Princess Maria Alix of Saxony

Princess Maria Alix of Saxony
Princess of Hohenzollern-Emden
Maria Alix in 1921
Born(1901-09-27)27 September 1901
Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony
Died11 December 1990(1990-12-11) (aged 89)
Hechingen, Germany
Spouse
(m. 1921; died 1964)
Issue
  • Prince Karl Anton
  • Prince Meinrad
  • Princess Maria Margherita
  • Prince Emanuel
Names
Maria Alix Luitpolda Anna Henrietta Germana Agnes Damian Michaela
HouseWettin (Albertine line)
FatherFrederick Augustus III of Saxony
MotherArchduchess Louise of Austria
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Princess Maria Alix of Saxony (27 September 1901 – 11 December 1990) was a member of the House of Wettin and the daughter of the last king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus III. Through her marriage to Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden, she became a princess of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.[1]

Early life

She was born in Dresden as the fourth child and third daughter of Crown Prince Frederick and Crown Princess Louise. Her godparents included Archduke Ludwig Victor of Austria and her maternal grandmother, Grand Duchess Alice of Tuscany.[2]

Her childhood was profoundly affected by the domestic scandal of her parents; in December 1902, while Maria Alix was only a year old, her mother fled the Dresden court while pregnant with her youngest sister, Anna. Maria Alix was raised in the strict environment of the Saxon court under the sole custody of her father, who became King in 1904.[3]

Marriage and issue

On 25 May 1921, Princess Maria Alix married Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden at Schloss Sibyllenort. Her husband was the son of Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern and Princess Maria Theresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies[4][5][6].Together, they had four children:

  • Prince Karl Anton (28 January 1922 – 3 November 1993). Married Alexandra Afif ạnd had no issue.
  • Prince Meinrad (17 January 1925 – 20 March 2009). Married Baroness Edina von Kap-Herr and had issue.
  • Princess Maria Margherita (2 January 1928 – 4 August 2006). Married Carl Gregor, Duke of Mecklenburg, the second son of George, Duke of Mecklenburg.
  • Prince Emanuel (23 February 1929 – 8 February 1999). Married Princess Katharina of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and had issue.

Later years and death

After the fall of the German monarchies in 1918, Maria Alix and her family lived as private citizens. Following the death of her husband in 1964, she lived a quiet life in Baden-Württemberg. She maintained a close relationship with her siblings but remained distant from her mother, Louise, following the family scandals.[7][8]

Princess Maria Alix died in Hechingen in 1990, aged 89. She was buried at the Hedingen Monastery in Sigmaringen, the traditional burial place of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen family, where her mother was also interred.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ "Árvore genealógica de Maria Alix von Sachsen". Geneanet (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  2. ^ Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Sachsen (in German). Dresden: Heinrich. 1902. p. 12.
  3. ^ Toscana, Luise von (1911). My Own Story. G.P. Putnam's sons.
  4. ^ "Hausarchiv Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen: Korrespondenz und Personalakten (FAS HS)" (in German). Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Abt. Staatsarchiv Sigmaringen. Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  5. ^ Almanach de Gotha (in French). Gotha: Justus Perthes. 1922. pp. 84–85.
  6. ^ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser Band VIII (in German). C.A. Starke Verlag. 1968. p. 75.
  7. ^ Pätzold, Stefan (2002). Die Wettiner: Genealogie einer europäischen Dynastie (in German). Sigmaringen. ISBN 978-3799501101.
  8. ^ Krins, Hubert (2005). Das Haus Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen: Ein patriarchalisches Fürstenhaus (in German). Lindenberg. ISBN 978-3898702225.

Bibliography

  • Énache, Nicolas (1999). La Descendance de Marie-Thérèse de Habsburg. Paris: Éditions L'intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux. ISBN 978-2-908003-04-8.
  • Wootton, Anne (1972). The Saxon Princesses. Wettiner Verlag.
  • of Saxony, Maria Alix (1980). Memoirs (Privately Published).