Baroness Mary Vetsera
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Baroness Mary Vetsera (German language: Marie "Mary" Alexandrine Freiin[1] von Vetsera), (March 19, 1871–January 30, 1889) was Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria's mistress. She was the daughter of Baron Albin Vetsera, a diplomat in foreign service at the Austrian court, and his wife Baroness Helene Vetsera (née Helene Baltazzi).
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[edit] Mysterious violent death
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Mayerling Incident. (Discuss) |
The two lovers were found dead under mysterious circumstances at the Emperor Franz Joseph's hunting lodge — the incident is known as Mayerling, after the name of the lodge.
Facts are sketchy, and have been cluttered and fogged over the years. It has been said that she was killed by Crown Prince Rudolf, who then killed himself; that they both killed themselves; that they killed one another; that the two of them were murdered; and that she either was or was not pregnant at the time of her death.
Her body was spirited out of Mayerling and interred in the Cistercian monastery at Heiligenkreuz. Gerd Holler, in his (1980) book Mayerling: Die Lösung des Rätsels, tells that in the late spring of 1945, the Soviet artillery began shelling the Cistercian monastery in Heiligenkreuz where Mary Vetsera had been buried. A projectile of the Soviet long-range gun dislodged the granite plate covering the grave of Mary Vetsera. As a young physician stationed in Heiligenkreuz, Holler was called to examine Mary Vetsera's remains and to witness the reinterment. Dr. Holler carefully scrutinized Mary Vetsera's skull and other bones for traces of a penetration hole or other marks that could have been caused by a projectile, but there was no apparent damage to the skeleton.
His curiosity aroused, Dr. Holler waited for the Vatican archives to open. The Habsburgs, being a Catholic family, had to ask the Pope for dispensation in order to secure a Catholic funeral for their son who committed suicide. Upon the receipt of the request, the Pope dispatched his nuncio to Mayerling. After his return, the papal nuncio filed a detailed report about the incident that was filed in the Vatican archives. Based on his detailed search of the premises the nuncio reported that only one shot was fired. Helmut Flatzelsteiner later exhumed her body without permission; she was reinterred in her original grave in October 1993.[2]
The exact facts of the incident remain a mystery.
[edit] Portrayals in film, theatre and ballet
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Mayerling Incident. (Discuss) |
This story has been told in two feature films titled Mayerling: a 1936 French production starring Danielle Darrieux as Mary and Charles Boyer as Rudolph, and a 1968 American production in which Mary was portrayed by Catherine Deneuve, and Rudolph by Omar Sharif. There was also a 1954 television movie, directed by Anatole Litvak, with Audrey Hepburn as Mary and Mel Ferrer as Rudolph.
A 2007 Austrian television production starred Max von Thurn as the doomed Prince Rudolph.
Kenneth MacMillan made a ballet in 1978, Mayerling, in which Mary Vetsera is the starring ballerina's role, second in importance only to the role of Rudolph.
Rudolf is a musical that had its premiere at the Operett Színház in Budapest on May 26, 2006, where it plays winters in alternation with outdoor performences in Szeged during the summers.
The Illusionist is a 2006 feature film which is loosely built around the Mayerling Incident, with many coincidences with the history, but also distinct differences.
[edit] References
- ^ Note regarding personal names: Freiin is a title, translated as Baroness, not a first or middle name. The title is for the unmarried daughters of a Freiherr.
- ^ [1]
[edit] External links
Commons has media related to Baroness Mary Vetsera- The Vetsera Collection
