Christoph von Wydenbruck

Count Christoph Anton Maria von Wydenbruck (5 February 1856 – 4 October 1917), was an Austrian diplomat.

Christoph von Wydenbruck
Count of Wydenbruck-Loë
Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Spain
In office
1911–1913
MonarchFranz Joseph I
Preceded byRudolf von Welserheimb
Succeeded byHans von Wagner
(as Envoy)
Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the Netherlands
In office
1908–1911
MonarchFranz Joseph I
Preceded byOtto zu Brandis
Succeeded byKarl von Giskra
Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Denmark
In office
1889–1907
MonarchFranz Joseph I
Preceded byKonstantin von Trauttenberg
Succeeded byIván von Rubido-Zichy
(as Charge d'Affaires)
Personal details
Born(1856-02-05)5 February 1856
Vienna, Austria
Died4 October 1917(1917-10-04) (aged 61)
Reichenhall, Upper Bavaria
Spouse
Countess Marie Fugger von Babenhausen
(m. 1880; died 1917)
RelationsHermynia Zur Mühlen (niece)
Georg, 6th Prince Fugger von Babenhausen (nephew)
Parent(s)Ferdinand von Wydenbruck
Isabella Blacker

Early life

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Study for a portrait of his sister-in-law, Countess Maria Esterházy, by Philip de László
 
Coat of arms of the Counts of Wydenbruck-Loë

Count von Wydenbruck was born on 5 February 1856 in Vienna, Austria. He was the eldest son of diplomat Count Ferdinand von Wydenbruck and Isabella (née Blacker). Among his siblings were Count August von Wydenbruck (who married Countess Maria Esterházy de Galántha) and Countess Isabella von Wydenbruck (who married Count Folliot de Crenneville-Poutet, parents of writer Hermynia Zur Mühlen).[1]

His paternal grandparents were Baron Franz von Wydenbruck-Loë and Alexandrina Arrazola de Oñate.[2] His maternal grandparents were Lt.-Col. St John Blacker, a member of the Anglo-Irish gentry, and Anne Hammond Morgan (only child of Sir Thomas Charles Morgan). After his grandfather's death in 1842, his grandmother married Hon. George Augustus Browne (a younger son of the 2nd Barone Kilmaine).[3]

While his father was the Austro-Hungarian Envoy in Washington, D.C. from 1865 to 1867,[4] Wydenbruck attended school in the United States.[5]

Career

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During the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I, he served as an Austro-Hungarian diplomat. After serving in minor positions in London, he was appointed Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Japan,[6] then from 1889 to 1907 he was the Ambassador to Denmark, followed by Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1908 to 1911, and Ambassador to Spain from 1911 to 1913.[7][8]

Personal life

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On 25 July 1880 at Meiselberg Castle, Count von Wydenbruck married Countess Marie Franziska Fugger von Babenhausen (b. 1858), only daughter of Countess Friederike von Christalnigg von und zu Gillitzstein and Karl, 4th Prince Fugger von Babenhausen. Her brother, Karl, 5th Prince Fugger von Babenhausen, was married to Princess Eleonora of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein. Together, Christoph and Marie were the parents of:

Count von Wydenbruck died on 4 October 1917 at Reichenhall, a spa town in Upper Bavaria. In 1919, his widow acquired Meiselberg Castle from her mother's family. It passed to their daughter, Helene, Countess Desfours. In 1941, Helene left it to her cousin, Maria Theresia Fugger von Babenhausen (wife of Prince Heinrich von Hanau-Horowitz, a grandson of Frederick William, Elector of Hesse).[11]

References

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  1. ^ Wydenbruck, Ferdinand Freiherr von (1861). Urkundlicher Beitrag zur Geschichte des westphälischen Adels. Frei-Edelherren von Wydenbruck, Gaugrafen zu Wydenbruck (in German). Mechitaristen. p. 7. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  2. ^ Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der freiherrlichen Häuser: zugleich Adelsmatrikel der im Ehrenschutzbunde des Deutschen Adels vereinigten Verbande (in German). Julius Perthes. 1860. p. 98. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  3. ^ Lodge, Edmund (1873). The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing. Hurst and Blackett. p. 327. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  4. ^ "WASHINGTON NEWS.; Progress of the Trial of Miss Harris. The Remarks of Judge Wylie to the Jury. Addresses of Counsel for the Prosecution and for the Defence.Elaborate Statements and Arguments in the Case.Revenue and Other Matters at the NationalCapital. COUNSEL FOR JEFF. DAVIS. RECONSTRUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA". The New York Times. 19 July 1865. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  5. ^ Mühlen, Hermynia Zur (2010). The End and the Beginning: The Book of My Life. Open Book Publishers. p. 169. ISBN 978-1-906924-27-0. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  6. ^ Satow, Ernest Mason (2010). The Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, British Minister in Tokyo (1895–1900): A Diplomat Returns to Japan. Ian Ruxton. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-557-35372-9. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  7. ^ Mösslang, Markus; Riotte, Torsten (11 September 2008). The Diplomats' World: A Cultural History of Diplomacy, 1815–1914. OUP/German Historical Institute, London. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-19-954867-5. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  8. ^ Gossman, Lionel (2018). Gossman, Lionel (ed.). 6. Remembering Hermynia Zur Mühlen. doi:10.11647/obp.0140. ISBN 978-1-78374-554-8.
  9. ^ Lavant, Christine (13 September 2023). "Ich bin maßlos in allem": Biographisches (in German). Wallstein Verlag. p. 452. ISBN 978-3-8353-8577-1. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  10. ^ Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der gräflichen Häuser (in German). Justus Perthes. 1908. p. 216. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  11. ^ The Titled Nobility of Europe: An International Peerage, Or "Who's Who", of the Sovereigns, Princes and Nobles of Europe. Harrison & Sons. 1914. pp. 674–675. Retrieved 29 July 2024.