Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria

Maria Anna Josepha of Austria (* December 20, 1654 in Regensburg, † April 4, 1689 in Vienna) was an Archduchess of Austria and by marriage Countess Palatine, Duchess of Neuburg and Jülich -Berg.

Life

Maria Anna Josepha was a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III. (1608-1657) from his third marriage to Eleonora Gonzaga (1630-1686), daughter of Duke Charles II of Mantua. Maria Anna Josepha was a half-sister of the Emperor Leopold I., who was married to Eleonore Magdalene of the Palatinate- Neuburg since 1676, which intended to establish the connection of the house of Pfalz- Neuburg more closely with the imperial house.

Maria Anna Josepha married on October 25, 1678 in Wiener Neustadt Johann Wilhelm von Pfalz- Neuburg ( 1658-1716 ), the brother of Empress Eleonore. Because of the marriage with the daughter of the Emperor Johann Wilhelm in 1679 Duke of Jülich and Berg, to make him a ruling prince. The wedding ceremony was performed by Archbishop Leopold Karl Kollonitsch who built the Marian column in memory of this wedding and the wedding of Maria Anna's sister Eleanor in the main square of Wiener Neustadt. After the marriage with the Archduchess Johann Wilhelm began in Dusseldorf to lead an elaborate royal household.

Maria Anna died aged 34 during a visit to the imperial court in Vienna of tuberculosis and was buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. The two sons of their marriage died in 1683, or 1686 immediately after their birth.