Countess Marie Larisch von Moennich
Encyclopedia
Countess Marie Louise Larisch von Moennich (also known as Countess Marie Louise Larisch-Wallersee and Countess Marie Larisch) (24 February 1858 - 4 July 1940) was
the niece and confidante of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She was a go-between for her married cousin Crown Prince Rudolf and his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera
, a
friend of hers. A scandal known as the Mayerling Incident
broke in 1889 upon the discovery of the bodies of the two lovers at Rudolf's hunting lodge at Mayerling
, Austria.
With the revelation of her role in this the Countess was shunned in particular by the Empress and the rest of the Imperial Family. As a consequence she was also snubbed by society. Later in life she was nominally the author of a series of ghostwritten books about the Imperial household.
, Bavaria
, the illegitimate daughter of actress Henriette Mendel, Baroness von Wallersee
(1833–1891). Her father, Ludwig Wilhelm, Duke in Bavaria (1831–1920) was the eldest son of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria and had the title of Duke in Bavaria
(German: Herzog in Bayern). He was properly addressed as "His Royal Highness," being the maternal grandson of King Maximilian I of Bavaria. Ludwig Wilhelm was the first cousin of King Maximilian II of Bavaria
and also of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
whose mother, Princess Sophie of Bavaria
, was a daughter of Maximilian I. One of Ludwig Wilhelm's younger sisters, Elisabeth
, married Emperor Franz Joseph and another, Maria Sophie, married Francis II of the Two Sicilies
just before he became king. Yet her father renounced, on 9 March 1859, his rights as firstborn son, and Henriette (or Henrietta) Mendel was created Baroness of Wallersee (Freifrau von Wallersee) on 19 May 1859 in preparation for their morganatic marriage
on 28 May 1859 in Augsburg. From 28 May 1859, Marie was thus a Baroness of Wallersee (Freiin von Wallersee).
Marie became the confidante of her aunt, the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, being selected at least partly because of her skills on horseback.
On 20 October 1877 at Jagdschloß Gödöllő
in Hungary
she married Count Georg Larisch of Moennich, Baron of Ellgoth and Karwin (1855–1928). The marriage had been arranged by the Empress. They divorced on 3 December 1896. Marie had five children during this marriage, though only the first two were indisputably fathered by her husband: their first-born was oceanographer Franz-Joseph Ludwig Georg Maria, Count Larisch of Moennich, Baron of Ellgoth and Karwin (1878–1937), followed by Marie Valerie (1879–1915), Marie Henriette (1884–1907), Georg (1886–1909), and Friedrich Karl (1894–1929).
As the countess always needed more money than Georg Larisch gave her, her cousin Crown Prince Rudolf paid bills for her - so she depended on his wishes. Being friends with Helene and Mary Vetsera, who adored Rudolf, she must help them to come together. He sought for a partner to make suicide together. Their relationship was shattered by the revelation, after Crown Prince Rudolf
's death - he shot Mary and committed suicide on 30 January 1889 - at Mayerling, that Marie had acted as go-between for him and his lover, Baroness Mary Vetsera
. Her aunt, Empress Elisabeth, did not give her any chance for explanation and rehabilitation. Due to the scandal the nobility did not want to have any contact with her and she moved to Bavaria.
After divorcing Count Larisch in 1896 she married the musician Otto Brucks (1854–1914)in Munich
on 15 May 1897. They had one child, Otto (1899–1977). Since 1898 Marie - her husband, a famous opera singer before, did not get engagements, because of his association with "that Countess Larisch" and he became dependent on alcohol - began to write about her time with the Empress and other Imperial and Royal relatives. The Imperial house paid her a great deal of "hush money
" not to publish her memoirs. In 1906 her husband became director of the theatre of Metz
. Marie Louise always wanted to publish her rehabilitation, but always was betrayed by journalists and editors. In 1913 she published her memoirs, My Past, not caring about her the contract with the Imperial house. She, of course, published her memoirs anyway — a series of ghost-written
works which are factually undependable.
In World War I she worked at the front as a nurse. In 1921 she portrayed herself in a silent film about her aunt, the Empress Elisabeth (nobody cared that she was 62, while Carla Nelsen, portraying the empress, was 23!) In 1924 in New York an article was published, that she will marry anybody who will pay her and her son the transfer to America. On 2 September 1924 in Elizabeth, New Jersey
, she married naturopath William H. Meyers (born 1859). They lived in Florida
, he mistreated her and she flew to New Jersey
in 1926, working as a housemaid. She returned to Germany in 1929.
Marie died very poor in 1940 in a nursing home
at Augsburg
and was buried in Munich
.
Marie met and conversed with the poet T. S. Eliot
, and part of their conversation found its way into his epochal poem The Waste Land
.
the niece and confidante of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She was a go-between for her married cousin Crown Prince Rudolf and his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera
Baroness Mary Vetsera
Baroness Marie Alexandrine von Vetsera was a member of Austrian high society nobility and one of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria's mistresses...
, a
friend of hers. A scandal known as the Mayerling Incident
Mayerling Incident
The Mayerling Incident refers to the series of events leading to the apparent murder-suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his lover Baroness Mary Vetsera. Rudolf was the only son of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria and Empress Elisabeth, and heir to the throne of the combined...
broke in 1889 upon the discovery of the bodies of the two lovers at Rudolf's hunting lodge at Mayerling
Mayerling
Mayerling is a small village in Lower Austria belonging to the municipality of Alland in the district of Baden. It is situated on the Schwechat River, in the Wienerwald , 15 miles southwest of Vienna...
, Austria.
With the revelation of her role in this the Countess was shunned in particular by the Empress and the rest of the Imperial Family. As a consequence she was also snubbed by society. Later in life she was nominally the author of a series of ghostwritten books about the Imperial household.
Biography
The Countess was born Marie Louise Elizabeth Mendel on 24 February 1858 in AugsburgAugsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, the illegitimate daughter of actress Henriette Mendel, Baroness von Wallersee
Henriette Mendel
Henriette Mendel, Baroness von Wallersee was a German actress, and the mistress and, later, morganatic wife of Ludwig Wilhelm, Duke in Bavaria...
(1833–1891). Her father, Ludwig Wilhelm, Duke in Bavaria (1831–1920) was the eldest son of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria and had the title of Duke in Bavaria
Duke in Bavaria
Duke in Bavaria was a title used among others since 1506, when primogeniture was established, by all members of the House of Wittelsbach, with the exception of the Duke of Bavaria which began to be a unique position...
(German: Herzog in Bayern). He was properly addressed as "His Royal Highness," being the maternal grandson of King Maximilian I of Bavaria. Ludwig Wilhelm was the first cousin of King Maximilian II of Bavaria
Maximilian II of Bavaria
Maximilian II of Bavaria was king of Bavaria from 1848 until 1864. He was son of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.-Crown Prince:...
and also of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
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...
whose mother, Princess Sophie of Bavaria
Princess Sophie of Bavaria
Sophie Friederike Dorothee Wilhelmine, Princess of Bavaria was born to King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his second wife Karoline of Baden. She was the identical twin sister of Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria, Queen of Saxony as wife of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony...
, was a daughter of Maximilian I. One of Ludwig Wilhelm's younger sisters, Elisabeth
Elisabeth of Bavaria
Elisabeth of Austria was the spouse of Franz Joseph I, and therefore both Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. She also held the titles of Queen of Bohemia and Croatia, among others...
, married Emperor Franz Joseph and another, Maria Sophie, married Francis II of the Two Sicilies
Francis II of the Two Sicilies
Francis II , was King of the Two Sicilies from 1859 to 1861. He was the last King of the Two Sicilies, as successive invasions by Giuseppe Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia ultimately brought an end to his rule, and marked the first major event of Italian unification...
just before he became king. Yet her father renounced, on 9 March 1859, his rights as firstborn son, and Henriette (or Henrietta) Mendel was created Baroness of Wallersee (Freifrau von Wallersee) on 19 May 1859 in preparation for their morganatic marriage
Morganatic marriage
In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...
on 28 May 1859 in Augsburg. From 28 May 1859, Marie was thus a Baroness of Wallersee (Freiin von Wallersee).
Marie became the confidante of her aunt, the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, being selected at least partly because of her skills on horseback.
On 20 October 1877 at Jagdschloß Gödöllő
Gödöllo
Gödöllő is a town situated in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary, about northeast from the outskirts of Budapest. Its population is about 31,000 according to the 2001 census. It can be easily reached from Budapest with the suburban railway . Gödöllő is home to the Szent István...
in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
she married Count Georg Larisch of Moennich, Baron of Ellgoth and Karwin (1855–1928). The marriage had been arranged by the Empress. They divorced on 3 December 1896. Marie had five children during this marriage, though only the first two were indisputably fathered by her husband: their first-born was oceanographer Franz-Joseph Ludwig Georg Maria, Count Larisch of Moennich, Baron of Ellgoth and Karwin (1878–1937), followed by Marie Valerie (1879–1915), Marie Henriette (1884–1907), Georg (1886–1909), and Friedrich Karl (1894–1929).
As the countess always needed more money than Georg Larisch gave her, her cousin Crown Prince Rudolf paid bills for her - so she depended on his wishes. Being friends with Helene and Mary Vetsera, who adored Rudolf, she must help them to come together. He sought for a partner to make suicide together. Their relationship was shattered by the revelation, after Crown Prince Rudolf
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria
Rudolf , archduke of Austria and crown prince of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, was the son and heir of Franz Joseph I, emperor of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, and his wife and empress, Elisabeth...
's death - he shot Mary and committed suicide on 30 January 1889 - at Mayerling, that Marie had acted as go-between for him and his lover, Baroness Mary Vetsera
Baroness Mary Vetsera
Baroness Marie Alexandrine von Vetsera was a member of Austrian high society nobility and one of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria's mistresses...
. Her aunt, Empress Elisabeth, did not give her any chance for explanation and rehabilitation. Due to the scandal the nobility did not want to have any contact with her and she moved to Bavaria.
After divorcing Count Larisch in 1896 she married the musician Otto Brucks (1854–1914)in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
on 15 May 1897. They had one child, Otto (1899–1977). Since 1898 Marie - her husband, a famous opera singer before, did not get engagements, because of his association with "that Countess Larisch" and he became dependent on alcohol - began to write about her time with the Empress and other Imperial and Royal relatives. The Imperial house paid her a great deal of "hush money
Hush money
Hush money is an informal term for financial incentives or rewards offered in exchange for not divulging information.Hush Money may also refer to:* Hush Money , a 1921 silent film directed by Charles Maigne...
" not to publish her memoirs. In 1906 her husband became director of the theatre of Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
. Marie Louise always wanted to publish her rehabilitation, but always was betrayed by journalists and editors. In 1913 she published her memoirs, My Past, not caring about her the contract with the Imperial house. She, of course, published her memoirs anyway — a series of ghost-written
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
works which are factually undependable.
In World War I she worked at the front as a nurse. In 1921 she portrayed herself in a silent film about her aunt, the Empress Elisabeth (nobody cared that she was 62, while Carla Nelsen, portraying the empress, was 23!) In 1924 in New York an article was published, that she will marry anybody who will pay her and her son the transfer to America. On 2 September 1924 in Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 124,969, retaining its ranking as New Jersey's fourth largest city with an increase of 4,401 residents from its 2000 Census population of 120,568...
, she married naturopath William H. Meyers (born 1859). They lived in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, he mistreated her and she flew to New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in 1926, working as a housemaid. She returned to Germany in 1929.
Marie died very poor in 1940 in a nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
at Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
and was buried in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
Marie met and conversed with the poet T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, and part of their conversation found its way into his epochal poem The Waste Land
The Waste Land
The Waste Land[A] is a 434-line[B] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot published in 1922. It has been called "one of the most important poems of the 20th century." Despite the poem's obscurity—its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its...
.
- And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
- My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
- And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
- Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
- In the mountains, there you feel free.
- I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franz-Joseph Ludwig Georg Maria, Count Larisch of Moennich, Baron of Ellgoth and Karwin | 1878 | 1937 | |
| Marie Valerie Franziska Georgine | 1879 | 1915 | |
| Marie (Mary) Henriette Alexandra | 1884 | 1907 | |
| Georg Heinrich Maria | 1886 | 1909 | |
| Friedrich Karl Ludwig Maria | 1894 | 1929 | |
| Otto Brucks, jr. | 1899 | 1977 |
Works
- 1913: My Past
- 1934: Secrets of a Royal House
- 1936: My Royal Relatives. In this work she claims to have been the daughter of Marie, Queen of the Two Sicilies by a "Count Armand de Lavaÿss" who cannot be found outside the pages of this work.