Eleonora Amálie: the vampire princess from Český Krumlov?

Much has been written about vampires. Just think of how many movies have been made about Dracula. However, it is not so long ago that graves were found in Český Krumlov, which threw Princess Eleonora into this huge bucket of gossip and myths, who came to be called "the vampire princess"...

Princess Eleonora Amalie von Schwarzenberg was born on 20 June 1682 in Mělník as the thirteenth and last child of Ferdinand Augustus Lobkowitz, a Baroque nobleman. In 1810 she became the governess of the descendants of her deceased sister-in-law Pavlina von Schwarzenberg. Six years later, however, her sister Marie Karolína died and Eleonora took over the upbringing of their children. At the time, when she was still an unmarried noblewoman, she had income from two ladies' noble foundations: The Noblewomen's Foundation in Essen and the Savoy House of Noblewomen in Vienna, which provided her with the necessary standard of living. Historians have almost no information about her childhood and adolescence. Only the diaries describing the last third of her life have survived. She spent it in marriage with Adam Franz, who in 1719 inherited the vast Eggenberg estate and the Duchy of Krumlov from his aunt Maria Arnoštka. Thirteen years later, however, the influential nobleman died and his wife Eleonora Amalie became the administrator of the estate.

This important milestone in the life of this wealthy princess may have been one of the reasons why she became the target of gossip. As an influential woman, she was well known to the public and this often became a fertile field for various superstitions and myths. To make matters worse, during excavations in Český Krumlov, workers found a mysterious burial site. Among the remains were three skeletons bearing the marks of an anti-vampire ritual: a stone in the mouth, a pierced chest and the head separated from the torso. All the deceased died between 1730 and 1740. And the 18th century is a time completely overwhelmed by vampirism. Dubious scientists with even more dubious theories, vampire hunts are the order of the day. In addition, the public learns of two documented vampire attacks. The first case involves a Serbian, Peter Plogojović, who died in 1721. However, he is said to have been starving in his grave and therefore went on a hunt. He takes his neighbours for a snack. The second is also a Serbian Arnol also neighbours. Adding fuel to the fire is the then very well-known and respected French theologian Antoine Augustin Calmet, who believes both stories. Maria Theresa herself is unhappy about the whole hysteria and sends her personal physician Gerhard van Swietan to investigate the situation thoroughly. He eventually declares that there are no vampires. Maria Theresa finally has a compelling reason to issue an edict banning the opening of graves and the desecration of bodies. This ends the senseless hysteria that has been rocking the entire Habsburg monarchy.

But people also noticed another disturbing and even more unusual thing about Princess Eleonora. During her marriage to Adam Francis, she gave birth to a daughter, Maria Anna. But then she tried to get pregnant again. She had two miscarriages and did not give birth to Joseph Adam's heir until she was in her forties, which people found strange to say the least. The most vicious rumours of a connection with the devil or that Eleonora was a vampire princess were circulating in the castle. Her great popularity was hunting and similar social events where the social elite of the time met. She was an excellent markswoman, as evidenced by numerous trophies at the Hluboká and Vimperk castles. However, she did not shoot wolves as a matter of principle. She believed in the legend of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, who were fed on wolf's milk. According to the superstition, this increased fertility, so Eleonora Amalia kept a pack of wolves at the castle in Český Krumlov to drink their milk. However, this was not very happy, as people associated wolves with the devil himself.

The death of the princess herself eventually raised questions. She died shortly after giving birth to her son in 1741. Her slow death aroused suspicions that she herself had fallen victim to a vampire. However, an autopsy revealed that she had a tumour in her pelvis and metastases in her lungs. This caused enormous colicky pain, anemia and a huge drop in weight. The doctors' marked interest in the corpse, however, has given rise to further conjecture, which probably accounts for the fact that Eleonora is not buried in Vienna next to her husband. Her remains were deposited in the Chapel of St. John of Nepomuk at the Church of St. Vitus in Český Krumlov.The granite tombstone bears the princely crown, a skull and crossbones and the inscription. BITTET FUR SIE. OBIJT DIE 5. May 1741. ('Here lies the poor sinner Eleonora. Pray for her."). Incidentally, the chapel also contains the heart of her dead husband. The body, as already mentioned, was buried in Vienna. However, camera research on Eleonora's tomb did not find anything extraordinary. This was a completely classical burial practice in the 18th century. The Princess Vampire was the subject of an Austrian documentary based on her life story, which even claims that she was the original subject of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.

http://www.dobravodaucb.cz/
http://www.ff.jcu.cz/
http://magiaposthuma.blogspot.com/
http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/
http://www.e-stredovek.cz/
http://hrobky.info/

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