Erdmuthe of Dietrichstein, Princess of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Erdmuthe of Dietrichstein, Princess of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Erdmuthe Maria Theresia of Dietrichstein was the wife of her first cousin Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein. She was born on April 17, 1662, probably either in Vienna, then in the Duchy of Austria, or in Nikolsburg, then in the Principality of Dietrichstein-Nikolsburg, now the city of Mikulov in the Czech Republic. Erdmuthe was the fifth of the twenty children and the third but the eldest surviving of the ten daughters of Ferdinand Joseph, 3rd Prince of Dietrichstein-Nikolsburg and Princess Marie Elisabeth of Eggenberg. Like all his ancestors, Erdmuthe’s father Ferdinand Joseph was in the service of the House of Habsburg. He was appointed Chamberlain of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and a member of the Privy Council. Erdmuthe’s paternal grandparents were Maximilian, 2nd Prince of Dietrichstein and his first wife Princess Anna Maria Franziska of Liechtenstein, a daughter of Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein. Her maternal grandparents were Johann Anton I, Prince of Eggenberg and Anna Maria of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (link in German).

Erdmuthe had nineteen siblings but only four survived childhood:

  • Anna Maria of Dietrichstein (1657 – 1659), died in early childhood
  • Sigmund Franz of Dietrichstein (1658 – 1667), died in early childhood
  • Sophia Barbara of Dietrichstein (born and died 1659), died in infancy
  • Leopold Ignaz Joseph, 4th Prince of Dietrichstein (1660 – 1708), married Maria Godofreda Dorothea of Salm, had two daughters
  • Karl Joseph of Dietrichstein (1663 – 1693), married Countess Elisabeth Helena of Herberstein, no children
  • Walther Franz Xaver Anton, 5th Prince of Dietrichstein (1664 – 1738), married (1) Zuzana Liborie Katerina Praksická ze Zástri, no children (2) Countess Karolina Maximiliana of Proskau, had ten children but only five survive childhood
  • Franziska of Dietrichstein (born and died 1665)
  • Maximilian of Dietrichstein (born and died 1666)
  • Margarete of Dietrichstein (1667 – 1682), died in her teens
  • Maria Aloysia of Dietrichstein (1668 – 1673), died in childhood
  • Wenzel Dominik Lucas of Dietrichstein (1670 – 1673), died in early childhood
  • Christian of Dietrichstein (born and died 1672)
  • Claudia Felizitas Josepha of Dietrichstein (1674 – 1682), died in childhood
  • Maria Josepha Antonia Cajetana Rosa of Dietrichstein (born and died 1675)
  • Ferdinand of Dietrichstein (born and died 1676)
  • Maria Charlotte Anna of Dietrichstein (1677 – 1682), died in childhood
  • Jakob Anton of Dietrichstein (1678 – 1721), married (1) Countess Maria Carolina of Wolfsthal, died in childbirth had two children (2) Countess Maria Francisca Sophia of Starhemberg, had five children
  • Raimund Joseph of Dietrichstein (1679 – 1682), died in early childhood
  • Dominica Maria Anna of Dietrichstein (1685 – 1694), died in childhood

At the age of fourteen, Erdmuthe began to serve as a lady-in-waiting to Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress, the third wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. Erdmuthe always held a higher rank than other ladies-in-waiting. After she married, as was customary, Erdmuthe retired from her position as lady-in-waiting. However, she continued to have full access to the imperial court and also retained the privilege of being able to enter the bedroom of the empress.

Erdmunthe’s husband Hans-Adam; Credit – Wikipedia

On February 16, 1681, in Vienna, Austria, nineteen-year-old Erdmuthe married her nineteen-year-old first cousin Hans-Adam, heir to the Principality of Liechtenstein, the son of Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein and Edrmuthe’s paternal aunt Johanna Beatrix of Dietrichstein.

Erdmuthe and Hans-Adam had eleven children but all their sons predeceased Hans-Adam:

Twenty-two-year-old Hans-Adam became Prince of Liechtenstein upon the death of his father Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein on April 5, 1684. During his twenty-eight-year reign, Hans-Adam I acquired the Lordship of Schellenberg in 1699, and the County of Vaduz in 1712 which would later become part of the present Principality of Liechtenstein (not formally established until 1719). Unlike his predecessors, Hans-Adam did not accept any position with the Imperial Court. He reorganized the administration of his principality and the personal finances of the princely family.

Like his father, Hans-Adam I had a great interest in art. He increased the size of the family art collection started by his father Karl Eusebius by purchasing works by Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck and other artists. Hans-Adam also had a reputation as a master builder. Among his buildings were two grand palaces in Vienna, Liechtenstein City Palace, still used as a residence by the princely family, and the Liechtenstein Garden Palace. which is now a museum, the home to part of the private art collection of the Princely House of Liechtenstein, one of the largest private collections in the world.

Erdmuthe’s husband Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein died in Vienna, Austria on June 16, 1712, at the age of 49. He was buried in the Old Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Brno, Moravia, now Vranov, Czech Republic. Because Hans-Adam had no surviving sons, he had chosen his distant cousin Prince Joseph Wenzel, the great-grandnephew of Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein, even though he was not next in line. The actual heir was his uncle Anton Florian but he was not very popular with the family. Anton Florian later did become Prince of Liechtenstein.

According to the marriage contract, as the widow of Hans-Adam I, Erdmuthe received the estate in Plumlov, originally in Moravia, now in the Czech Republic. The estate was acquired in 1590 by the House of Liechtenstein which owned it until 1931. Erdmuthe also received a lump sum of 25,000 guilders, and rooms in the Liechtenstein Palace (link in German) in Vienna which was demolished in 1913. Erdmuthe spent most of her time in Vienna and in Judenau-Baumgarten, which was owned by the House of Liechtenstein and where Erdmuthe founded a hospital. She devoted herself to philanthropic activities, including providing shelters for the poor.

Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Czech Republic; Credit – Von Ojin – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6438939

Erdmuthe survived her husband by twenty-five years, dying on March 16, 1737, in Vienna, Austria at the age of 84. She was buried with her husband in the Old Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Brno, Moravia, now Vranov, Czech Republic.

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Works Cited

  • Erdmuthe di Dietrichstein-Nikolsburg (2023) Wikipedia (Italian). Available at: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erdmuthe_di_Dietrichstein-Nikolsburg (Accessed: 20 June 2023).
  • Erdmunda Tereza Z Ditrichštejna (no date) Wikipedia (Czech). Available at: https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erdmunda_Tereza_z_Ditrich%C5%A1tejna#Extern%C3%AD_odkazy (Accessed: 20 June 2023).
  • Erdmuthe Maria Theresia of Dietrichstein (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erdmuthe_Maria_Theresia_of_Dietrichstein (Accessed: 20 June 2023).
  • Ferdinand Joseph, Prince of Dietrichstein (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Joseph,_Prince_of_Dietrichstein (Accessed: 20 June 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2021) Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/hans-adam-i-prince-of-liechtenstein/ (Accessed: 20 June 2023).
  • Louda, Jiri and MacLagan, Michael, 2002. Lines of Succession. New York: Barnes and Noble.
  • Princely House of Liechtenstein. 2023. Biographies of all Reigning Princes – 17th century. [online] Available at: <https://fuerstenhaus.li/en/die-biographien-aller-fuersten/17-century/> [Accessed 20 June 2023].