Prince Albert Casimir of Saxony, Duke of Teschen (11 July 1738 – 10 February 1822) was a Saxon prince from the House of Wettin who married into the Habsburg imperial family. He was noted as an art collector and founded the Albertina in Vienna, one of the largest and finest collections of old master prints and drawings in the world.
Biography
Coat of arms of Maria Christina of Austria and Albert Casimir of SaxonyPalace of Prince Albert, today houses his Albertina collection
Young Albert was specifically chosen by Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria to be her husband. This was a special favour granted by her mother, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, because marriages of imperial children were usually used for diplomatic purposes. Still, the betrothal and wedding had to wait until the death of her father, Emperor Francis I, and the wedding decorations were black because it occurred during the official mourning period after his death. From his father-in-law's estate, Albert received the territory of Teschen in Austrian Silesia and was accordingly given the title of Duke of Teschen.
The Silesian Duchy of Teschen had been inherited by Emperor Francis through his father's Gonzaga ancestry, as compensation for the lost Duchy of Montferrat, taken from them in favor of the dukes of Savoy. Archduchess Maria Christina, the daughter of Francis of Lorraine, received the duchy among her dowry. Prince Albert of Saxony thus became the Duke of Teschen, the only non-Habsburg to become such after the title passed into Habsburg control. Their only daughter;
Princess Maria Theresia Josepha Johanna Nepomucena of Saxony (b. Vienna, 16 May 1767 - d. Vienna, 17 May 1767) died in infancy[1]
Upon the death of the widowed Albert in 1822, Teschen was granted to their adopted son, Archduke Charles of Austria, who became Duke of Teschen and started the Habsburg-Lorraine branch of Dukes of Teschen.
In Vienna, a palace adjoining the Hofburg, originally designed by Emanuel Teles Silva-Tarouca, was enlarged for them by architect Louis Montoyer. That palace is today called the Albertina, after Albert, and houses the collection he started. Only two-thirds of his collection survives, because one of the cargo ships bringing it from Brussels sank en route. After his return to Vienna, he used as an advisor Adam von Bartsch, the Curator of the Imperial prints collection and the greatest prints scholar of his age.
After the early death of his wife in 1798 of typhus, Albert lived only for his art collection, which he bequeathed to his nephew and adopted son, Archduke Charles of Austria.
