HSH Marianne, Dowager Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, the doyenne of German and Austrian nobility, died on May 4, 2025, at her home in Munich. She was 105 years old.
The Austrian newspaper Krone reports that "no one captured the nobility and high society like Princess Marianne of Sayn-Wittgenstein Sayn, affectionately and appreciatively called 'Mamarazza' by her friends."
Princess Caroline gave her the nickname: "You're not a paparazzo, you're a mamarazzi."
The princess was born Baroness Maria Anna Mayr von Melnhof in Salzburg, Austria, on December 19, 1919. She was the eldest of nine children of Baron Froedrich Mayr von Melnhof and Countess Maria Anna von Meran. Princess Marianne was a descendant of Empress Maria Theresia of Austria through her mother.
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While studying at the Blocherer Art School in Munich, Princess Marianne met her future husband, HSH Hereditary Prince Ludwig Stanislaw Heinrich of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. They married at Schloss Glanegg on March 12, 1942. Since 1896, Schloss Glanegg has been owned by the Mayr von Melnhof family.
Ludwig succeeded his father, Gustav Alexander, in 1953 as the 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.
Princess Marianne became a widow with five young children when Ludwig, at age 45, was killed by a drunk driver outside Schloss Sayn on January 9, 1961. After hr husband's untimely death, she returned to Salzburg where she inaugurated an annual arts festival. Her hunting lodge in Fuschl am See evolved into a "social hub" during the Salzburg Festival, where a "private 'country lunch' quickly developed into an unofficial meeting place for the nobility, artists, and international celebrities."
The couple's eldest son, Hereditary Prince Alexander Konrad Friedrich Heinrich, was only 17 when he inherited the family estate and position as the 7th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.
The Dowager Princess is survived by four of her five children: HSH Princess Yvonne, HSH Prince Alexander, HSH Princess Teresa, Countess von Kageneck, and HSH Prince Peter, with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Her second daughter, HSH Princess Elisabeth, Baroness Schuler von Senden, died in 1997.
Princess Marianne took over 300,000 photographs of celebrities and royals, including the Aga Khan and King Charles III.
She lived in an apartment in Munich, where she was cared for 24 hours a day.
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In December, when she celebrated her 105th birthday, her youngest son, Prince Peter, told a reporter: "My mother was always vain and placed great importance on her appearance. My mother would never wear a tracksuit or even a nightgown during the day when guests came."
According to the Kurier, an Austrian newspaper, the Princess will be " remembered as a hostess of legendary parties and a noble observer of high society."
The late Marianne, Dowager Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, said of her work as a photographer: “I always photographed my friends as friends.”
1 comment:
R.i.p.
Her parents had 10 children.
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