Julie Guicciardi, as she was named by her family, was born in Przemyśl, Austrian Poland. Her parents were Count Franz Joseph Guicciardi and Countess Susanna von Brunswik. She arrived in Vienna with her parents from Trieste in June 1800, and her beauty caused her to be noticed by high society. She was soon engaged to Count von Gallenberg (1780–1839), an amateur composer, whom she married on 14 November 1803. Subsequently, they moved to Naples. She returned to Vienna in 1822. In later years, Count Hermann von Pückler-Muskau was among her admirers.