Her one year younger sister, princess Camilla von Oetingen had a son, Otta zu Windisch-Graetz, who was in marriage with Erzsi, the daughter of the crown prince Rudolf since 1902. Count Georg von Waldburg zu Zeil also had an older brother, Maxmilian (1870 - 1930), who married Countess Karoline von Wolkenstein in Prague in 1907.

Aunt Gisela from München intervened into Archdutchess Ella‘s marriage once again. She wrote that Ella made a Bavarian prince amazed during her visiting in Munich, Franz, who was the son of Prince Ludwig, later Bavarian king Ludwig III., and Princess Marie Teresa, who asked permission to come to Wallsee.

Prince Franz von Bayern came to Ischl but he knew immediately that he had no chance. However, Archdutchess Ella told him about a young princess, Isabella von Croy, who was at a visit at her aunt in Halbthurn that time. The Bavarian prince married her in the end. One of her sons, the Bavarian Prince Rasso, married one of the Habsburg girls from Marie Valerie’s family later – Theresia, the daughter of Theodor Salvator, Ella’s younger brother.

Ella was talking about her feelings with her mother, who wrote into her diary : „Amazed and touched I saw my beloved child so strong minded, confident and self-reliant in solving serious things… How much higher she stands above my Self!“

6th September 1911 Franz Salvator returned with a few guests from maneuvers to Wallsee. All of them were nervously expecting how the whole marriage thing would be settled. Franz Salvator came to Waldburg and he warmly gave Count Georg a hand. After the dinner everybody was entertained by singing songs from maneuvers and the young Waldburg looked very happy.

Right: Wallsee Palace

Next day Marie Valerie was talking with her husband about the whole thing properly: „My good husband was in very good, opened mood, full of love and understanding. We understand each other very well in questions including love towards the children, worries about their good. If the love of those two is really so big and Waldburg’s character is really great… he could give the permission to the marriage.“

Then Marie Valerie and Ella left to Bolzano and in the evening the mother was sitting by Ella on her bed and they were talking about everything again properly. During that time, Franz Salvator went to Vienna to the Emperor, who, of course, was very interested in her favourite granddaughter’s matter of heart. He said: „There’s nobody like her in the whole family.“ Ella wrote her grandpa a letter for which the Emperor answered by a telegraph. The whole thing was easier thanks to the fact that the Emperor found Georg von Waldburg very likeable. Marie Valerie told her sister, Gisele about the thing, who kindly expressed her warm understanding.

In October 1911 the Archdutchess wrote a note about her future son-in-law: „Even in spiritual questions Waldburg seems to be much higher above my previous judgement.“

Ella‘s engagement took place at Easter in 1912 and the couple got married in the same year in September at Wallsee Palace. The Emperor was touched with tears when „the joy of his old years“ was getting married Count Georg Waldburg.

In 1913 Count Georg bought Syrgenstein Palace in Swabia from his Aunt Sophie, which became the new home of the young couple. Archdutchess Ella was living at Syrgenstein Palace during her whole life and she loved crafting, that is painting, there. Ella’s marriage was really happy, she became a mother of four children, three daughters and a son.

Unfortunately, the Emperor’s beloved granddaughter died at the age of 38 on 28th January in 1930 and was buried at the cemetery in Maria Thann in Allgäu, which later became the resting place of her two unmarried daughters, Clementine and Elisabeth too.

Almost two years later, 29th December 1931, her husband got married again. His second wife was Ella’s nine years younger sister, Archdutchess Gertrud, with whom he had two other children, a daughter, Sophie and a son, Joseph. Georg lived with his second wife at Syrgenstein Palace and after his death in 1955, his youngest son, Joseph inherited the property, his family owns it today.