Alfred of Montenuovo

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Alfred von Montenuovo in gala uniform for court batches, 1902
Palais Montenuovo Vienna Löwelstrasse 6
his country estate Schloss Margarethen am Moos in Lower Austria
Batthyány-Montenuovo mausoleum in Bóly

Prince Alfred von Montenuovo (born September 16, 1854 in Vienna ; † September 6, 1927 there ), the second prince from the Montenuovo family , who was morganatically related to the imperial family , was chief steward of the Austrian emperors Franz Joseph I and Karl I from 1909 to 1917 .

Life

Alfred von Montenuovo's father was Wilhelm Albrecht von Montenuovo , born Neipperg (historical spelling for Neuberg), then Count Montenuovo (Neuberg in Italian), raised to the hereditary prince's status in 1864 by his cousin Franz Joseph I. The father came from the morganatic marriage of Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria , the widow of the French Emperor Napoleon I Bonaparte, with Adam Albert von Neipperg , a member of the Franconian-Swabian Counts of Neipperg . Alfred von Montenuovo's mother was Juliana Johanna Marie Stephanie, née Countess Batthyány -Strattmann (born June 10, 1827 - November 19, 1871), who married his father on May 18, 1850 in Vienna.

Montenuovo studied law and history at the Universities of Heidelberg and Bonn .

Alfred von Montenuovo took part in the occupation of Bosnia by Austro-Hungarian troops in 1878 as an orderly officer . In 1896/97 he became the chief steward of Archduke Otto , the younger brother of Archduke heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este . In this position he tried in vain to thwart the succession to the throne for Franz Ferdinand, who was temporarily seriously ill, in favor of Otto.

In 1898 he was appointed by Franz Joseph I as the second chief steward alongside Prince Rudolf von Liechtenstein . Due to the illness-related absences of Liechtenstein, Montenuovo mostly took over his duties and was de facto first chief steward at that time.

According to the obituary in the Wiener Zeitung , Montenuovo was responsible for important building projects at the court, including adapting Schönbrunn Palace for year-round use (Franz Joseph I also spent the winters there in the last years of his life) and for building the Imperial and Royal Imperial Furniture Collection on Mariahilfer Strasse in Vienna, which still exists today as the Vienna Furniture Museum.

After Liechtenstein's death at the end of 1908, the now almost 80-year-old Emperor had him promoted to First Colonel in 1909. Under Montenuovo's direction, various administrative reforms were implemented at the court authorities for reasons of cost, as well as renovations and modernizations of residences and administrative buildings. His personal interests were in his country estate, Schloss Margarethen am Moos in Lower Austria, floriculture and court theaters; he sponsored Gustav Mahler as director of the court opera .

Montenuovo was the personal opponent of Archduke heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand; According to the Montenuovo obituary in the Viennese daily Neue Freie Presse , this was the only topic on which he could not keep his tongue in check.

The opposition was sensationally visible at the funeral of the heir to the throne and his wife Sophie Duchess von Hohenberg after the assassination attempt in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. The coffins of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were laid out in the chapel of the Vienna Hofburg for only two hours after they were transferred from Bosnia . Montenuovo had Sophie's coffin placed one step lower than that of the archduke heir to the throne in order to emphasize the difference in rank between the two even after her death. On the velvet cushion in front of Sophie's coffin lay a black fan and a pair of white gloves (symbolic of the ladies-in-waiting), none of her medals or other decorations. In front of the archduke's coffin were the emblems of his rank, archducal hat, general hat, saber and medal. After dark, the transfer to Artstetten Castle in Lower Austria took place without a military escort or a funeral parade by the Vienna city burial; the population nevertheless took part.

In the Viennese public, Obersthofmeister Prince Montenuovo was unpopular. He was ascribed great influence on Emperor Franz Joseph in the latter years of his life. In February 1917, three months after Franz Joseph's death, Montenuovo was dismissed from court service by Emperor Karl I in favor of Konrad zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst .

Montenuovo received numerous awards and promotions from Emperor Franz Joseph I. In 1896 he became a Privy Councilor , in 1900 holder of the Order of the Golden Fleece (the house order of the dynasty) and in 1908 he received the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stephen .

Montenuovo was married to Franziska Countess Kinsky since 1879 . The marriage had four children.

Since April 1919 ( Nobility Repeal Act ) his official name was simply Alfred Montenuovo. He died of a heart attack in his Viennese Palais Montenuovo at Löwelstrasse 6 in the city center. His body was transferred to Hungary and buried in the family crypt of Batthyany and Montenuovo in Bóly .

  1. Juliana von Montenuovo (1880 Margarethen am Moos Castle in Lower Austria – 1961 Munich) ∞ 1st marriage Vienna 1903 Dionys Maria Graf Draskovich von Trakostjan (1875–1909) and had 1 daughter, ∞ 2nd marriage 1914 Karl Fürst zu Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen -Wallerstein (1877-1930)
    1. Marita or Maria Countess Drašković von Trakošćan (1904 Vienna-1969 Bad Kreuth) married to Albrecht Duke of Bavaria (1905 Munich-1996 Berg Castle near Starnberg)
  2. Alfred Ferdinand von Montenuovo (1888 Margarethen am Moos Castle in Lower Austria - 1951 Szob (Hungary), privately 3rd and last Prince of Montenuovo) ∞ Ilona Solymosi de Loós and had the following children:
    1. Julia von Montenuovo (1930 Budapest - 2003 Vienna), co-heir of Margarethen am Moos Castle in Lower Austria ∞ since May 11, 1950 with Dr. 26 years older than him. Gyula Máthé (1904 in Törökkanizsa / today Novi Kneževac in Banat Vojvodina, Serbia † 1976 Vienna)
    2. Marie-Julie von Montenuovo (1931 Budapest -?) ∞ Robert Reithauser (1919 Budapest - 1989 Eisenstadt)
    3. Franziska von Montenuovo (1934 Budapest –1987) co-heir of the Margarethen am Moos Palace in Lower Austria ∞ Egon Nezsényi (1914 Mezőhegyes - NN)
  3. Franziska von Montenuovo (1893 Margarethen am Moos Castle in Lower Austria - 1972 Wels , buried in Kirchberg near Kremsmünster ) ∞ Leopold Prince von Lobkowicz (1888 Vienna - 1933 Kirchberg near Kremsmünster) and had 4 daughters
    1. Maria Julia Princess of Lobkowicz * February 25, 1919
    2. Amalie Princess of Lobkowicz * 1921
    3. Leopoldine Princess von Lobkowicz * November 14, 1926
    4. Pink Princess of Lobkowicz * 1929
  4. Marie Felizia von Montenuovo (1881 Margarethen am Moos Castle in Lower Austria-1954 Tegernsee) ∞ Franz Maria Graf von Ledebur -Wicheln (1877 Křemýž Castle in Ohníč (German Wohontsch) (Bohemia) -1954 Wallerstein Castle )
    1. Franziska von Ledebur-Wicheln (1912–2000)
    2. Johann von Ledebur-Wicheln (1916–1945)

reception

Karl Kraus addressed in his 1915 incurred and in 1918 published tragedy The Last Days of Mankind in the 3rd to the 9th scene of foreplay with Monte Nuovos Bureau Chief Councilor Nepal leak in the situation immediately after the assassination of heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and let the 6 and 7th scene Montenuovo appear briefly. The prince drives out an attending valet of the heir to the throne with the words you, see that you get on! None of you will find a job here, evap it, gschwind! and briefly instructs his office manager: That I won't see any of the Belvedere visages here! (The Belvedere Palace was Franz Ferdinand's residence and place of work.)

The memory of Montenuovo in the following generations was influenced by a portrait in Max Ophüls ' 1939 love film Von Mayerling nach Sarajevo , which traces the life of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. Here Montenuovo, played by Aimé Clariond, appears as an intriguer who tries to destroy the progressive heir to the throne, against whom he harbors personal grudges out of reactionary obstinacy and other aversion, with all sorts of intrigues and tries to destroy his love happiness.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Death news: Alfred Montenuovo. In:  Wiener Zeitung , September 8, 1927, p. 6 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz
  2. ↑ The former chief steward (prince) Montenuovo. In:  Neue Freie Presse , September 8, 1927, p. 7 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp
  3. ↑ Viktoria Luise of Prussia : In the stream of time. New edition 1985, Langen Müller Verlag, Munich / Vienna, ISBN 3-7844-2025-7 , p. 65; Friedrich Weissensteiner : Franz Ferdinand - The prevented ruler . Chapter The shots of Sarajevo . Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-215-04828-0 .
  4. ↑ Karl Kraus: The last days of mankind. Tragedy in five acts with prelude and epilogue , Verlag "Die Fackel", Vienna 1919, p. 16 ff.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Montenuovo, Alfred von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Montenuovo, Alfred Prince of (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian court official
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH September 6, 1927
Place of death Vienna