German & Austrian Royalty and Nobility

[Ritka]

I'm not sure what to read first. Suggestions?

 

[Katie]

Hmm, I recommend the Elisabeth-biography by Brigitte Hamann (available in English or German). If you can read German, the books by Egon Conte Corti are also very good.

 

[hilal]

Sissi, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria by Brigitte Hamann
Publisher: Benedikt Taschen Verlag

 

[Smilla]

I also think Brigitte Hamann's book is a classic. It makes for very enjoyable reading, too.

 

[Ritka]

Thanks! What about "The Lonely Empress"?

 

[pumkin pie]

"Elisabeth. Kaiserin wider Willen by Brigitte Hamann" if you speak German. It's about 600 pages, paperback, and covers about everything a good biography needs.

I have another beautiful book at my appartment - but don't know the title right now; also I can't find it on amazon.com. I will come back tomorrow and tell you. The book has beautiful pictures of her in full gown equippment! It's hardcover and about 12 x 9inches. Also with a quick guide through her life. Not as detailed as in Hamann's biography, but good to start with.

I'll be back.

 

[Ritka]

Thank you! Unfortunately I don't read German but maybe a translation will come out eventually.

 

[leonardinha]

Sisi's biography by Egon Corti is excellent. Hamann's book is very good too. Nicole Avril's one is really "Schmalz"... :-D

 

[Katie]

Ritka, four posters referred to the same book, the author is Brigitte Hamann and there are - as I have pointed out in my first post - at least a German AND an English version available. The German title is "Elisabeth - Kaiserin wider Willen" and the English one is "Elisabeth - Empress of Austria". So you do not have to know German to read the book, you can simply buy the English edition.

 

[pumkin pie]

Hello! I'm back! The title of the book I was referring to in my previous post, reads quite long: "Elisabeth, Prinzessin in Bayern Kaiserin von Österreich Königin von Ungarn".... and unfortunatelly it seems that this book is sold out.

Here comes the link to amazon:http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/3854477740/qid=1143825841/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_10_5/302-4029846-9509636

 

[Katie]

Another very nice picture book is the following: Stephan, Renate: Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich 1837 - 1898". Wien, 1998. It was published in the edition "Austria Imperial Edition" and can for example be bought in many museum shops in Austria and Bavaria. On 128 pages you can see many, many portraits and photos of the Empress.

 

[kingfernidad]

Prussian Hussars

Does anyone know of any post World War II books about the Prussian Monarchy? I would love to read them.

 

[flcty]

Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria

'The Road to Mayerling: the Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria'

Has anyone read the book before? Is it good, acurate (recount of Rudolph's life)? I'm thinking of ordering it, so would it be worth spending a heap of money on the book?

 

[princess olga]

Try amazon.com and look at what other people say about the product

 

[Jo of Palatine]

Has anyone read the book before? Is it good, acurate (recount of Rudolph's life)? I'm thinking of ordering it, so would it be worth spending a heap of money on the book?

Hm, I guess a biography of Crown Prince Rudolph is a very, very difficult thing as it is still unclear whether he was mentally ill or not. From his mother's and both his grand-mother's side he had inherited Wittelsbach-blood - in the same generation two kings of Bavaria were mentally ill and both were Rudolph's direct line cousins (their father was the brother of archduchess Sophie (his paternal grandmother) and duchess Ludovika (his maternal grand-mother) while his paternal grand-father and his paternal grand-uncle from the Habsburg-side of the family were considered unfit to rule due to mental problems... So, the problem potential was there. But OTOH the Crown Prince had ideas about political reforms which led to very, very powerful enemies who could easily create a scenario of suicide due to mental problems...

Thus, I would read any book on the topic with lots of grains of salt....

 

[Harold]

German/Austrian Royalty - books?

Are there any informative books on German and Austrian royal families after the first world war? English is best, but hopefully soon I can manage German.

 

[GlitteringTiaras]

One of the best books that I have read is Royals and the Reich: The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany by Jonathan Petropoulos.

The author, a professor at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California, had unlimited access to private archives which included notes, diaries, letters, and other detailed informative data. Personal interviews were key to this book; once such interview Petropoulos had was with HRH Prince Philip.

The Royals and the Reich, an objective piece, is well worth adding to ones library. Overall the story of Philipp and Christoph von Hessen is a fascinating one, so check out the book if you can.

 

[Marengo]

Alles was Sie schon immer über Köninge wissen wollten - Count Alexander Schönburg

Count Alexander von Schönburg wrote a book with the title 'Everything you always wanted to know about kings'.

Here a long article in BILD about the book, they mailny focus on how commoners entered the court.

The count is married to Princess Irina of Hessen-Kassel and is the brother of Fürstin Gloria of Thurn u. Taxis.

 

[jinigirl]

I'm afraid this utter rubish!
In the second articel, which is linked above, the got already the basic informations wrong. He tells that Queen Margrethe in the summer of 2004 has invited Princesses and noble women, and introduced them to Frederik..., but he was not interested and married Mary.
Later he mentions a Crownprincess which tried several times to sneak away to the airport, and to escape to her homeland. By no stretch of imagination I can image Princess Maxima or Mary doing something like that.

In the first episode, the talks about meeting Queen Elizabeth at the occasion of Princes Edwards wedding.

 

[asturiana]

Later he mentions a Crownprincess which tried several times to sneak away to the airport, and to escape to her homeland. By no stretch of imagination I can image Princess Maxima or Mary doing something like that.

Yes, this is a very strange story .

 

[jinigirl]

Yes, this is a very strange story .

But what kind of story could we expect from BILD, one of the worst gossip rags available?

 

[asturiana]

But what kind of story could we expect from BILD, one of the worst gossip rags available?

You're right .

 

[Marengo]

Well, is the story made up by BILD or is it actually written down in the book of the count?

 

[jinigirl]

Well, is the story made up by BILD or is it actually written down in the book of the count?

I guess most of it written down like that in the book, but I think the storys got a bit "fluffed-up" especially for BILD.
After all he would like to sell his book

 

[ysbel]

There's another story in the Bild with an interview by the same author. He remarks on the eccentricity of the royals particularly the British royals. Some of the stories were previously in the British press but there wasn't the fascination with odd behavior that this author has.

 

[amandamrgt]

I'm afraid this utter rubish!
In the second articel, which is linked above, the got already the basic informations wrong. He tells that Queen Margrethe in the summer of 2004 has invited Princesses and noble women, and introduced them to Frederik..., but he was not interested and married Mary.
Later he mentions a Crownprincess which tried several times to sneak away to the airport, and to escape to her homeland. By no stretch of imagination I can image Princess Maxima or Mary doing something like that.

In the first episode, the talks about meeting Queen Elizabeth at the occasion of Princes Edwards wedding.

I may be wrong but I believe the story is just a re-tell of an old legend about Queen Sofia (then Princess Sofia). It was speculated that when her children were still very young (Felipe was, if I remember correctly, about 4 or 5), she wanted to walk out of the marriage with Juan Carlos. So she presumably took the children to return to Greece but was stopped by the security guards in the airport, who made it clear that while she was free to go wherever she wanted, her children would not go with her.

I will try to find the book I've read this in, although I'm under the impression it was repeated in more then one place.


Not that I ever believed this rumour myself, I just wanted to clarify the mistery of the airport princess.

 

[jinigirl]

I may be wrong but I believe the story is just a re-tell of an old legend about Queen Sofia (then Princess Sofia). It was speculated that when her children were still very young (Felipe was, if I remember correctly, about 4 or 5), she wanted to walk out of the marriage with Juan Carlos. So she presumably took the children to return to Greece but was stopped by the security guards in the airport, who made it clear that while she was free to go wherever she wanted, her children would not go with her.

I will try to find the book I've read this in, although I'm under the impression it was repeated in more then one place.


Not that I ever believed this rumour myself, I just wanted to clarify the mistery of the airport princess.

I only thought about todays crownprincesses from abroad....
But maybe you are right, and he is talking about Queen Sofia or, another possiblity, Queen Paola. Everyone knows that her marriage to Albert was in trouble many years ago, and she was kind of a crownprincess, too.

IMO, the whole book is rubbish, BILD is the kind of rag which won't publish something from a respectable book

 

[Stefan]

In the first episode, the talks about meeting Queen Elizabeth at the occasion of Princes Edwards wedding.

I think at last this is true. There where a few descendants of Prince Philip's sisters present at the Wedding. His wife is Princess Irina of Hesse a granddaughter of Philip's youngest sister Sophie and her first husband Prince Christoph of Hesse. Alexander and irina married in may 1999 a few weeks before Edward and Sophie.

 

[Warren]

Count Alexander and Princess Irina were most certainly at the Wessex wedding. They are in the official wedding photograph standing in the back row next to Lady Sarah Chatto. There were also three Hohenlohe-Langenburg cousins and the late Prince Georg of Hanover. Curiously, there were no Badens present.

 

[Avicenna]

I may be wrong but I believe the story is just a re-tell of an old legend about Queen Sofia (then Princess Sofia). It was speculated that when her children were still very young (Felipe was, if I remember correctly, about 4 or 5), she wanted to walk out of the marriage with Juan Carlos. So she presumably took the children to return to Greece but was stopped by the security guards in the airport, who made it clear that while she was free to go wherever she wanted, her children would not go with her.

I will try to find the book I've read this in, although I'm under the impression it was repeated in more then one place.


Not that I ever believed this rumour myself, I just wanted to clarify the mistery of the airport princess.

Maria Teresa would be my first idea. At least I remember such a story. The reason was her horrible relationship to her mother-in-law. Unfortunatly I cannot find a link as proof. Any ideas?