Adalbert Sternberg

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Adalbert Graf von Sternberg

Count Adalbert Sternberg (full name: Adalbert Wenceslaus Heinrich Leopold Maria Graf von Sternberg , Czech: Vojtěch Václav Sternberg ; born January 14, 1868 in Pohrlitz , † April 25, 1930 in Vienna ) was an Austro-Czechoslovak politician and publicist.

Life

Adalbert Sternberg came from the old Bohemian noble family of the Counts von Sternberg . His father Leopold Graf von Sternberg was a highly decorated general. After attending grammar school, Adalbert Sternberg also embarked on a military career and served in 1886 as a one-year volunteer with Dragoon Regiment No. 8 , and in 1888 he was "Lieutenant of the Reserve". After briefly studying economics at the University of Strasbourg , he made numerous trips through Western and Southern Europe , Asia Minor , Africa , North America , Afghanistan , India and Svalbard .

His passion for women, alcohol and gambling led to some duels . Due to gambling guilt, he attempted suicide at the age of 24. As a result, his officer rank was revoked and he was admitted to a clinic for the mentally ill in Graz ( Richard von Krafft-Ebing diagnosed “incurable moral defects”). In 1898 his military rank was rehabilitated. In 1899 he took part of belligerence on the part of Buren on the Boer War , after he was rejected by the British. Back in Europe, he published a much acclaimed book in which he reported in a euphoric tone about war and modern warfare.

After his return he began to be politically active. He was well connected, and one of his friends was the heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand . In 1904 he was elected to the Reichsrat as the successor to the late MP Jan Jaroš , where he quickly gained the reputation of being both an entertaining and angry speaker: On October 4, 1905, for example, he threatened the German national representative Karl Hermann Wolf with “a few slaps “And then threw a water glass at him. Another time he tried to prevent a vote by seizing the ballot box . Actions like these boosted his popularity and reputation as a rebellious representative. As a Czech MP he campaigned for a strong position for Bohemia within the monarchy . Politically, he stood on the principles of Catholicism , the crown and the military. However, this did not prevent him from criticizing representatives of the church, the nobility and the army. The “ court camarilla ” around the old emperor, for example, was considered to be the real culprit in the decline of the multinational empire. In 1907 he was re-elected to the Reichsrat. He also ran several times in the Bohemian and Moravian state elections , albeit unsuccessfully, although he went on election tours in an automobile following the American model.

When the First World War broke out , Sternberg shared the general euphoria of the war and - at the age of 47 - reported to the front, where he initially served as an orderly officer . At the age of 50, he completed his pilot training and did reconnaissance flights. He has received several awards for his successful work.

After the war, Adalbert Sternberg concentrated on his journalistic activities, he wrote books and articles in German and also in Czech , although he did not speak the language very well. He also published his own magazines, the “Tagesfragen” and “Sternberg's Halbmontatsschrift”.

After the end of the monarchy, Sternberg became Czechoslovak . When he was once again expelled from the country in 1925 as a "foreigner" because of his criticism of the young Republic of Austria , Anton Kuh called out to him at the train station:

"At least I ask that you, as one of the last Europeans in Vienna, discredit this state abroad to the best of your ability, and I congratulate you on leaving it."

- Anton Kuh

However, he was soon allowed to return to Austria. Adalbert Sternberg died on April 25, 1930 Sanatorium Fürth on a alcohol intoxication .

Works (excerpt)

  • My experiences and experiences in the Boeren War. Georg Reimer, Berlin 1901. Digitized online in the Internet Archive .
  • The bohemian question. Prague 1904.
  • The Barbarians of Morocco: Travel Studies. Wiener Verlag, Vienna 1908.
  • Radio Belief in God, a book for unbelievers. Publishing house for cultural policy, Berlin 1925.
  • Why Austria had to perish. Questions of the day, Giesshübel at Solmus in Bohemia 1927.
  • Edited by Hans Rochelt : Adalbert Graf Sternberg (1868–1930): from the memoirs of a conservative rebel. Löcker, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-85409-265-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Markus Grill: Enfant terrible of old Austria. In: Wiener Zeitung . October 21, 2018, accessed October 25, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Adalbert Sternberg died. In:  Neue Freie Presse , April 26, 1930, pp. 1–2 (online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp.
personal data
SURNAME Sternberg, Adalbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sternberg, Vojtěch Václav; Sternberg, Adalbert Wenzel Graf von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-Czech politician and publicist
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Pohrlitz , Moravia
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 1930
Place of death Vienna