Gisela, Archduchess of Austria by Rudolf Krziwanek, ca. 1870s-80s
Archduchess Gisela of Austria, Royal Princess of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia or Princess Leopold of Bavaria (born Gisela Louise Marie on 12 July 1856 – 27 July 1932) was the second daughter and eldest surviving child of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Empress Elisabeth. Her German title was Gisela Louise Marie, Erzherzogin von Österreich, Prinzessin von Bayern.
On 20 April 1873, Gisela was married to Prince Leopold of Bavaria in Vienna. Prince Leopold was a son of Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria and Auguste Ferdinande of Austria and Gisela’s second cousin.
According to a letter to his mother written in 1872, Emperor Franz Josef wanted the match between his daughter and Prince Leopold, as there were so few Catholic princes available at that time. It seems he felt he had to secure the only viable candidate to whom he could give Gisela (whom he called “our darling girl” during the wedding rites) with confidence.
Gisela was made welcome in Munich by her husband’s family, and they lived in the Palais Leopold in Schwabing. The street opposite the Palais was renamed Giselastraße in her honor in 1873. A year after her wedding, Gisela gave birth to her first child Elisabeth Marie. She had four children in total.
source: Bildarchiv Austria
