Princess Elisabeth Marie of Bavaria

Elisabeth was born in Munich, Bavaria, the first child of Prince Leopold of Bavaria and his wife Archduchess Gisela of Austria, a daughter of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She had one younger sister, Princess Auguste Maria of Bavaria, and two younger brothers, Prince Georg of Bavaria and Prince Konrad of Bavaria.

She married, 2 November 1893, at Genoa, Italy, Otto Ludwig Philipp von Seefried auf Buttenheim, (* 26. September 1870 in Bamberg; † 5. September 1951 at Stiebar Palace in Gresten), Freiherr zu Hagenbach. Elisabeth and Otto eloped and married secretly, as they knew they would never be officially permitted to marry. Not only was Otto of much lower rank than Elisabeth, he was also a Protestant. In a letter announcing the marriage to his new parents-in-law, Otto stated that he and Elisabeth were so determined not to be parted that they had felt forced to choose between elopement and mutual suicide.[1]

Elisabeth's father, and especially her grandfather, Prince Regent Luitpold, were incensed upon being presented with this fait accompli. It took years for Elisabeth's relationship with her father to recover; their reconciliation was mostly due to the efforts of her mother Gisela and grandfather, Emperor Franz Joseph. Both of the latter gave the couple their blessing after the marriage was announced, and Franz Joseph presented them with a palace near Vienna. He also appointed Otto a lieutenant of the 1st Regiment of Infantry at Troppau/Moravia and raised him to the rank of Count in 1904. At the time of the elopement, Franz Joseph had written to his wife that while he was not happy about the marriage, he felt that Elisabeth had shown courage and strength of character.[1]

The marriage proved to be a very happy one, and the couple had five children; the first, Gisela, died as a baby. In 1908, Count Seefried auf Buttenheim inherited the palace of Stiebar in Gresten, Lower Austria, which has remained the family seat to the present day.[2]

She died aged 83 in 1957, and was buried at the cemetery in Gresten.

Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (1886-1970) was Ambassador of the German Federal Republic in Spain 1952–1956. Married to Auguste von Seefried auf Buttenheim, daughter of Princess Elisabeth Marie of Bavaria.

• Countess Gisela von Seefried auf Buttenheim (b. January 1895 in Troppau; d. 1895 in Troppau)
• Countess Elisabeth von Seefried auf Buttenheim, born on 10 June 1897; died on 4 August 1975(1975-08-04) (aged 78)
• Countess Auguste von Seefried auf Buttenheim, born on 20 June 1899; died on 21 January 1978(1978-01-21) (aged 78); married 1919 Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (1886-1970).
• Countess Marie Valerie von Seefried auf Buttenheim, born on 20 August 1901; died on 23 March 1972(1972-03-23) (aged 70); married 1935 Wilhelm Otto von Riedemann (1903-1940), grandson of Wilhelm Anton von Riedemann.
• Count Franz Joseph von Seefried auf Buttenheim, Freiherr zu Hagenbach, born on 29 July 1904 in Rozsahegy, Hungary; died on 15 May 1969(1969-05-15) (aged 64), Madrid, Spain. He married, 9 August 1941, at Frankfurt am Main Gabrielle von Schnitzler, born at München, (1918-11-03) 3 November 1918, daughter of Dr. Georg von Schnitzler and Lilly von Mallinckrodt. They had four children:
  • Franz, (born in Frankfurt am Main, 1942).
  • Ferdinand, (born at Madrid, Spain).
  • Isabel, (born at Madrid, Spain).
  • Johannes, (born at Wien, Austria, 1959).

• Martha Schad: "Kaiserin Elisabeth und ihre Töchter", München (1997), ed. Langen-Müller, 147 pages, ISBN 3-7844-2665-4 / 143. ed. Piper, München (1999), 200 pages, ISBN 3-492-22857-7.
• Die Wittelsbacher. Geschichte unserer Familie. Adalbert, Prinz von Bayern. Prestel Verlag, München, (1979). Prestel Verlag 2005 edition: 462 pages and 100 illustr. ISBN 978-3-7913-3505-6 .