Martin van Meytens · Public domain
18th century · 1717–1780
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresia · Austria
Habsburg monarch
She inherited the lands of her father Charles VI in 1740 and ruled for 40 years, the only woman to rule the Habsburg monarchy in her own right. Frederick the Great of Prussia invaded as soon as she came to the throne; in the War of the Austrian Succession she held on to most of her territory, losing only Silesia and a few other lands. She raised 16 children while carrying out a long list of reforms.
Where the story happened
Places connected with this person
History · Schönbrunn Palace
The empress's wedding present
Schönbrunn was the Habsburgs' main summer palace. Maria Theresa rebuilt and enlarged the estate, which she had received on her marriage, into its present form in the 1740s and 1750s; she also ordered the Gloriette on the heights of the garden, to glorify Habsburg power. After the empire's fall in 1918 the palace passed to the Republic of Austria and was preserved as a museum, and it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1996.
Visit
