Brunsvik (noble family)

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The Brunsvik family belonged to a Hungarian aristocratic family, best known for their friendly relations with Ludwig van Beethoven .

Ancestral coat of arms of the Brunsvik de Korompa family

Known by other names

Different spellings have become established: Brunswick, Brunswik, Brunszvik, Prunswick, etc. Over the centuries the family name has been written in around forty different spellings

history

The family came from Germany , originally from Braunschweig (old German Brunsvic ). You should then Kolberg in Pomerania , where since the 14th century as councilors or salt Junker for patricians belonged, in the 16th century after Stettin have come and Tobias Brunsvik (* ~ 1590 † ~ 1670), located in Freistadt an der Waag , first detectable in the Kingdom of Hungary . Between 1622 and 1625 he was called the "Aulicus" of the Palatine Stanislaus III. Thurzó mentioned. His grandson Michael II. Brunswick (* 1671, † 1719) was a hereditary kingdom postmaster to open barn ( ung . Galgóc) and secretary of the imperial commander (the Labanzen ) Fortress Leopold city and married in 1710 Margaret Theresa Vitalis of Vitalisfalva (* ~ 1685 † 1747), which brought the rule of Unterkrupa as a dowry into the marriage. Their son Anton I. (* 1709, † 1780) studied in Trnava law and was 1774 administrator of Esztergom County .

The Hungarian count came into the family through two surveys. On October 7, 1775, Emperor Joseph II elevated Imperial Court Councilor Anton I. Brunsvik (* 1709, † 1793) to the rank of count and he was allowed to use the nobility predicate 'de Korompa' in his name ( Hungarian version of Unterkrupa). He also received the Martonvásár rule as a fief . On November 8, 1796, Emperor Franz II granted his younger son Joseph (* 1750, † 1827) and the entire family the counts.

After the death of Anton I, the family property was divided between his two sons (by drawing lots) in 1783. Anton II (* 1746, † 1793) received the rule of Mártonvásár and the younger son Joseph (* 1750, † 1827) the property of Unterkrupa. Since Joseph died without a male heir (the only son died two years before his father) Joseph bequeathed the entire rule of Unterkrupa to his daughter Henriette. Henriette married Hermann Chotek von Chotkov and Vojnin (* 1786, † 1822) on January 22, 1813, the scion of an old Bohemian noble family. Through this marriage, the lordship of Unterkrupa passed into the possession of the Chotek family .

The old Fischplatz in Bratislava around 1900. The white two-story house in the center of the picture was the former Brunsvik Palace. The building was demolished in 1956. The entire square was destroyed in the course of the construction of a new Danube bridge, and almost all the houses were demolished.

Anton II (* 1746, † 1793) pursued a career similar to that of his father. After training at the Theresianum in Vienna and the University of Tyrnau, he entered the service of the Hungarian Court Chamber . In 1744 he married the former Bratislava court lady of Empress Maria Theresa , Elisabeth Freiin Wankel von Seeberg (* 1752, † 1830). He took an active part in the reform plans of Emperor Joseph II and in 1790 was appointed Chief Count of Bars County.

Count Géza sold the Mártonvásár rule to Archduke Joseph Karl Ludwig of Austria , who then sold this to the brewer Anton Dreher Junior in 1896 . The Dreher family used the Martonvásár Castle in the interwar period. After the Second World War , the family was expropriated and the castle came into state ownership.

Castle and park in Martonvásár, contemporary recording (2019)

The Counts of Brunsvik and Géza died out in the male line in 1899. Géza's older sister Maria (* 1832, † 1901) was the last family member to bear the name Brunsvik.

The lordship of Unterkrupa, managed by the Choteks, belonged to the newly founded Czecho-Slovakia from 1918 . The last heiress and resident of the castle was Marie Henriette Chotek . In 1945, when the Red Army marched in, large parts of the palace gardens were devastated. The former manor house was looted and the inventory stolen, the now elderly Marie Henriette was driven from the castle. Although she descended from an old Bohemian (Czech) noble family, she was supposed to be resettled “as a German” based on the Beneš decrees . In 1946 she died completely impoverished and lonely in a monastery in Unterkrupa and was buried in the town's Chotek mausoleum .

Lineage of the Counts of Brunsvik

Unterkrupa castle (state 2009)
  1. Michael (* 1671, † 1719) ⚭ 1710 Margarethe Theresia Vitalis de Vitalisfalva (* ~ 1685, † 1747)
    1. Eva Petronella (* 1711, † 1794) ⚭ 1728 Alexander Cséry de Sarkány
    2. Adalbert Siegmund (* 1714, † 1730)
    3. Alexander, theologian, Jesuit
    4. Anton (* 1709, † 1780) ⚭ Maria Anna Adelffy (* 1720, † 1771)
      1. Anton (* 1746, † 1793) ⚭ Anna Wankel von Seeberg (* 1752, † 1830)
        1. Marie Therese (* 1775, † 1861)
        2. Franz (* 1777, † 1849) ⚭ Sidonia Just von Neczpal (* 1801, † 1866)
          1. Maria (* 1832, † 1901)
          2. Géza (* 1834, † 1899) ⚭ I. in 1859 Countess Josepha von Deym (* 1836, † 1906); ⚭ II. Seraphine Siegl
            1. Gabriel (* 1861, † 1879)
            2. Gisella (* 1864, † 1881)
            3. Maria (* 1868, † 1879)
        3. Josephine (* 1779, † 1821) ⚭ I. Joseph von Deym (* 1752, † 1804); ⚭ II. Adam Ch. Von Stackelberg (* 1777, † 1841)
        4. Karoline (* 1782, † 1843) ⚭ 1805 Imre Graf Teleki (* 1782, † 1848) → Parents of women's rights activist Blanka Teleki (* 1806, † 1862)
      2. Joseph (* 1750, † 1827) ⚭ Maria Anna Majthényi de Kesselőkő (* 1769, † 1851)
        1. Julia (* 1786, † 1866) ⚭ March 19, 1805 András Forray (* 1780, † 1830), kk chamberlain and chief clan of the Csanád county
        2. unknown girl
        3. Joseph (* 1788, † 1825)
        4. Henriette (* 1789, † 1857) ⚭ 1813 Hermann Chotek (* 1786, † 1822) → Parents of Chamberlain Rudolf Chotek von Chotkow (* 1822, † 1903) and grandparents of Marie Henriette Chotek (* 1863, † 1946)
      3. Elisabeth ⚭ Joseph Finta
      4. Franciska ⚭ Paul Baron Révay de Szklabina et Blatnicza
      5. Susanna (* 1757, † 1813) ⚭ Franz Joseph Graf Guicciardi → Parents of Giulietta Guicciardi (* 1784, † 1856)
      6. Katharina ⚭ Karl Graf Dezasse de Petit Verneuille (* 1751, † 1787)
    5. Maria Petronella (* 1718, † 1775) ⚭ 1737 Andreas Ocskay de Ocska
    6. Franziska (* / †?) ⚭ Peter Bartakovics

Beethoven and the Brunsviks

Ludwig van Beethoven was on friendly terms with some members of the family. In the 1790s (~ 1799) the wife of Anton II. Brunsvik, Anna von Seeberg, was looking for a piano teacher for her two daughters Therese and Josephine and turned to Beethoven with this request. Beethoven refused at first because he was of the opinion that piano lessons should be given by those who cannot compose. When he got to know the girls, however, he was enthusiastic about them and accepted the offer. He was particularly taken with Josephine, as he discovered in her an extraordinary musical talent. Beethoven's enthusiasm for the two girls went so far that he even gave them free piano lessons. Beethoven developed a special inner relationship with Josephine in particular. Even today, Beethoven researchers suspect Josephine to be one of the protagonists of Beethoven's " Immortal Beloved ". However, it has not yet been possible to provide definitive proof of this.

At the invitation of the Brunswick family, Beethoven spent several summers on the estates in Martonvásar and Unterkrupa. Through the mediation of the two Brunsvik sisters, Beethoven also got to know Giulietta Guicciardi. In Unterkrupa he gave her piano lessons and dedicated the moonlight sonata to her , which he probably composed in Unterkrupa as well.

Known members and descendants of the Brunsvik family

Therese Brunsvik was the eldest daughter of Anton II and Anna Seeberg. She was incredibly talented musically. She was already playing the piano at the age of six and later had a beautiful alto voice that she used at castle performances. When she first met Beethoven, Therese had made a lasting impression on the pianist and composer, who was only five years older than him, with her piano skills. Therese, however, chose a different path in life by becoming a charity . She became a pioneer in education for women and young children in Hungary. She herself founded eleven kindergartens, a vocational school, a higher education institution for girls (in collaboration with her niece, Blanka Countess von Teleki) and a home economics school, and in 1836 founded an association for the establishment of kindergartens. Therese Brunswick remained unmarried and remained one of the most ardent admirers of Ludwig van Beethoven's music all her life.

Franz Brunsvik was a friend and later also a patron of Ludwig van Beethoven. Franz Brunsvik most likely got to know the composer through his two sisters. He soon became one of the composer's closest friends; both spoke on terms. Their friendship was particularly intense between the years 1806 and 1812. During this time Beethoven dedicated two of his most important piano works to the Count: the so-called Appassionata (first edition 1807) and the Fantasy in B major op. 77 (1810).

Josephine Brunsvik was one of the central women in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven. Many Beethoven researchers suspect Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved" in their person.

Giulietta Guicciardi was the daughter of Count Joseph Guicciardi and Countess Susanna Chotek (* 1757, † 1813). She was a piano student of Ludwig van Beethoven, to whom the composer dedicated the moonlight sonata. In 1803 she married Wenzel Robert von Gallenberg in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna .

Blanka Teleki was Therese Brunsvik's niece and was committed to women's rights throughout her life .

Rudolf Chotek was a large landowner and enthusiastic farmer. His mother was born in Brunsvik, which means that the Unterkrupa estate came into the possession of the Chotek family through marriage.

Marie Henriette Chotek was a famous rose breeder. She had a worldwide recognized rosarium in Unterkrupa and also planted some new varieties of roses. She was not married and died impoverished in a monastery in Unterkrupa.

literature

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ GHdA , Adelslexikon , Volume II, Volume 58 of the complete series, Limburg an der Lahn 1974, p. 80 f.
  2. ^ Alfred Anthony von Siegenfeld : Genealogical paperback of the aristocratic houses of Austria , Vienna 1905, p. 105. See also Michael Hecht: Patriciate education as a communicative process: the salt towns of Lüneburg, Halle and Werl in the late Middle Ages and early modern times , Cologne 2010, p. 155 f. (Family table on p. 156.)
  3. ↑ In other sources his first name is also given as "Thomas". However, it should be one and the same person.
  4. ↑ According to other sources, the year of death is given as 1780.
  5. ↑ in Deutsche Grafen-Haeuser ..., Vol. 2, p. 43f (see literature)
  6. ↑ The Dreher brewery owners were among the most important brewing dynasties in Europe .
  7. ↑ In some pedigree tables, Anton's year of birth is given as 1719.