Elisabeth von Gutmann
Encyclopedia
Elisabeth von Gutmann was princess consort
Princess of Liechtenstein
- House of Liechtenstein :...

 of Franz I
Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein
Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein, born Franz de Paula Maria Karl August was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1929 and 1938. He was the son of Aloys II of Liechtenstein and his wife Countess Franziska Kinsky...

, Prince of Liechtenstein.

Early life

Elisabeth was born at Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

, she was the daughter of Wilhelm Ritter von Gutmann and his wife Ida Wodianer. Her father was a Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 businessman from Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

, his coal trading company a leading position in the market occupied by the Habsburg monarchy, he was knighted in 1878 by Emperor Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...

. Between 1891-1892 he was president of the Vienna Israelite Community
Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien
The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien is the body that represents Vienna’s Jewish community. Today, the IKG has around 7000 members...

.

First marriage

Elisabeth married in Vienna to Hungarian Baron Géza Erős of Bethlenfalva, on 7 August 1908, but he died young. They had no children.

Second marriage

In 1914, she met at the relief fund for soldiers, Prince Franz of Liechtenstein
Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein
Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein, born Franz de Paula Maria Karl August was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1929 and 1938. He was the son of Aloys II of Liechtenstein and his wife Countess Franziska Kinsky...

. Prince Franz's brother Prince Johann II did not approve of this relationship. On 11 February 1929 Prince Franz succeeded his brother as Franz I, as his brother had died unmarried and childless. In 22 July 1929 Elisabeth and Franz I married in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. They had no children. His wife was, as a wealthy Jewish woman from Vienna, identified by local Liechtenstein Nazis as their Jewish "problem". Although Liechtenstein had no official Nazi party, a Nazi sympathy movement had been simmering for years within its National Union party.
In early 1938, just after the annexation of Austria into Greater Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

, 84 year old Prince Franz I abdicated, naming his 31-year-old third cousin, Prince Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein
Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein, , was the Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein from 1938 until his death...

, as his successor.

Later years

After the death of her husband in 1938, she lived at Semmering Pass, until the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 she went into exile to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, where she died at Vitznau
Vitznau
Vitznau is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.-History:Vitznau was first mentioned in 998. In the 19th century it became a popular destination for tourism, especially from England; the imposing Park Hotel Vitznau west of town dates from the...

 in 1947.

She was the first princess, who was buried not in Vranov
Vranov (Brno-Country District)
Vranov is a village and municipality in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 639 ....

, but in the new royal crypt next to the Vaduz Cathedral
Vaduz Cathedral
Vaduz Cathedral, or Cathedral of St. Florin , is a neo-Gothic church in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and the center of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vaduz. Originally a parish church, it has had the status of a cathedral since 1997.It was built in 1873 by Friedrich von Schmidt on the site of earlier...

.

Titles and styles

  • 6 January 1875 – 7 August 1908: Miss Elisabeth von Gutmann
  • 7 August 1908 – 22 July 1929: Baroness Géza Erős of Bethlenfalva
  • 22 July 1929 – 25 July 1938: Her Serene Highness The Princess of Liechtenstein
  • 25 July 1938 – 28 September 1947: Her Serene Highness Princess Elisabeth of Liechtenstein
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