Franz Wilhelm I of Hohenems

Coat of arms of the Lords of Ems in Scheibler's book of arms from 1450

Franz Wilhelm I von Hohenems (* 1628 in Ensisheim , Alsace , † 19 September 1662 in Chur , Switzerland ) was a count from the noble Hohenems family . He played an important role in the development of the Principality of Liechtenstein , which still exists today , a small state in the Alpine Rhine Valley between Austria and Switzerland.

Life

Franz Wilhelm I von Hohenems was the son of Jakob Hannibal II von Hohenems and Princess Franziska Katharina von Hohenzollern-Hechingen and was a grandson of Kaspar von Hohenems . His grandfather bought the area of ​​today's Liechtenstein from Karl Ludwig zu Sulz in 1613 . Franz Wilhelm I had an older brother Karl Friedrich von Hohenems and a sister named Anna Katharina von Hohenems as well as a stepsister named Johanna Eleonore von Hohenems. He spent the years from 1637 to 1640 with his brother in Innsbruck . After the death of his father on April 10, 1646, he and his brother took control of the inherited territories. On April 9, 1647, Emperor Ferdinand III confirmed . the two brothers all their privileges and fiefs. In addition to the imperial county Hohenems , these also included the imperial direct rule Schellenberg and the county Vaduz , the fiefdom of the archbishopric Salzburg and the county Gallarate near Milan in today's Italy . The brothers renounced the fiefdom of the Archdiocese of Salzburg in 1651. From 1648 to 1651 they had numerous witch trials carried out in what is now Liechtenstein. The brothers led an elaborate life, had numerous buildings built in their areas and thus got heavily in debt. Therefore they were forced to sell the county of Gallarate to the Visconti in 1654 .

In the same year they also shared their remaining dominion. Karl Friedrich became the sole ruler of the County of Hohenems while Franz Wilhelm I took over sole rule over Schellenberg and Vaduz. This division of land led to the border between Austria and Liechtenstein that still exists today.

Franz Wilhelm I led a strict regime over his subjects. He raised duties and taxes, impoverishing the residents. He also recruited soldiers for the Spanish crown. In 1662 the governors and judges complained about the extraordinary burdens and the unusual harshness of the regent with the emperor. But in the same year the count died unexpectedly at the age of 34. He had 5 children, 2 of whom died in childhood. His surviving sons Ferdinand Karl von Hohenems , Jakob Hannibal III. von Hohenems and Franz Wilhelm II. von Hohenems were all too young to take over the rule. Therefore, the administration of Schellenberg and Vaduz was taken over by their mother, Landgravine Eleonora Katharina von Fürstenberg and their uncle Karl Friedrich, the older brother of Franz Wilhelm I, until they came of age.

Web links

• Karl Heinz Burmeister : Hohenems, Franz Wilhelm I. von. In: Historical Lexicon of the Principality of Liechtenstein .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Karl Heinz Burmeister, Historisches Lexikon von Liechtenstein, Hohenems, Franz Wilhelm I. von (article not available in the online version)