Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Death of a 105 year-old countess


Countess Isabelle von Loë died on Saturday at her home in Kevelauer, Germany. She was 105-years-old. Isabelle was born at Potsdam, Germany, on February 3, 1903, the eldest of four children of Emanuel, the Hereditary Prince of Salm-Salm, and his wife, the former Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria. Emanuel was killed in action in 1916 at the age of 44.
Isabelle had two younger sisters, Rosemary and Cäclie, and a younger brother, Nikolaus Leopold, who succeeded his grandfather as the Prince of Salm-Salm.
The Hereditary Prince of Salm-Salm was a Lieutenant in the Prussian Uhians, headed by Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany. Crown Princess Cecilie was a close friend of Archduchess Maria Christina.
In 1925 at Anholt, Princess Isbaelle married Count Felix von Loë. Between 1926 and 1939, Isabelle gave birth to seven children: Fritz, Christine, Wessel, Elisabeth, Paula, Franz and Maria. In July 1944, Count Felix was killed in action in Russia. Isabelle never remarried. She raised her children at Schloss Wissen, which has been the von Loe family seat since 1629. (Today, the Schloss is the residence of Isabelle's grandson, Baron Raphael von Loë and his family. A part of the schloss has also been converted into a luxury hotel."
http://www.schloss-wissen.de/frmset.php?dbc=976862259ce670869b7962ab0828d777
Countess Isabelle is survived by her six of her seven children, 23 grandchildren, and, at least, 65 great-grandchildren.

The photo shows a young Isabelle (before World War I) with her younger sister, Rosemary (1904-2001). Princess Rosemary married Archduke Hubert Salvator of Austria.

The von Loës were also Habsburg descendants through Archduchess Leopoldina of Austria (1776-1848) who married Ludwig, Count Arco, in 1804. In 1854, their granddaughter, Countess Theresia von Arco-Zinneberg, (1835-1906) married Maximilian, Count von Loë. The von Loe title passed to their second son, Friedrich Leopold, who married Countess Paula von Korff gen. Schmising. The first world war nearly decimated their family, as the couple's three sons, Degenhard-Bertram, Klemens and Felix, were all killed in battle. The two elder sons were killed during the first world war. Degenhard-Bertram had succeeded his father as Count in 1899, and following his death in action, the von Loë title passed to Felix (Klemens had been killed in 1914).
Baron Raphael, who is the eldest son of Count Fritz, is the heir apparent to the von Loë title.

Here is a link to Isabelle's obituary (in German):
http://www.derwesten.de/nachrichten/nrz/niederrhein/2009/1/14/news-105078127/detail.html

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very interesting to read! Living to 105 is rare alone, but being of royal and noble family in addition must be almost one of a kind!

Toril