Maria Christina of Austria and Prince Albert of Saxony, Duke of Teschen were married on 8 April 1766. It was one of the very rare Habsburg unions based on mutual affection and consent.
Maria Christina was the second surviving daughter of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa, and — much to the resentment of her siblings — the Empress’s undisputed favourite. So much so that she did not force her daughter into a political marriage, but was willing to accept her own choice: one of the younger sons of the Elector of Saxony.
True, the young couple had to wait several years for their wedding, as the Emperor considered Albert of too humble a rank for a Habsburg Archduchess. Even Maria Theresa could not change her husband’s mind. Only Francis Stephan’s unexpected death in August 1765 removed that obstacle.
Their union proved happy and harmonious, although it did not produce surviving children (their only daughter lived for just one day). Albert was an avid art enthusiast and housed his large collection in their palace in Vienna. Today it forms the core of the Albertina, home to a world-famous collection. On behalf of the dynasty, Albert served as Governor of Hungary and, from 1780, as Governor of the Netherlands — a post he held until the outbreak of the French Revolution. In the absence of children of their own, Maria Christina and Albert adopted Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen, one of the younger sons of her brother Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor.
Maria Christina died in 1798. Albert commemorated his wife with a splendid monument in the Augustinian Church. He survived her by twenty-four years but never remarried.
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