Alfred von Neipperg

Alfred, Count von Neipperg (26 January 1807 – 16 November 1865) was a German soldier who married into the Württemberg royal family. He was the son of the Austrian general and statesman, Count Adam Albert von Neipperg, who was the second husband of Empress Marie Louise, eldest child of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and widow of Napoleon. From his father's marriage to Marie Louise, Alfred had three younger half-siblings, including William Albert, 1st Prince of Montenuovo.

Portrait of Count von Neipperg, by Natale Schiavoni

Early life

Portrait of his father and mother, and their children Alfred (left) and Ferdinand (right), by Giuseppe Lacedelli, 1810.

Neipperg was born on 26 January 1807 at Schwaigern in the Kingdom of Württemberg. He was the eldest son of Adam Albrecht Adrian, Count von Neipperg, and Theresia, Countess Pola di Treviso. After his mother's death, his father married Napoleon's widow, Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (a daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily).^[1] Among his full siblings was younger brother Count Erwin von Neipperg. From his father's second marriage, his half-siblings were Countess Albertine di Montenuovo and William Albert, 1st Prince of Montenuovo. His father served as Prime Minister of Duchy of Parma from 1823 to 1829.^[2]

His maternal grandparents were Count Antonio of Pola di Treviso and Countess Maria Antonia Floriana of Thurn-Valsassina. His paternal grandparents were Leopold Johann Nepomuk, Count von Neipperg, a diplomat famous for inventing a letter-copying machine (himself the son of Count Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg), and Countess Marie Wilhelmine von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg.^[2]

Career

After the death of his father, he became head of the Neipperg family. Upon his death in 1865, he was succeeded as head of the family by his brother, Count Erwin von Neipperg.^[2]

Personal life

Portrait of Princess Marie of Württemberg, later Countess Neipperg, by Johann Michael Holder, c. 1840

On 18 October 1835, he married Countess Giuseppina di Grisoni (1808–1837), a daughter of Francesco Grisoni and Maria Anna Catterina (née Pola) Grisoni.^[2][3]

On 19 March 1840, he married Princess Marie Friederike Charlotte of Württemberg (1816–1887).^[4] Princess Marie was a daughter of King William I of Württemberg and Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia (the fourth daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia and Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg).^[5] Reportedly, the marriage, was an unhappy one, as was his sister-in-law Sophie's marriage to King William III of the Netherlands.^[6] Marie's younger half-brother, Charles, became King in June 1864 following the death of her father.^[7]

Neipperg died on 16 November 1865, at age 58, at Winnenden, Germany.^[8]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Alfred von Neipperg

16. Eberhard Friedrich, Baron of Neipperg 8. Wilhelm Reinhard, Count of Neipperg 17. Margareta Lucretia von Hornberg 4. Leopold Joseph, Count of Neipperg 18. Count Franz Ferdinand von Khevenhüller-Frankenburg 9. Countess Maria Franziska Theresia von Khevenhüller-Frankenburg 19. Baroness Maria Theresia von Lubetich-Chapelot 2. Adam Albert, Count of Neipperg 20. Baron Wilhelm Franz von Hatzfeld 10. Count Karl Ferdinand von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg 21. Baroness Sophie Therese von Loë 5. Countess Marie Wilhelmine von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg 22. Baron Lothar Karl von Bettendorff 11. Baroness Marie Sophie von Bettendorff 23. Countess Marie Sophie von Stadion 1. Alfred, Count of Neipperg 24. Count Antonio IV Pola di Treviso 12. Count Orazio Paolo Pola di Treviso 25. Marchioness Aurelia Ippoliti di Gazoldo 6. Count Antonio Pola di Treviso 26. Count Rudolf di Colloredo 13. Countess Felicita di Colloredo 27. Countess Delia Maria Silvestri di Congoli 3. Countess Theresia Pola di Treviso 28. Count Raimondo Bonifacio von Thurn-Valsassina-Hofer 14. Count Johann Baptist von Thurn-Valsassina-Hofer 29. Paolina Clara dei Signori di Caporiacco 7. Countess Maria Antonia Floriana von Thurn-Valsassina 30. Count Johann Josef von Strassoldo 15. Countess Maria Cecilia von Strassoldo 31. Maria Cäcilia Anna von Gera

See also

• House of Württemberg