Princess Elisabeth Marie of Bavaria

On 2 November 1893 at Genoa, Italy, she married Otto Ludwig Philipp von Seefried auf Buttenheim, Freiherr zu Hagenbach (1870–1951), the only son of Ludwig von Seefried auf Buttenheim, Freiherr von Hagenbach (1846–1902) and Emilie von Schmaltz (1849–1921).^[2] Elisabeth and Otto eloped and married secretly, as they knew they would never be officially permitted to marry. Not only was Otto of much lower rank than Elisabeth, he was also a Protestant. In a letter announcing the marriage to his new parents-in-law, Otto stated that he and Elisabeth were so determined not to be parted that they had felt forced to choose between elopement and a mutual suicide.^[3]

Elisabeth's father, and especially her paternal grandfather, Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, were incensed upon being presented with this fait accompli. It took years for Elisabeth's relationship with her father to recover; their reconciliation was mostly due to the efforts of her mother, Gisela, and maternal grandfather, Emperor Franz Joseph. Both of the latter gave the couple their blessing after the marriage was announced, and Franz Joseph presented them with a palace near Vienna. He also appointed Otto a lieutenant of the 1st Regiment of Infantry at Troppau and raised him to the rank of Count in 1904.^[4] At the time of the elopement, Franz Joseph had written to his wife that while he was not happy about the marriage, he felt that Elisabeth had shown courage and strength of character.^[3]

The marriage proved to be a very happy one, and the couple had five children; the first, Gisela, died as a baby. In 1908, Count Seefried auf Buttenheim inherited Castle Buttenheim in Gresten, Lower Austria, which has remained the family seat to the present day.^[5]

• Countess Gisela von Seefried auf Buttenheim (4 January 1895 – 19 January 1895), who died as a baby.
• Countess Elisabeth von Seefried auf Buttenheim (10 June 1897 – 4 June 1975)
• Countess Auguste von Seefried auf Buttenheim (20 June 1899 – 21 January 1978), who married Prince Adalbert of Bavaria in 1919.
• Countess Marie Valerie von Seefried auf Buttenheim (1901–1972), who married Rudolph-Karl Baron von Stengal in 1923. They divorced and she married Wilhelm Otto von Riedemann, grandson of Wilhelm Anton von Riedemann, in 1935.
• Count Franz Joseph von Seefried auf Buttenheim, Freiherr zu Hagenbach (1904–1969), who married Gabrielle von Schnitzler, only daughter of Georg August Eduard von Schnitzler and Lilly Bertha Dorothea von Mallinckrodt, in 1941.^[6]

Her husband died on 5 September 1951 at Stiebar Palace in Gresten. Princess Elisabeth died aged 83 on 4 March 1957, and was buried at the cemetery in Gresten, Austria.^{[citation needed]}

Through her youngest son, she was the grandmother of Franz (b. 1942), who married Ruth Margaretha Schlumpf; Ferdinand (b. 1944), who married Monique Brouillet (b. 1950); Isabel (b. 1949), who married Count Martin Edmont Walter Karl Hoyos von Stichsenstein; and Johannes (b. 1959), who is unmarried.^[7]

• Die Wittelsbacher. Geschichte unserer Familie. Adalbert, Prinz von Bayern. Prestel Verlag, München, (1979). Prestel Verlag 2005 edition: 462 pages and 100 illustr. ISBN 978-3-7913-3505-6 .