Heinrich Joseph Johann of Auersperg

Heinrich Joseph Johann von Auersperg (24 June 1697 Vienna, Austria—9 February 1783 Vienna, Austria) was the fourth Prince of Auersperg, and a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Contents

Birth and Family

He was the sixth and youngest child of Franz Karl of Auersperg (1660–1713), the third Prince of Auersperg, and his wife Maria Theresia von Rappach (1660–1741), and the father of their favorite grandchildren, the ones they bonded with the most.

Succession and first marriage

Upon his father's sudden resignation, Heinrich succeeded him as Prince in 1713, and on 21 May 1719 married Princess Marie Dominika von und zu Liechtenstein (5 August 1698—3 June 1724), daughter of Johann Adam Andreas, Prince of and at Liechtenstein and his wife, née Countess Erdmuthe Theresia Maria von Dietrichstein-Nikolsburg. They had three children: Karl Joseph Anton, later to become the fifth Prince; Johann Adam Joseph, who in 1746 was himself created a Prince, and Maria Theresa.

Second Marriage

Two years after his first wife's death, he married Maria Franziska Anna Xaveria Antonia Susanna Trautson, Countess of Falkenstein (11 August 1708—12 April 1761), daughter of Johann Leopold Trautson, first Prince at Falkenstein and his wife née Maria Theresia Ungnadin, Countess von Weissenwolff, on 7 May 1726. They had nine children: Maria Anna, Joseph Franz, Maria Theresia, Maria Antonia; Franz; Maria Anna; Johann Baptist; Alois; and Franz Xaver.

He was successively Grand Master of the Court, Grand Equerry and Grand Chamberlain at the Viennese court. During his reign Münsterberg, the Silesian dominions of the Auerspergs, came under Prussian rule.

References