Franziska von Hohenheim

Countess Franziska Theresia von Hohenheim (10 January 1748 in Adelmannsfelden – 1 January 1811 in Kirchheim unter Teck) was a German noblewoman. From birth she was a baroness von Bernerdin and from 1765 onwards Baroness Leutrum von Ertingen. She was the official mistress of Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg from 1772 to 1785, when she became his second wife. The marriage was morganatic until 1790, when she was allowed use of the dynastic title "Duchess of Württemberg".

She was the daughter of Freiherr Ludwig Wilhelm von Bernerdin zum Pernthurn and his wife Johanna (née Baroness von Vohenstein in Adelmannsfelden) - of this couple's 15 children, only Franziska and four of her sisters reached adulthood. Her family lived on the Sindlingen bei Herrenberg estate. At her parents' request, in 1765 Franziska married Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Leutrum von Ertingen. Once her husband had been appointed a chamberlain at the Württemberg court, they had to appear at court more often. In 1769, during a stay in Bad Wildbad, Franziska got to know Duke Charles Eugene better. After he separated from his long-term mistress, Catharina Bonafin, the baroness became his maitresse en titre in 1772. On 21 January 1774, at Charles' instigation, Franziska was made Imperial Countess von Hohenheim – she was subsequently promoted to "princess" by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II - and from then on bore the coat of arms of the extinct Bombaste von Hohenheim family. The Duke gave her the Garbenhof at Hohenheim on 10 January 1772 and she expanded it in the following decades into the Schloss Hohenheim, taking a particular interest in the creation of its Dörfle or English-style landscape garden from 1776 onwards.

Franziska's worldview was shaped by Protestant Pietistic ideas and so she felt guilty of the immoral nature of her relationship with the Duke. She divorced her husband in 1772 but the Catholic Charles Eugene could not annul his wife Elisabeth of Brandenburg. In autumn 1756 Elisabeth had gone to visit her mother in Bayreuth and refused to return. Charles agreed she would remain his duchess, which she did until her death in April 1780. After Elisabeth's death Charles and Franziska exchanged marriage vows on 10 July 1780. The Catholic Church did not, however, recognise Franziska's divorce and would not allow Charles to marry a Protestant. Also Franziska was not Charles' equal under Württemberg house law so any marriage would be morganatic.

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