Countess Marie Larisch von Moennich was born as Marie Louise Elizabeth Mendel on 24 February 1858 as the illegitimate daughter of Duke Ludwig Wilhelm in Bavaria and the actress Henriette Mendel. When Henriette fell pregnant for the second time, she and Ludwig Wilhelm contracted a morganatic marriage. They were married on 28 May 1859, shortly after Ludwig Wilhelm officially renounced any succession rights. Henriette was created Baroness von Wallersee by the King of Bavaria shortly before the wedding, making Marie a Baroness von Wallersee as well.
Her aunt, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, would later befriend the young Marie, and at the age of 16, Elisabeth took her under her wing and invited her to court. Young Marie had been all too willing to flirt with her young cousin Rudolf, and perhaps to put an end to Marie’s ambitions, Elisabeth arranged her marriage to Count Georg Larisch von Moennich. Unfortunately, the marriage was soon off to a bad start, and the couple was horribly mismatched. They went to live mainly at Castle Pardubitz, where Marie gave birth to her first two children: Franz-Joseph in 1878 and Marie Valerie in 1879.
Marie is perhaps best remembered in history for the role she played in the tragedy at Mayerling. Marie, close as she was to the Imperial Family, knew where the skeletons were buried, and after gambling away her husband’s small fortune, she used this as leverage. Eager to keep his cousin quiet, Rudolf often paid off her debts. Nevertheless, in this sordid arrangement, Marie also found herself introducing her cousin to new lovers. Marie knew Baroness Helene Vetsera and her family well – she had even embarked on an affair with Helene’s brother Heinrich, as his regiment was conveniently stationed near the Larisch estate. Two of her children, Marie Henriette (born 1884) and Heinrich Georg (born 1886), were likely fathered by him rather than her husband.
Helene had once been Rudolf’s lover; now it seemed that her daughter was to take her place, and Marie was to facilitate this. It was only after the tragedy had happened that Marie claimed that Mary had sought out Rudolf on her own and that the relationship had surprised her. It all began in the spring of 1888. Marie would collect the 17-year-old Mary from her mother’s residence every few days, ostentatiously to take her shopping or to the Prater, but they always ended up with Rudolf. As the relationship continued, Mary and Rudolf became less discrete. Even Marie found it distasteful and told her, “I think you display very questionable taste in flaunting yourself.”1
The end came in the early hours of 30 January. Crown Prince Rudolf had first shot and killed Mary before turning the gun on himself. The court immediately went into damage control mode, and many letters, including to and from Marie, were taken. Despite the precautions, the rumour that Rudolf had killed himself and Mary was soon circulating, and Marie could do nothing but worry. On 5 February, a group of officials came to question her at her hotel suite. She tried to deny everything, but her letters had already been located. When Marie later went to see her aunt, Empress Elisabeth, she was turned away, and Elisabeth never spoke to Marie again. Marie was forbidden from ever appearing at court again. Marie later wrote that Elisabeth “made use of me, and she threw me aside without a regret.”2
Now a social pariah, Marie also abandoned her lover and transferred her affections to Karl-Ernst von Otto-Kreckwitz and gave birth to his son Friedrich Karl in 1894. Without her connections to the Imperial court, her husband soon saw no use for Marie, and they divorced in 1896. Just one year later, Marie left Karl-Ernst and married a musician named Otto Brucks. He became an alcoholic. With her money running out, Marie decided to cash in by writing about her Imperial relatives. Marie was widowed in 1914.
In 1924, she married for a third time to an American doctor. The marriage was miserable, and she worked as a maid in New Jersey before eventually returning to Germany. She died there on 4 July 1940 at the age of 82 – impoverished. She was buried in the Ostfriedhof in Munich beside her father and her son Friedrich Karl.
Her grave was unmarked for many years, and it only received the simple wooden cross with her name on it in 2012.
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