Princess Maria Anna of Saxe-Gessaphe Duchess of Saxony
Princess Maria Anna of Saxe-Gessaphe was born in Bad Wörishofen, Bavaria, Germany, on 13 December 1929.
Biography
She spent her early childhood in Bamberg, Germany. After completion of Wachwitz Castle in Dresden in 1936, the Margrave’s family moved to its homeland and lived there until the tragic night of bombing on 13 February 1945. Maria Anna had to experience how her ancestor’s site was devoured by the sea of flames. On 15 February 1945 at ca. 10.00 a.m. she saw from the balcony of Wachwitz Castle how the Church of our Lady collapsed. Having been expropriated for defence purposes by the Wehrmacht, the Wettins were forced to leave their home in one of the last trains, which departed from Dresden to the West. Maria Anna attended a catholic boarding school and was trained as a kindergarten teacher. In Munich she lived together with her elder sister Maria Josefa There she met Prince Roberto Alexander de Gessaphe, whom she married on 1 May 1952 in Paris. Together they had three sons:
Prince Alexander of Saxony Duke of Saxony (* 12 February 1953 in Munich), Head of the Royal House of Wettin, entrepreneur
Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Saxe-Gessaphe (* 5 October 1955 in Mexico City), interior designer, art expert and decorator
Prince Karl August of Saxe-Gessaphe (* 1 January 1958 in Mexico City), University Professor of Law
After their first son Prince Alexander was born in Munich in February 1953, she moved to Höfling Castle near Regensburg following an invitation of Prince Karl August of Thurn and Taxis. There she prepared the family’s moving to Mexico City. They travelled by ship from Le Havre to the harbour of New York, where the young family was welcomed by Prince Roberto. From there they travelled by rail to their new home in Mexico City. There, their sons, the Princes Friedrich Wilhelm and Karl August were born in 1955 and 1958. Many visits to Munich to see her parents and siblings followed. Princess Maria Anna devoted her time bringing up the children in the spirit of the Wettins’ tradition and history. After her husband Prince Roberto had died in 1978, she moved to Munich, where she died on 13 March 2012.
Parents
Prince Friedrich Christian of Saxony Duke of Saxony Margrave of Meissen (* 31 December 1893 in Dresden, † 9 August 1968 in Samedan, Switzerland). He married on 16 June 1923 in Regensburg
Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis
(* 15 December 1903 in Regensburg, † 22 October 1973 in Munich).
Brothers and sisters
Prince Maria Emanuel of Saxony Duke of Saxony
(* 31 January 1926 at Prüfening Castle (Bavaria),
† 23 July 2012 in La Tour, Switzerland)
Princess Maria Josefa of Saxony Duchess of Saxony (* 20 September 1928 in Bad Wörishofen)
Prince Albert Joseph Maria Franz Xaver of Saxony Duke of Saxony (* 30 November 1934 in Bamberg;
† 6 October 2012 in Munich)
Princess Mathilde Maria Josefa Anna Xaveria of Saxony Duchess of Saxony (* 17 January 1936 in Bamberg)