Windisch-Graetz

Arms of the Princes of Windisch-Graetz
Alfred I of Windisch.

The House of Windisch-Graetz, also spelled Windisch-Grätz, was a princely family in the Austrian Empire, serving the Habsburg dynasty.

The name derives from the town of Windischgrätz in the Duchy of Styria, which is today Slovenj Gradec in the Carinthia region of Slovenia. According to the Almanach de Gotha, the family was first recorded in 1242.

Alfred Candidus Ferdinand zu Windisch-Graetz was elevated to the rank of Imperial Prince in 1804. The Holy Roman Empire having been abolished, he and his brother Veriand were both created Princes of the Austrian Empire in 1822, Alfred and his successors being the first line of Princes of Windisch-Graetz and Veriand and his successors the second line.[1]

Great Britain's Princess Michael of Kent is descended from this family through her maternal grandmother, while her husband, Prince Michael of Kent, is a first cousin once removed of Archduchess Sophie Franziska of Austria, Princess of Windisch-Graetz.

(Mediatized) Princes of Windisch-Graetz[2]

Elder Line

  • Alfred, Count 1802-1804, 1st Prince 1804-1862 (1787-1862)
    • Alfred, 2nd Prince 1862-1876 (1819-1876)
      • Alfred, 3rd Prince 1876-1927 (1851-1927)
    • Prince Ludwig (1830-1904)
      • Ludwig Aladar, 4th Prince 1927-1968 (1882-1968)
        • Prince Alfred (b.1939) - renounced his succession rights
        • Anton, 5th Prince 1968-present (b.1942)
    • Prince Joseph (1832-1906)
      • Prince Franz (1867-1947)
        • Prince Otto (1913-2011)
          • Prince Johann-Nepomuck (b.1953)

Younger Line

  • Weriand, 1st Prince 1822-1867 (1790-1867)
    • Hugo, 2nd Prince 1867-1904 (1823-1904)
      • Hugo, 3rd Prince 1904-1920 (1854-1920)
        • Hugo, 4th Prince 1920-1959 (1887-1959)
      • Princess Marie (1856–1929)

House members

Coat of arms

Gules, a wolf's head couped argent.[3]


Windisch-Graetz castles in present Slovenia

References

  1. Almanach de Gotha, 1910 edition, pp.245-248, Justus Perthes
  2. Online Gotha - Windisch-Graetz
  3. Moncreiffe, Ian, and Pottinger, Don. Simple Heraldry Cheerfully Illustrated. Thomas Nelson. p. 54.


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