 The second and eldest surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick @-@ Wolfenbüttel , Archduchess Maria Theresa was born early in the morning of 13 May 1717 , at the Hofburg Palace , Vienna , shortly after the death of her elder brother , Archduke Leopold , and was baptised on that same evening . The dowager empresses , her aunt Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick @-@ Lüneburg and grandmother Eleonor Magdalene of the Palatinate @-@ Neuburg , were her godmothers . Most descriptions of her baptism stress that the infant was carried ahead of her cousins , Maria Josepha and Maria Amalia , the daughters of Charles VI 's elder brother and predecessor , Joseph I , before the eyes of their mother , Wilhelmine Amalia . It was clear that Maria Theresa would outrank them , even though their grandfather , Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I , had his sons sign the Mutual Pact of Succession , which gave precedence to the daughters of the elder brother . Her father was the only surviving male member of the House of Habsburg and hoped for a son who would prevent the extinction of his dynasty and succeed him . Thus , the birth of Maria Theresa was a great disappointment to him and the people of Vienna ; Charles never managed to overcome this feeling . 
