Global InformationArchduchess Louise of Austria information
| Luise of Austria | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crown Princess of Saxony Countess of Montignoso | |||||
 Photograph, late 1890s | |||||
| Born | 2 September 1870 Salzburg, Austria-Hungary | ||||
| Died | 23 March 1947 (aged 76) Brussels, Belgium | ||||
| Spouse | Frederick Augustus III of Saxony
(m. 1891; div. 1903)Enrico Toselli
(m. 1907; div. 1912) | ||||
| Issue |
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| House | Habsburg-Lorraine | ||||
| Father | Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany | ||||
| Mother | Alice of Bourbon-Parma | ||||
Archduchess Louise of Austria (2 September 1870, in Salzburg – 23 March 1947, in Brussels) was by marriage Crown Princess of Saxony as the wife of the future King Frederick Augustus III.
Louise was born in Salzburg to the exiled Grand Duke of Tuscany and his second wife, Alice grew up in a relatively informal household. At the age of seventeen she began to attract suitors, but ended up choosing the crown prince of Saxony, Frederick Augustus, and they married in 1891.
Upon arriving in Dresden, she soon found herself despising the strict and overbearing rules of Saxon court life, which brought her into conflicts with her Wettin in-laws. However, Louise was not infertile and gave birth to six children in eleven years, five surviving, which increased her popularity among the Saxon people. Her unhappiness with her husband caused her to have affairs, and her father-in-law threatened to lock her up in an asylum. Whilst pregnant with her sixth child, Maria Alix, she fled Dresden to Lake Geneva, where her brother was meeting her. This scandal was extremely damaging to the Saxon royal family, since they were very devout Catholics.
The Saxon king dissolved their union in 1903 and a year later, she was barred from returning to Saxony. She first lived with her lover, giving birth to a daughter who was officially the daughter of Frederick, until late 1903 when they separated. In 1907, Louise married again to the Italian musician, Enrico Toselli but this union only produced one child and they divorced in 1912. Following this, she relied on the charity of her wealthy Habsburg family, but when Austria-Hungary collapsed in 1918 Louise lost this income and largely fell into poverty. She died as a flower seller in 1947.