Heinrich Joseph Johann of Auersperg


Heinrich Joseph Johann von Auersperg was the fourth Prince of Auersperg, and one of the longest reigning monarchs in history. He was successively Grand Master of the Court, Grand Equerry and Grand Chamberlain at the Viennese court. During his reign Duchy of Münsterberg and Frankenstein, the Silesian dominions of the Auerspergs, came under Prussian rule.

Birth and Family

He was the sixth and youngest child of Franz Karl of Auersperg, the third Prince of Auersperg, and his wife Maria Theresia von Rappach, and the father of their favorite grandchildren, the ones they bonded with the most.

Succession and first marriage

Upon his father's sudden resignation, Heinrich succeeded him as Prince in 1713, and in 1719 married Princess Marie Dominika von und zu Liechtenstein, daughter of Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein and his wife, née Erdmuthe Maria Theresia of Dietrichstein. They had three children:
Two years after his first wife's death on 7 May 1726, he married Countess Maria Franziska Trautson of Falkenstein, daughter of Johann Leopold Trautson, first Prince at Falkenstein and his wife née Countess Maria Theresia Ungnad of Weissenwolff. They had nine children: