Princess Antonia
Crown Princess of Bavaria
Born(1899-10-07)7 October 1899
Schloss Hohenburg, Lenggries, Bavaria
Died31 July 1954(1954-07-31) (aged 54)
Lenzerheide, Graubünden, Switzerland
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1921)​
Issue
Names
Antoinette Roberte Sophie Wilhelmine
HouseNassau-Weilburg
FatherWilliam IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
MotherMarie Anne of Portugal

Antoinette Roberte Sophie Wilhelmine (7 October 1899 – 31 July 1954), commonly referred to as Antonia, was the last Crown Princess of Bavaria before World War II. By birth, she was a member of the Luxembourgish House of Nassau-Weilburg as the child of Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal. Antonia was a survivor of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Family

Princess Antonia at the age of 10 (Atelier Elvira, Munich 1910)

Born at Schloss Hohenburg,[citation needed] at Lenggries in Upper Bavaria, Antonia was the fourth daughter of Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, who reigned between 1905 and 1912, and Marie Anne, a princess of the Portuguese House of Braganza.

She was the younger sister of two successive grand duchesses: Marie-Adélaïde and Charlotte. In the family she was called "Toni".

Marriage and children

Antonia became the second wife of Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria. The two were engaged on 26 August 1918.[1] At the time, Rupprecht was Generalfeldmarschall in the Imperial German army, and had successfully commanded the German Sixth Army at the Battle of Lorraine.

This led to criticism of the close ties between the Luxembourgish Grand Ducal Family and the royalty of the German Empire at a time when Luxembourg was occupied by Germany. This added to the pressure already on Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde, who was forced to abdicate on 10 January 1919.[2] Despite the abdication of her elder sister, and the overthrow of the Kingdom of Bavaria in favour of a republic, the two were married on 7 April 1921 at Schloss Hohenburg.

Antonia and Rupprecht had six children, through whom they have a large number of descendants.[citation needed]

Later life

As opponents of the Nazi regime, Antonia and Rupprecht were forced into exile in the Kingdom of Italy in 1939. From there, they moved to the Kingdom of Hungary. When Germany occupied Hungary in October 1944, Antonia and her children were captured, while Rupprecht, still in Italy, evaded arrest. They were imprisoned at Sachsenhausen. In early April 1945, they were moved to Dachau concentration camp. Although liberated that same month, the imprisonment greatly impaired Antonia's health; the ordeal led to her vow never to return to German soil, and she died nine years later, at Lenzerheide, Graubünden, Switzerland.[citation needed]

Titles and honours

Titles
National
Foreign

Ancestry

Footnotes

  1. ^ Thewes (2003), p.74
  2. ^ Thewes (2003), p. 86

Bibliography

Princess Antonia of Luxembourg House of Nassau-WeilburgBorn: 7 October 1899 Died: 31 July 1954 Titles in pretence VacantTitle last held byMaria Theresa of Austria-Este — TITULAR — Queen consort of Bavaria 7 April 1921 - 31 July 1954Reason for succession failure:Kingdom abolished in 1918 VacantTitle next held byCountess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan VacantTitle last held byLudwig III of Bavaria as Prince consort — TITULAR — Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland 7 April 1921 - 31 July 1954Reason for succession failure:Glorious Revolution
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