Anton Prokesch from the east

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Count Anton Prokesch from the east
Graz, Elisabethstraße 38: former city palace Prokesch-Osten
the Prokesch-Ostens house in Athens, built 1836–1837, 2004

Anton Prokesch , from 1830 knight , from 1845 baron and from 1871 Count von Osten (born December 10, 1795 in Graz , † October 26, 1876 in Vienna ) was an Austrian general , diplomat and travel writer.

Life

Anton Prokesch came from a Moravian family, whose oldest known representative Franz Prokes lived as a trader in Groß-Seelowitz near Auspitz around 1700 . Prokesch, born in Graz in 1795, took part in the campaigns against France from 1813 to 1815. In Graz he was a guest in Marie Pachler-Koschak's salon . In 1818 he became an adjutant to Field Marshal Schwarzenberg . In the following years he was repeatedly used for missions in the Orient, in 1829 he succeeded in concluding an agreement with the Pasha of Akka for the benefit of the Christians in the Holy Land . In 1829 he was invested in the Jerusalem Church of the Holy Sepulcher as a knight in the Order of the Holy Sepulcher . In 1830 he was ennobled as a "Knight of the East". The title of nobility was intended to express the great merits that Prokesch had earned in the Levant .

From 1830 until his early death in 1832, Prokesch von Osten was the confidante and friend of the young Duke of Reichstadt , Napoleon's son , who lived at the Austrian court.

In 1831 he went to Bologna with the Austrian army as chief of the general staff . In 1833 he was involved in the mediation of a peace between the viceroy Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt and the Sultan Mahmud II in Cairo , he was accompanied by Ludwig von Kudriaffsky . From 1834 to 1849 he was envoy in Athens, where he was also active as President of the Church Administration Council of Catholics, and from 1849 to 1852 envoy in Berlin . In 1845 he was raised to the status of Austrian baron. In 1853 and 1854 Prokesch was then Federal President in Frankfurt am Main . By calling for the army to mobilize against Russia , he isolated Austria in the German Confederation during the Crimean War . Bismarck knew how to prevent this measure . After this defeat Prokesch lost his post and was appointed Internuntius in 1855 and Ambassador to Constantinople in 1867 . In 1863 he was promoted to Feldzeugmeister . When he left in 1871, he was raised to the rank of count. He was a member of the Berlin and Vienna Academy of Sciences and owned an excellent coin collection, which the Berlin Museum bought in 1875. Since 1863 he was an honorary member of the Greek Philological Society in Constantinople . His grave is a mausoleum built by Theophil von Hansen on the St. Leonhard Cemetery in Graz .

family

On November 25, 1832, he married the art-loving Irene Kiesewetter von Wiesenbrunn (born March 27, 1809 in Vienna, † July 7, 1872 in Graz), a daughter of the music researcher Raphael Georg Kiesewetter . She was an excellent pianist, friends with Franz Schubert and ran an influential salon in Graz.

With the death of their son Anton (“the younger”, born February 19, 1837 in Athens , † March 12, 1919 in Gmunden ), the counts of the Prokesch von Osten family died out. He was married to the actress Friederike Goßmann , with whom he lived in Gmunden in the "Villa Prokesch-Osten" and who developed important social and cultural activities in Gmunden. The latter had a daughter, Johanna, who later married the Austro-Hungarian colonel Viktor Freiherrn von Schleinitz (1865–1957) and had a son with him, Nikolaus Schleinitz-Prokesch (1895–1955), who embarked on a diplomatic career and whose descendants are still today continues.

Status surveys

  • Austrian knighthood with "from the east", awarded in Vienna on May 24th 1830 to Anton Prokesch, kk major, former envoy in Athens.
  • Austrian baron on February 1, 1845 for Anton Ritter Prokesch von Osten, kk major general.
  • Austrian count, awarded in Schönbrunn on November 3, 1871 to Anton Baron Prokesch von Osten, kk Privy Councilor and Feldzeugmeister , former ambassador to Constantinople (diploma February 6, 1872).

coat of arms

Coat of arms of Count Prokesch from the east (1871)
Coat of arms of Count Prokesch from the east (1871)
 Blazon : “Raised by six descending tips in the tip cut , divided by gold, inside a red Jerusalem cross (= reference to the Order of the Holy Sepulcher ), and blue, inside on a golden base a golden sphinx inward. Count's crown . Two crowned helmets: on the right with red and gold covers an ancient Egyptian griffin made of red granite with silver wings, in its paws holding a gold rod with the Austro-Hungarian war flag ; on the left a growing Minerva with a golden scale armor, Medusa shield and helmet with a black bush, in her right hand holding a lance with a brown shaft, silver tip and golden tassel. Shield holder: on the right an ancient Egyptian golden lion, on the left an ancient Egyptian griffin made of red granite. Motto: Ex Oriente Lux . "

Honor

In Graz the Prokesch-Osten-Gasse is named after him.

Fonts

Works in lifetime

  • 1823: About the campaign in 1814. Vienna
  • 1823: Memories from the life of Field Marshal Prince Carl zu Schwarzenberg . Vienna: Carl Schaumburg et Comp. ( archive ≈ Google )
    • New edition 1861: Memories from the life of Field Marshal Prince Carl zu Schwarzenberg. New edition . Vienna: Wilhelm Braumüller ( archive )
  • 1829–1831: Memories from Egypt and Asia Minor. Vienna: Carl Armbruster
  • 1831: The land between the cataracts of the Nile. With a map, determined astronomically and recorded in 1827. Vienna: Carl Gerold ( archive ≈ Google )
  • 1831: Journey to the Holy Land. In 1829. Vienna: Carl Gerold ( archive ≈ Google ), digitized
    • Danish edition 1839: Journey to the bright country . Christian Winther. Copenhagen: HC Klein ( archive )
  • 1836–1837: Memories and memories from the Orient, from the knight Prokesch von Osten. Edited by Ernst Münch from Jul. Schneller's estate. Stuttgart: Hallberger
  • 1842–1844: Small writings by Ritter Anton von Prokesch-Osten. Collected by a friend . Stuttgart: Hallberger
    • Volume I (1842): Military I. ( archive )
    • Volume II (1842): Military II. ( Archive ≈ Google )
    • Volume III (1842): Military III. ( archive ≈ Google )
    • Volume IV (1844): Biographical ( archive )
    • Volume V (1844): Art and Life. Literary ( archive ) ( color scan )
    • Volume VI (1844): Poems ( archive ) ( color scan )
    • Volume VII (1844): War of the Viceroy of Egypt Mohammed Ali's against the Sultan. In the years 1831–1833 ( archive )
  • 1867: History of the fall of the Greeks from the Turkish Empire in 1821 and the establishment of the Hellenic Kingdom. From a diplomatic standpoint. Vienna: Carl Gerold
    • Volume I (Text. Volume I) ( archive ≈ Google )
    • Volume II (Text. Volume II) ( archive ≈ Google )
    • Volume III (Supplements. Volume I) ( Google )
    • Volume IV (Supplements. Volume II) ( archive ≈ Google )
    • Volume V (Supplements. Volume III) ( archive ≈ Google )
    • Volume VI (Supplements. Volume IV) ( Google )
    • Greek edition in two volumes, Athens: 1868–1869 ( Hathitrust )
  • 1877: Mehmed Ali , Vice-King of Egypt. From my diary 1826–1841. Vienna: Wilhelm Braumüller ( archive ≈ Google )

Letters and documents from the estate

  • 1832: Letter to *** about the Duke of Reichstadt . Freiburg i. Br .: Herder ( digitized version )
  • 1834: Correspondence between Julius Schneller and his foster son Prokesch. Edited by Ernst Münch from papers left by Schneller . Leipzig - Stuttgart: J. Scheible ( Google )
  • 1878: My relationship with the Duke of Reichstadt. Two shipments to Italy. Autobiographical essays from the estate of Count Prokesch-Osten (...). Stuttgart: W. Spemann ( archive ≈ Google )
    • French edition 1878: Mes relations avec le duc de Reichstadt. Mémoire posthumous traduit de l'allemand . Paris: E. Plon et Cie. ( Hattitrust )
  • 1881: From the estate of Count Prokesch-Osten, Imperial Austrian Ambassador and Feldzeugmeister. Correspondence with Herr von Gentz ​​and Prince Metternich . 2 volumes. Vienna: Carl Gerold's Sohn (archive: Volume I - Volume II )
  • 1896: From the letters of Count Prokesch von Osten, Austro-Austrian Ambassador and Feldzeugmeister (1849–1855) . Vienna: Carl Gerold's son ( archive )
  • 1898: Correspondence between Archduke Johann Baptist of Austria and Count Anton v. Prokesch-Osten: together with excerpts from Archduke Johann's diary sheets about his stay in Athens in November 1837 . Stuttgart: A. Bonz
  • 1909: From the diaries of Count Prokesch von Osten, k. and k. austrian-hungary. Ambassador and Feldzeugmeister. 1830-1834 . Vienna. Christoph Reisser's Sons ( archive )

literature

  • Daniel Bertsch:  Prokesch from the east, Anton Graf. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-00201-6 , p. 739 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Daniel Bertsch: Anton Prokesch von Osten (1795–1876). An Austrian diplomat in Athens and at the Sublime Porte. Contributions to the perception of the Orient in Europe in the 19th century. Diss. Münster (Westphalia) 2002. Munich: Oldenbourg 2005 (= Southeast European works, 123). ISBN 3-486-57737-9 .
  • Franz Gall: Austrian heraldry. Handbook of coat of arms science. 2nd edition, Vienna 1992, p. 339.
  • Ariadni Moutafidou: “Count Anton Prokesch from the East: Philhellenism and the absolutist image of the state”. In: Evangelos Konstantinou (ed.): The image of Greece in the mirror of the peoples (17th to 20th century) . Peter Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 2008 (= Philhellenic Studies 14), pp. 203-218.
  • Muhammad as Sayyid Omar: Anton Prokesch-Osten. An Austrian diplomat in the Orient , Peter Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 1993.
  • Karl Peitler and Elisabeth Trinkl (eds.): Anton Prokesch from the east. Collector, scholar and mediator between cultures. Publications of the Institute for Archeology of the Karl-Franzens-University Graz 17th files of the International Symposium Graz, October 20-22, 2016. Graz 2019. ISBN 978-3-903179-21-9 .
  • Georg Pfligersdorffer: “And only hiking is my goal”. From the Greek travel and time pictures of Count Prokesch von Osten . Graz 1978.

Web links

Commons : Anton von Prokesch-Osten  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Daniel Bertsch: "Anton Prokesch von Osten (1795-1876): an Austrian diplomat in Athens and at the Sublime Porte: Contributions to the Perception of the Orient in Europe in the 19th Century", Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag 2005, page 554
  2. ↑ http://www.biographien.ac.at/oebl/oebl_P/Prokesch-Osten_Anton_1795_1876.xml
  3. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 18, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.viribus-unitis.co.at
  4. ^ Franz Gall : Austrian heraldry. Handbook of coat of arms science. 2nd edition Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 1992, p. 339, ISBN 3-205-05352-4 .
  5. ↑ a b Edited by the son Count Anton Prokesch von Osten, which is not noted on the title page, but only emerges from the foreword.
personal data
SURNAME Prokesch from the east, Anton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prokesch, Anton; Prokesch Ritter von Osten, Anton; Prokesch Freiherr von Osten, Anton; Prokesch Count of the East, Anton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian general, diplomat and travel writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1795
PLACE OF BIRTH Graz
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 1876
Place of death Vienna