Ernst Friedrich von Windisch-Graetz

Ernst Friedrich Imperial Count von Windisch-Graetz (born June 20, 1670 in Vienna , † September 6, 1727 in St. Peter in der Au ) was a statesman in the service of the Habsburgs and the Holy Roman Empire . Most recently he was President of the Reichshof Council .

Ernst Friedrich Imperial Count von Windisch-Graetz (Wortmann after Johann Gottfried Auerbach ).

family

He was the son of Gottlieb Amadeus von Windisch-Graetz . At the time of the son's birth, he was still a Protestant. But he converted to Catholicism. Most recently he was Reich Vice Chancellor . The mother was Countess Maria Eleonore von Oettingen . In 1699 he married Countess Maria Theresa Slawala , widowed Countess von Fünfkirchen. The marriage remained childless. Through the marriage, among other things, Červená Lhota Castle came into his possession. His second wife was Theresa Rosalia Countess von Roital , widowed Baroness von Fünfkirchen. The two children born out of the marriage died early.

Life

He entered the imperial service as Reichshofrat. In 1694 he was ambassador to Dresden . Between 1698 and 1699 he traveled to Modena on a diplomatic mission and was at the Reichstag in Regensburg in 1701/02 . Charles II of Spain accepted him into the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1700 . In the same year his inheritance as Oberstlandstallmeister was renewed by the emperor by means of a feudal letter. On behalf of Joseph I, he participated in the election of a coadjutor in the Archdiocese of Salzburg . Associated with this was the mandate to reconcile the archbishop and the cathedral chapter. After the death of Dominik Andreas I. von Kaunitz , the emperor proposed him for the post of Reich Vice Chancellor. This failed because of the objection of the Archbishop of Mainz in his capacity as Imperial Arch Chancellor . In 1710 Windisch-Graetz submitted the draft for the reform of the Reichshofrat and instructions for this body. In 1711 Windisch-Graetz was the empress mother's agent in the election of Charles VI as emperor .

Under this emperor he fell out of favor and lost his post in the secret conference and was kept away from all important state affairs. He lived a few years in seclusion on his property. In 1714 he became president of the Reichshofrat. He led the trial against the defamers of Eugene of Savoy , although he was not one of his supporters. From 1724 he was Minister of State and Conference. He was involved in all important consultations on domestic and foreign policy issues. In particular, he was an expert on the constitutional law of the Holy Roman Empire. He turned against the proposal of a marriage between the Spanish Infante Don Fernando and an Austrian Archduchess and the cession of the Austrian Netherlands and the Italian possessions as a dowry to Spain. Overall, together with Gundaker Thomas Starhemberg , he warned against too close ties to Spain. Because of a dispute, he challenged Reich Vice Chancellor Friedrich Karl von Schönborn-Buchheim to a duel.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Windisch-Grätz, Ernst Friedrich . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 57th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1889, p. 47 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Hans von Zwiedineck-Suedhorst:  Windisch-Graetz, Count Ernst Friedrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, p. 415.