Sunday, July 19, 2015

German Aristocrats--

Charlotte von der Decken
Countess von Hohenau
@Wikipedia

" . . . But the actual target of these truly repellent letters was Lottka, the strikingly beautiful, tall young wife of th ehomosexual Count Frintz Hohenau. She was Charlotte von der Decken by birth, and was contemptuously mocked as 'the stinking one', 'stinking Lotte' or 'Lottchen of Prussia' in the letters. She was accused of having pushed her way into the highest ranks of court society and of behaving in an unseemly way at court, but above all leading a wild sexual life with high-born men and women: Prince 'Fichi' or 'Vichi' (sic) of Hesse, Prince Aribert of Anhalt, Prince Max of Baden, Prince Friedrich Karl zu Hohenlohe, Prince Hermann zu Stolberg, Prince Heinrich XIX Reuss of the junior branch, Prince Franz-Joseph of Battenberg, Eberhard Count von Dohna, the Freiherren Max and Paul Schuler von senden, Hugo von Reischach and Ludwig Knorring, as well as the English-born PRince Louise of Anhalt, were repeatedly named as her lovers and participants in her 'orgies' in the brothel of a certain Frau Hagenauer. Even the name of Herbert Bismarck crops up a few times in this connection. . . ." (Wilhelm II: The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy, 1888-1900: 664)

Dorothea Gruninger.

Her lovers were:
1) Bernhard von Eberstein.
2) Jakob, Rheingraf.
3) Johann Christoph von Zimmern.

"Dorothea Gruniger's career included stints as the mistress of three canons of Strasbourg, among them the chronicler's brother, Johann Christoph von Zimmern. According to the chronicle, she brought her first lover, Rheingraf Jakob, 'into great debt and misery,' so that he was almost forced to resign from the cathedral chapter because of his debts. He sent her away but was unable to resist her, 'for she was very beautiful in her youth, and such people are good at blandishments.' Although Dorothea had several children by Count Jakob, she also 'wandered around' and eventually settled down with Count Bernhard von Eberstein, the chronicler's brother-in-law, who kept her for several years. After leaving him, she became the mistress of Johann Christoph von Zimmern. This led to such enmity between the two men that it disrupted the entire cathedral chapter. . . ." (Hurwich: 201)

Everard van Weede van Dijkveld (1626-1702).
Regent of Utrecht, field deputy & diplomat

His lovers were:
1) Madame Borneval.
wife of Baron Gerard van Reede van Renswoude, President of Court of Utrecht.

2) Madame Hamel.

3) Madame Schade.
"His life was not spotless.  He had become a widower at an early age and had affairs with three married women, the ladies Schade, Hamel and Borneval.  Mrs. Borneval was the wife of Baron Gerard van Reede van Renswoude, the delegate of Utrecht in the States-General and president of the Court of Utrecht.  Mrs. Hamel's husband was the Utrecht burgomastel Hamel, who let the French into the city in 1672.  The Prince was aware of Van Weede van Dijkvelt's gallantries, but let him go his own way.  William III tolerated a great deal in his favourites. . . ." (Troost: 100) [Ref1:100]

His lover was:
Leonora Werdenberger.
[Ref1:Hurwich] [Ref2:Wikipedia]

Friedrich III zu Salm-Kyrburg (1745-1794)

His lover was:
[Fam1:Dinastias]

German operatic soprano.

Wife ofCarlo Rossi, Envoy & Minister Plenipotentiary to Confederation of the Rhine; Sardinian minister to St. Petersburg, mar 1827

Henriette's spouse: "The fortunate object of Madlle. Sontag's choice---and time has proved how well-founded was her judgment---was a member of the diplomatic body when accredited at the Court of the Tuileries. Count de Rossi, although then a very young man, was already, at that critical period of political affairs, Conseiller de l'Ambassade of the Sardinian mission---a sufficient proof of his mental powers. He had the good looks, the elegant manners, the tastes, and the gifts of conversation which distinguish the travelled man and the real homme de qualite---qualities which no adversity can diminish. Fearing the prejudices of his noble relatives and of his royal master, until they could be assuaged, it was determined to conceal the wedding for the time being. It consequently was solemnized with all due form, but in secret, with only two or three intimate friends as witnesses." (Life of Henriette Sontag, Countess de Rossi: 17)

A royal wedding present.
"The late kind-hearted King of Prussia, apprised of the intended marriage, was desirous on the one hand to show his estimation of his fair subject, and on the other to prepare for the prejudices and obstacles this marriage would meet with on the part of the Sardinian Cabinet.  Unsolicited, he spontaneously bestowed on Madlle. Sontag, before her marriage, a Patent of Nobility, with every necessary details of Coat of Arms, etc., together with a title, and the name of De Launstein.  So singular a circumstance cannot be contemplated without the deepest interest.  It appears to us to do as much credit to the feelings of the lamented Sovereign, as it did honor to the character of Madlle. Sontag." (Life of Henriette Sontag, Countess de Rossi: 17)

Imma von Doernberg.

Her lover was:
William Walton.
[Ref1:40]
Juliana de Almeida e Oyenhausen
German noblewoman & lady-in-waiting.
Juliana de Almeida
e Oyenhausen

Spouses & Children:  She married Jose Maria de Aires (1755-1827), chamberlain of Queen Maria I da Portugal.

Leonora Werdenberger

Her lovers were:
Christoph von Werdenberg and Felix von Werdenberg (Brothers)

" . . . (T)he career of Leonora Wedenberger led to more serious consequences than mere quarrels between canons.  Leonora, the illegitimate daughter of Count Hugo von Werdenberg, was brought up in Sigmaringen in or near her father's castle.  As a bastard, she was naturally evil, at least in the opinion of the chronicler.  Since the categories of women who were sexually available to noblemen included 'bastard daughters of their relatives,' it is possible that even in her youth she might already have had sexual relationship with one or more of her legitimate cousins.  After her father's death, Leonora was married to a furrier, but she soon became bored with her uncouth middle-class husband... She left him and thereafter 'always resided at Sigmaringen; there the two counts of Werdenberg, Christoph and Felix, built her a house.  In short, she became all-powerful, and anyone who had any business to transact with the counts or any case for them to handle had to win the favor of this Leonora'... The most scandalous aspect of this affair is that, according to the chronicle, Leonora was mistress to the two brothers simultaneously. . . ."  (Hurwich: 201)
Maria Versfelt
Maria Versfelt (1776-1845)

Her lovers were:
Jean-Victor-Marie Moreau:

Michel Ney, 1st Duc d'Elchingen:

Maria von Maltzan.

Her lover was:
Hans Hirschel
" . . . The Countess Maria von Maltzan, by profession  a veterinarian, was a daredevil.  In her ground floor apartment, she had hidden her Jewish lover, Hans Hirschel. Not only did he survive, but with him literally hundreds of Jews for whom she provided hiding places. . . ."  (von Sell Niemoller: 111)

Marianna de Pignatelli-Belliguardo, Grafin Altmann.

Her lover was:
Pietro Metastasio 

" . . . Widowed by Count Althann, in Vienna Marianna Pignatelli would become the muse of Pietro Metastasio. . . ." (Pagano: 268)[Ref3:Authorama]
Paul Alfons von Metternich-Winneburg

His lover was:
Unnamed mistress.

"After Paul Metternich's death in 1992, Princess Tatiana discovered that he had left much of his fortune to a mistress. . . ." (Telegraph[Fam1:Peerage] [Ref1:Telegraph] [Ref2:FIA]
Philipp I von Hanau-Munzenberg 
and Margarete Weisskirchner

Philipp I von Hanau-Munzenberg.

His lover was:
Margarete Wisskirchner.
" . . . In 1500, Count Philipp of Hanau-Munzenberg left a legacy to Grete Wisskircher and her children, unromantically describing her in the will as 'Grete the whore [Dirne]. . . ."  (Hurwich: 209)

Philipp Moritz von Hanau-Munzenberg.

His lover was:
Margaret Crofts (fl. 1623-37)
Maid of Honour to Elizabeth of Bohemia, 1624-1637.

Her lover was:
A Russian Prince:

"By February 1794 Benjamin and Minna were separated.  He discovered that Minna had taken a lover, a Russian prince, and the she was expecting a child he knew was not his.  He sued for divorce, behaving in a chivalrous manner by taking all the blame and, in consequence, further blackening his reputation with the duke and duchess and most of their courtiers. . . ."  (
Winegarten: 23)


Personal and family background.
"Wilhelmina Luise Johanne von Cramm (or Minna, as he always calls her) was the daughter of a Brunswick captain, Karl von Cramm, and of Luise von Bulow, his wife.  She was nine years older than Benjamin, but it was to be expected that a youth of his temperament and tastes would choose an older woman, Virginibus puerisque notwithstanding. . . ." (Benjamin Constant: 97)

Spouse & Children.
She married, in 1789 (divorced 1795), Benjamin Constant.

Physical appearance and personal qualities.
" . . . Wilhelmina's pretensions to beauty were not sufficiently dazzling to encourage her in any higher ambition.  When Rosalie saw her in Lausanne the summer after the marriage, she wrote Charles, 'Considering Benjamin's fastidious taste, we expected to find her perfection, and we were astonished to see that she was very ugly, her face pitted by smallpox, red-eyed, and very lean.'  But although the first impression was unfavourable, Rosalie admitted that on closer acquaintance she proved to possess 'a good figure, gentle and agreeable manners, a pretty hand, beautiful hair, a sweet voice, witty and gay, without any of the German stiffness.'  Benjamin adored her, she added, as mush as it she had been a beauty, and she certainly had a good influence upon him." (Benjamin Constant: 97)

Achievements & honours: Lady-in-Waiting to the Duchess of Brunswick.
[Fam1] [Gen1]




His lover was:
Lover in 1575

Natural Offspring:
Anna von Stolberg (1586-1657)

"He never married but, from about 1575 onwards, had an affaire with Catharina Lappe and fathered six children, born between 1577 and 1589.  When Wolfgang Ernst moved to Wolfenbuttel, Catharina Lappe married his advisor, Gabriel Hornburg, but this was a marriage in name only.  Wolfgang Ernst died in 1606 and, from about 1630 until she died, Catherina Lappe lived with her daughter Anna in Goslar." (Dinastias)

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