Countess Henrieta Hermína Rudolfína Ferdinanda Marie Antonie Anna Chotková of Chotkov and Vojnín – (known as Marie Henrieta Chotek or Marie-Henriette Chotek - Slovak: Mária Henrieta Choteková) - (1863–1946), also known as the countess of roses was a grower of roses, who established the rosarium of Dolná Krupá (Slovakia), The village of Dolná Krupá (German: Unter Krombach or Unter Krompach, Hungarian: Alsókorompa) is located in the Danubian Hills at the foot of the Little Carpathians in the Krupá River valley.

The development of the Dolná Krupá estate started when it entered in the possession of Michael II Brunswick (1671–1719) as he married Hungarian noblewoman, Margarethe Maria Theresia Vitalis de Vitalisfalva (1685-1747), the newlyweds choosing the property as their residence.

In 1749–1756, their son, Anton Brunswick (1718-1794), built the first baroque mansion, designed by the viennese architect Johann Baptist Martinelli.

[1] After Anton's death, in 1780, the estate was inherited by his younger son, Jozef Brunswick (1750–1827), who appointed architect Johann Joseph Thalherr to renovate the mansion, the works being carried out from 1782 to 1796.

In 1813 Jozef Brunswick asked architect Anton Pius Riegel to procure several old statues from Rome for the ornamentation of the mansion and of the park, in order to enhance its classical appearance.

At the same time, from 1813 to 1819, landscaping architect Christian Heinrich Nebbien created an English garden covering 100 hectares with many ponds.

[2][3][4] Are informaţii suplimentare Jozef Brunswick was a friend of composer Ludwig van Beethoven who was his guest at the Dolná Krupá mansion from 1797 - 1806.

A small building near the entrance to the park, called the ‘’Beethoven House’’ is claimed to be the place where the composer lived during his stay.

Well known rosarians such as Peter Lambert, Wilhelm Kordes, Hermann Kiese, Johannes Böttner und Rudolf Geschwind were proud of being her friends and appreciated not only her competence but her unselfish help.

Countess Chotek was an important member of the Verein Deutscher Rosenfreunde – VDR (Union of German Friends of Roses), which had been created in 1903.

[9] In 1910, after Rudolf Geschwind's death, countess Chotek acquired his entire collection of roses, thus ensuring the preservation of the genetic patrimony created by Geschwindt.

The Austro-Hungarian monarchy had ceased to exist, Unter Krompach was not called Alsókorompa but had taken the name of Dolná Krupá and the little village was now part of Czechoslovakia.

Also, rebuilding the rose garden required important investments and countess Marie Henrieta Chotek did not have the means in the difficult economic conditions after the war.

However, when Gustav Brada visited Dolná Krupá again, in 1927, he could assess that countess Marie Henrieta Chotek had succeeded in rebuilding a model rosarium, which, according to him, was an important attraction in Slovakia.

In 1934, at the inauguration of the rose garden on the Petřín Hill in Prague, professor Karl Domin had to concede: "The Dolná Krupá rosarium is far from what it was some time ago.

The cottage in which the countess was living in those days, called the "Swiss mansion", was completely demolished by the villagers who used the bricks as building materials to repair their own houses.

Countess Marie Henrieta Chotek, old, sick and completely destitute, had to rely on the charity of the villagers in order to survive.

[13] Countess Marie Henrieta was buried in the Chotek family mausoleum, located in the graveyard next to the parrish church of Dolná Krupá.

In the 1990s, German horticulturist Johannes Kalbus attempted to revive the tradition, by donating various precious rose cultivars to the Dolná Krupá domain.

[14] Several rosarians have dedicat their roses to Marie Henrieta Chotek: The cultivar created by Hermann Kiese in 1910 still survives and exists in the rosarium of Sangerhausen.