Esterházy

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Coat of arms of those of Esterházy de Galántha

Esterházy , in Hungarian Eszterházy , in Latin Estoras , is the name of an old, important Hungarian magnate family that had belonged to the aristocracy as an imperial ducal house since 1687 .

Family history

The origins of the Esterházy family

Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt, Burgenland (owned by the family since 1649 until today)
Esterházy Palace near Fertőd on Lake Neusiedl in Hungary (owned by the family from 1681 to 1945)

The origin of the family can be traced back to the 13th century. First mentioned in a document as the Zerház de Zerhásház family, the family name is supplemented in 1527 with the addition of “de Galantha ” after the country estate (acquired by marriage) . Galant (h) a is a place not far from Bratislava on the Little Danube (Slovak: Malý Dunaj) east of the city.

The three brothers Baron Nikolaus Esterházy (1582–1645), Baron Daniel Esterházy (1585–1654) and Baron Paul Esterházy (1587–1645) are the progenitors of the main lines of the Hungarian Esterházy family, namely Forchtenstein , Csesznek and Zvolen (Altsohl ), which are still flourishing today ). The Esterházy family received the Hungarian baron status in 1613.

  • Galanta Castle , Slovakia (owned by the family from 1421)

  • Forchtenstein Castle , Burgenland (owned by the family since 1622 until today)

From small nobility to magnate

Nikolaus Esterházy was the outstanding of the three brothers because he managed to turn the Hungarian noble family into a leading family of magnates through his strategic and diplomatic actions . The conversion of the previously Protestant family to Catholicism and the indispensable loyalty to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (in his function as King of Hungary ) laid the foundations for the family's extraordinary rise. In 1622 he received the Forchtenstein lordship including the title of count and the Eisenstadt lordship , both of which have remained in the family's possession to this day.

The threat from the Ottomans

For the emperor the Esterházy were an important military bulwark against the Turks in Hungary and all of Central Europe, since the family raised considerable contingents of soldiers at their own expense and motivated other Hungarian aristocrats to imitate them. Family members of the Esterházy family fought against the Turks again and again, especially in the 17th century.

In the Battle of Vezekény (Hungarian: Nagyvezekény , Slovak: Veľké Vozokany ) in 1652, four family members died, including the Majorate Count Ladislaus Esterházy (son of Palatine Nikolaus Esterházy) and his cousins ​​Franz, Thomas and Kaspar.

With Count Nikolaus and his son, who later became Prince Paul I Esterházy, two generations in a row held the position of Palatine , the deputy to the King of Hungary (who was also Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire).

Elevation to the prince's rank

1687 Count Paul Esterházy by Emperor Leopold I in gratitude for his efforts in the fight against the Turks as well as for its commitment in the Hungarian parliament for the conversion of Wahlkönigtums in a hereditary monarchy in the Fürstenstand levied.

Initially, the princely dignity only related to Paul I. It was not until 1712 that the first-born male Esterházy received the hereditary prince dignity, first of the Forchtenstein line, then by inheritance of the other lines. The Princely Line chose Eisenstadt as their headquarters and expanded an existing castle into a representative Prince's seat. Under Emperor Joseph II the title of prince was retained as a primogeniture and all male members of the princely line were given the title of prince.

Loyalty to the imperial family - consequences of secularization

Former monastery in Edelstetten , Bavaria (owned by the family since 1804 until today)

The Esterházys always stood with the imperial family in armed conflicts, from the Turkish threat to the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) to the Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815).

The familiarity of the family and the loyalty to the imperial family also opened up new opportunities for the Esterházys in the course of the territorial changes in Napoleonic Europe. Sun acquired Prince Nikolaus II. Esterházy de Galántha 1804 the recently secularized aristocratic convent Edelstetten in Krumbach (Bayern) for 28,000 guilders from Prince Charles Joseph de Ligne as a new imperial county to the rich immediate Regent seat and a vote in the Imperial Council of the Holy Roman Empire to received, which however went under in 1806. As a result, they rose to the German high nobility . After the transition to the Kingdom of Bavaria , which was created in 1806, the Esterházy signed up for this new judicial rule in the Bavarian aristocratic registers in 1813, but initially they did not take on the associated imperial council dignity due to their lack of indigenous status . Since then, the head of the house has held the title of Prince Esterhazy von Galantha, Prince Count zu Edelstetten, Count von Forchtenstein . He was an hereditary chief provost of Ödenburg County and a hereditary member of the Hungarian House of Lords. The later born bear the title Prince and Princess Esterhazy of Galantha , also with the title Your Highness . In addition to the princely main line, there are also the Count's branch lines Esterházy von Galantha .

Even during the revolution of 1848, the princely Esterházys in particular remained on the side of the Habsburgs. Prince Paul III Anton Esterházy , who had long been accredited as envoy of the Austrian Empire in London , resigned from his post as Hungarian minister in 1848, angry about the disloyal attitude of the Hungarians towards the Habsburgs. On June 18, 1812, he married Princess Marie-Theres von Thurn und Taxis in Regensburg . The marriage resulted in their son Nikolaus (* 1817), who, through marriage to Sarah Child-Villiers, a daughter of George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey , established the Esterházy family's direct relationship with one of the most important noble families in the United Kingdom.

The family today

The end of the Danube Monarchy also brought changes for the Esterházy family. With the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, the Esterházy estates suddenly found themselves in five different countries: Hungary , Czechoslovakia , Yugoslavia , Romania , Austria .

The economic archive material of the princely line is now in Forchtenstein Castle , while another part of the family archive has since been kept in the Hungarian State Archives in Budapest . The property in Hungary was expropriated by the communist government after 1947. Possession in Burgenland remained in private ownership and has been following the lifting Fideikommiss in Hungary in the 1930 's and Austria in October 1938 to the Heir V. Paul Esterházy transmitted.

The Second World War marked a major turning point in the life of the Esterházy family. Parts of the family fled from the Soviet occupation. Others, such as Count Moritz Esterházy (1881–1960), who was Prime Minister of Hungary in 1917, and then Prince Paul V. Esterházy, stayed in the country. Prince Paul V was sentenced in a show trial together with Cardinal József Mindszenty in 1948 by the communists to 15 years in solitary confinement. He managed to escape only during the Hungarian uprising in 1956. From 1948 onwards there were also show trials, prison and deportations for other family members, which were impressively described in books such as Greif and Rose by Hanna Molden and Harmonia Caelestis by Péter Esterházy .

Melinda Esterházy (Melinda Princess Esterházy de Galántha; * 1920, † 2014, née Ottrubay) was the widow of Prince Paul V. Esterházy, who died in 1989. After his death, the former entails ownership in Austria passed to them. In 1991 she brought these assets into Austrian private foundations to preserve the family inheritance. After Melinda Esterházy retired in 2002, her nephew Stefan Ottrubay took over the supervision of economic matters. Her husband's nephew, Anton II Esterházy de Galántha (* 1936), who is now the head of the house, felt that his powers were curtailed and slandered at the time. As a result, there were several reciprocal reports between Stefan Ottrubay and various bearers of the name Esterházy. Since then, Prince Anton II has only dealt with representative family affairs.

Counts branches

The Count's branches of the Esterházy family include the bishops Imre (1663–1745) and Karl (1725–1799), the Hungarian Prime Minister Moritz Esterházy de Galántha (1881–1960), the Slovak politician János Esterházy (1901–1957), the Hungarian writer Péter Esterházy (1950–2016) and the Austrian theater director Paul Esterházy (* 1955).

coat of arms

The family coat of arms shows a crowned golden griffin standing on a golden crown of leaves , in the right claw wielding a saber , in the left one holding three red roses on green stems. The griffin growing on the helmet with the blue and gold covers .

Known family members

Family tree of the Esterházy princes
Statue of Bishop Karl Eszterházy in front of the St. Stephen's Church in Pápa, which he built

Palaces and castles

Countless builders, architects and other artists were in the service of the family for centuries, who used their diligence and talent to develop splendor and made them known worldwide. Well over 60 castles, over 110 churches, several schools and boarding houses were built, spread over all states of the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy .

Hungary

Slovakia

Austria

Germany

Others

Promoter of music

The Esterházy family is also known for their cultural commitment, especially that of Princes Paul II Anton and in particular that of Nicholas I in the years 1761 to 1790. On behalf of the princes, Joseph Haydn , the founder of classical music, created over 30 Years his most important works.

The family also discovered and promoted the talent of Franz Liszt , whose father worked as an estate manager on the Esterházy estates. Franz Schubert worked as a piano teacher for the young countesses Caroline and Marie.

Trivia

Several dishes were named after the family in Austria-Hungary:

literature

Web links

Commons : Esterházy  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Wüst : Swabian nobility after the end of the Old Empire: Regional preservation and design . In: Peter Fassl, Rainer Jehl (Ed.): Swabia in the Holy Roman Empire and the Empire in Swabia. Studies on the intellectual map of Swabia . Augsburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-89639-684-6 , pp. 127-149
  2. ↑ derStandard.at - Melinda Esterhazy died at the age of 95 . Article dated August 28, 2014, accessed August 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ Heir aunt Melinda is stingy. The Esterhazys family dispute is about access to a billion-dollar fortune. Die Presse, December 27, 2011, accessed July 29, 2013 .