Status: 24.09.2023, 07:09 a.m.
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Princess Maria Teresita of Saxony and her husband Beryl Alexandre de Saporta leave the Hofkirche after the wedding. © Sebastian Willnow/dpa
In 1999, Princess Maria Teresita was the first Wettin woman born in Dresden in a century. Now the princess has married in the former court church - and thus written family history again.
Dresden - Many times "Oui": Maria Teresita Princess of Saxony Duchess of Saxony married Comte (Count) Beryl Alexandre de Saporta from a French noble family in Dresden on Saturday. It was the first wedding of a princess of the former ruling Saxon princely and royal house in almost 140 years in the former residence.
The young couple, who live in Brussels, Belgium, were married in a multilingual service in the cathedral by a priest from Paris, a relative of the House of Habsburg. In front of around 450 guests, including visitors from the House of Habsburg and Bavaria, the two 24-year-olds said "Oui" to each other several times before exchanging rings.
International Fair
"Without the House of Wettin, this beautiful church would certainly not exist," said former Bishop Joachim Reinelt. "That's why it's fitting to get married here." The Mass was international and was also read in French, English, Spanish and Latin.
The Dresden Boys' Chapel filled the fully occupied nave with music, and soprano Laura Kirchgässner sang the "Ave Maria" after the wedding. Numerous onlookers joyfully welcomed the bride's father and his youngest as they drove up in a Rolls Royce vintage car - and the newlyweds as they left the church.
The bride is the only daughter of Alexander, a great-grandson of the last Saxon king, and Gisela Princess of Saxony Duchess of Saxony, a Bavarian princess. Her birth in 1999 was the first of a Wettin woman in Dresden after almost a century. She grew up with three older brothers between Germany and Mexico, where her father is also an entrepreneur for German companies.
Getting to know each other in Belgium
Comté de Saporta was born in Paris. He and the princess met in Belgium, where his sister was at boarding school with her. The couple works in the Count's family's Brussels-based company, a cybersecurity and web design company - and got engaged just over a year ago.
The last time Maria Josefa married was on 2 October 1886, a Wettin princess, Archduke Otto of Austria, in what was then the Catholic court church. They later became parents of the last emperor Charles I.
The Wettins, an ancient dynasty with far-reaching connections to European princely houses, ruled Saxony for a good 800 years, since 1806 as kings. The best-known representative was Elector Frederick Augustus I, called the Strong (1670-1733), who was also King of Poland for a time - and whose heart rests in the princely crypt of the cathedral, above sarcophagi of his descendants. Dpa
