Princess Elsa of Liechtenstein

Elsa (born Elisabeth Sarolta von Gutmann; 6 January 1875 – 28 September 1947) was Princess of Liechtenstein from 1929 to 1938 as the wife of Prince Franz I of Liechtenstein.

Early life
Elisabeth (also known as Elsa) was born at Vienna, Austria-Hungary. She was the daughter of Wilhelm Isak Ritter von Gutmann and his second wife Ida. Her father was a Jewish businessman from Moravia. His coal mining and trading company, Gebrüder Gutmann, was in a leading position in the market dominated by the Habsburg monarchy. He and his brother were ennobled in 1878 by Emperor Franz Joseph I. They were made knights of the Order of the Iron Crown which simultaneously meant being given a hereditary knighthood. Between 1891 and 1892 he was president of the Vienna Israelite Community.

First marriage
In January 1899, she was baptised on the name Elisabeth Sarolta and became a Catholic. A few days later, on 1 February 1899, Elisabeth was married in Vienna to Hungarian Baron Géza Erős of Bethlenfalva (1866–1908). He died on 7 August 1908. They had no children.

Second marriage and Princess of Liechtenstein
In 1914, Elisabeth met the future Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein at a relief fund for soldiers. Prince Franz's brother Prince Johann II did not approve of this relationship. On 11 February 1929, Prince Franz succeeded his brother as Franz I, as his brother had died unmarried and childless. On 22 July 1929, Elisabeth and Franz I married at the small parish church of Lainz near Vienna and she became known as Princess Elsa. They had no children. The couple were the first prince and princess of Liechtenstein to make proper contact with the public through active representation and Princess Elsa was the first Princess of Liechtenstein in 70 years at that point.

As Princess of Liechtenstein, she became active within the population of the country. Under her initiative she founded the medical Prince Elsa Foundation and when a polio outbreak occurred in Vaduz in 1931 she obtained medicine from the United States from her own expense. She, along with her husband, spent most of their time in the royal estates in Austria, yet visited the country annually where they would visit sick people in hospitals and children in schools. As a result, she enjoyed relative popularity during her time as Princess.

However, Nazi groups started to emerge in Liechtenstein from 1933, primarily due to the rise of Nazi Germany and the introduction of anti-Jewish laws in the country, which caused Liechtenstein to experience a large Jewish immigration. As a result, there was continuing antisemitic agitation in Liechtenstein throughout the 1930s. Due to Princess Elsa being of Jewish relation, she became a target hostility from Nazi groups such as the Liechtenstein Homeland Service and later the German National Movement in Liechtenstein. Opponents also criticized her by falsely speculating that she wanted to succeed Franz I to the throne upon his death.

On 31 March 1938, Franz I made Franz Joseph his regent following the Anschluss of Austria. After making him regent they moved to Feldberg, Czechoslovakia and on 25 July, he died while at one of his family's castles, Castle Feldberg, and Franz Joseph formally succeeded him as the Prince of Liechtenstein. Although Franz stated that he had given the regency to Franz Joseph due to his old age it was speculated that he did not wish to remain in control of the principality if Nazi Germany were to invade, primarily because Princess Elsa's Jewish relations.

Later years
After the death of her husband in 1938, she lived at Semmering Pass, until the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany, when she went into exile in Switzerland, where she died at Vitznau on Lake Lucerne in 1947.

She was initially buried in Dux Chapel in Schaan, before being moved to St. Florian Cathedral in Vaduz in 1960.

Notes and sources

 * Wodianer Family
 * Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser, Reference: 1968