Prince Weriand, 1st Prince of Windisch-Graetz

Early life

He was the third, but second surviving, son of Duchess Maria Leopoldine Franziska of Arenberg (1751–1812) and Count Joseph Nicholas of Windisch-Graetz. His elder sister, Countess Sophie Luise Wilhelmine of Windisch-Graetz, married Prince Karl of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (the son of Dominic Constantine, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort). His elder surviving brother was Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, who married Princess Marie Eleonore Philippine Luise of Schwarzenberg (daughter of Prince Josef Johann of Schwarzenberg), and was raised to the rank of prince in 1804.

His paternal grandparents were Count Leopold Carl Joseph of Windish-Graetz and Countess Maria Antonia Josepha von Khevenhüller. As his grandfather died young, his father was the heir of his great-grandfather, Count Leopold Johann Victorin Windisch-Graetz (who owned Červená Lhota Castle in Southern Bohemia and the Trautmannsdorf an der Leitha estate in Lower Austria). His maternal grandparents were Charles Marie Raymond, 5th Duke of Arenberg and the former Countess Louise Margarethe von der Marck-Schleiden (a daughter of Count Louis Engelbert von der Marck-Schleiden).

Career

Like his elder brother had been in 1804, he was raised to the rank of hereditary prince in 1822.

From the assets of his mother's estate, he acquired numerous castles in what is now Slovenia, some of which he soon sold again. His main residences were Haasberg Castle in Carniola (now Planina, Slovenia) and Gonobitz Castle (now Slovenske Konjice, Slovenia), which he acquired in 1826 and which also included the Seiz Carthusian monastery. For a short time he owned Žamberk Castle with Helvíkovice, Podsreda Castle in Kozje, Predjama Castle in 1846, and Wagensberg Castle (now Bogenšperk in Litija, Slovenia) in 1853.

Personal life

On 11 October 1812 at Vienna, Windisch-Graetz was married to Princess Maria Eleonore Karolina von Lobkowicz (1795–1876), a daughter of Joseph Franz Maximilian, 7th Prince of Lobkowicz and Princess Maria Karolina von Schwarzenberg (a daughter of Johann I, Prince of Schwarzenberg). Together, they were the parents of:

Prince Karl Vincenz Weriand Joseph Gabriel of Windisch-Graetz (1821–1859), who married his cousin, Princess Mathilde of Windisch-Graetz, daughter of Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, in 1857; he was killed at the Battle of Solferino during the Second Italian War of Independence.

Prince Hugo Alfred Adolf Philipp of Windisch-Graetz (1823–1904), who married Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a daughter of Paul Frederick, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Alexandrine of Prussia, in 1849. After her death in 1859, he married Princess Matilda Radziwill, the daughter of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Radziwill, 14th Duke of Nieśwież (eldest son of Prince Antoni Radziwiłł), and Princess Mathilde Christina of Clary-Aldringen, in 1867.

Princess Gabriele Marianne Caroline Aglae of Windisch-Graetz (1824–1917), who married Count Friedrich Wilhelm Edmund von Schönburg-Glauchau, a son of Count Heinrich Gottlob Otto Ernest von Schönburg-Glauchau, and Princess Marie Klementine von Schönburg-Waldenburg, in 1852.

Prince Ernst Ferdinand Weriand of Windisch-Graetz (1827–1918), who married Princess Camilla of Oettingen-Oettingen, a daughter of Prince Otto Carl of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg, and Countess Georgine of Königsegg-Aulendorf, in 1870.

Prince Robert Johann Joseph of Windisch-Graetz (1831–1913), who died unmarried.

Prince Weriand died at Haasberg Castle on 27 October 1867. As he was predeceased by his eldest son, who died without male issue, his second son, Hugo, became the 2nd Prince of Windisch-Graetz.

Descendants

Through his son Hugo, he was a grandfather of Hugo, 3rd Prince of Windisch-Graetz, who married Princess Christiane von Auersperg (a daughter of Prince Vincenz von Auersperg); Princess Alexandrine (wife of Count Rudolf von Khevenhüller-Metsch), Princess Olga (wife of Andreas Mocenigo), and Princess Marie (who married her first cousin, Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg); Prince Ernst Wilhelm; Princess Aloisia Maria Mathilde; and Princess Elisabeth Maria Mathilde.