Johann Pálffy (philanthropist)

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Johann Count Pálffy

Count Johann Pálffy de Erdöd (born August 12, 1829 in Preßburg , Kingdom of Hungary ; † June 2, 1908 in Vienna , Austria-Hungary ) was a member of the Hungarian nobility and an important art patron and philanthropist .

origin

The Pálffy von Erdőd provided well-known officers and officials in the Habsburg Monarchy over the centuries. The Hungarian barony was awarded to them in 1581, they became Imperial Counts of the Holy Roman Empire in 1599, Hungarian Counts with the predicate "von Erdőd" in 1634. The family had the name "Erdőd" on the occasion of the marriage of Paul Pálffy to Clara Bakocz von Erdőd († ~ 1543) accepted.

The family became famous primarily through Nikolaus II. Pálffy , who was nicknamed ' the Turkish thug' because of his outstanding successes during the Turkish wars in the 16th century.

Life

Johann Franz Graf Pálffy de Erdöd was the only son of the imperial chamberlain, Count Franz V. Alois Pálffy (* June 22, 1780, † November 14, 1852) and his wife, Countess Natalia Erdődy de Monyorokerék (* April 27, 1804 - † December 26, 1845) was born in Preßburg and was baptized on August 20, 1829 in the Preßburger Martinsdom by canon Jozef Pribyla. In the baptismal register his full name is given as "Joannes Baptista Maria Stephan Christianus Meneradus". When Johann Pálffy was born, his father was already 50 years old. He and his younger sister Gabriella had an unhappy childhood in a family where there was neither love nor harmony between the parents. Johann also had a cool relationship with his sister throughout his life.

The father Franz was the imperial chamberlain, captain of the Pressburg Castle and the clan of the Pressburg county . (The latter function was inherited within the Pálffy family since 1580.) Due to his large debts and waste of money, his possessions were put under official lock and key and sealed. Franz was a great admirer of the theater but also beautiful women and was a member of the casino club in Vienna. He loved gambling games where he often lost huge sums of money. At the age of 23, Johann Pálffy lost his father and inherited his heavily indebted possessions.

Count Johann Pálffy de Erdőd was one of the most important personalities in Central European history in the second half of the 19th century. After completing a law degree , he traveled extensively abroad, where he ultimately spent more than half of his life. His trips to France , Italy and England shaped his artistic taste and were obviously also reflected in the personal preferences in the architecture of his own palaces. Pálffy was fluent in several world languages, spoken and written - apart from Hungarian, he spoke German, French, Italian, English and partly Spanish.

After his father's death in 1852, Johann saved and worked very diligently in order to be able to settle all of his inherited debts. Pálffy developed a well-organized property management company and thanks to his entrepreneurial activities he actually managed to pay off all debts. At the age of 42 (1871) he was elected chief clan of the Pressburg county. Most of the income from this post was devoted to charity. Due to his skillful and intelligent economy, his possessions grew so enormously that at the end of his life he was one of the richest people in all of Austria-Hungary. With his real estate and income from rents (he owned entire apartment blocks in downtown Vienna and Budapest ), he was one of the richest men in the monarchy. After his death, the value of his entire fortune was estimated at 90 million crowns.

Johann Pálffy represented the best type of Hungarian aristocrat, the European and at the same time Hungary. He was a member of the Hungarian aristocracy with long-term friendly relations with the Habsburg imperial court, Catholic, graduate of law, clerk of the Preßburg County (1871–1874), lifelong Member of the so-called magnate table (ie the upper chamber) of the Hungarian Reichstag , imperial privy councilor and chamberlain (since 1884). In 1886 he was awarded the "Order of the Iron Crown of the First Class".

Pálffy was also known for his generous philanthropic activities (with further political connotations ). He dedicated his income from the charity's function to the poor in the city in order to support them financially. He founded a pension fund for the officials of the county with the capital of 20,000 gold kroner; he paid doctors from his own resources during the cholera epidemic of 1873 - 1874. After the floods of the Tisza in Segedin (Hungarian Szeged), Pálffy made a generous financial contribution to the victims. The count attached great importance to education and therefore supported several schools, such as B. the citizen schools in Tyrnau (Slov. Trnava) and Sommerein (Slov. Šamorín) as well as the Evangelical Lyceum in Pressburg. From his share of the estate in Bibersburg (Slov. Červený Kameň), he founded a foundation in 1900, from which scholarships for students of secondary schools and universities were paid out. Its share of the castle's premises was used as a dormitory for the professors and students. This foundation, named after its founder, existed until 1952.

The count owned numerous estates in Paris , Vienna and in the Kingdom of Hungary. In Pressburg he owned a palace at 19 Herrengasse , which he had generously rebuilt and expanded in 1885. His special love, however, belonged to Weinitz Castle (Slov. Bojnice), which he subjected to extensive romanticizing renovations from 1888 to 1909. The result is today's castle, which is modeled on the French castles of the Loire . Pálffy, architect and graphic designer, was one of the greatest collectors of antique tapestries as well as drawings, pictures and sculptures of his time. After his death in 1939, his heirs sold the castle along with the spa and the surrounding land to Jan Antonín Baťa (from the shoe manufacturer Bata ).

Johann Pálffy died on June 2, 1908 at the age of 79 in Vienna without any descendants of his own. According to the register of the parish of St. Michael in Vienna, his last residence was in his palace in Wallner Strasse in the 1st district of Vienna .

Tomb of Johann Pálffy in the crypt of Weinitz Castle.

The Preßburger Zeitung wrote the following about the death of Johann Pálffy:

Count Johann Pálffy, who loved a certain peculiarity in his views and actions, had also expressed a keen interest in our city affairs in earlier years. He was one of the most famous and most intelligent collectors of works of art and the paintings and works of art kept in his castles represent a million euros.

On June 4, 1908, his remains were - according to his wishes - transferred to Weinitz Castle and buried in the local crypt for final rest.

After Pálffy's death, a bitter dispute broke out among the heirs, which was demonstrated in decades of legal proceedings that lasted until 1923. The provisions laid down by the Count in his will of November 14, 1907 were not observed and disregarded by the heirs. Many works of art from the castles were illegally stolen and stolen shortly after Pálffy's death (by heirs and administrators). After the Second World War , according to the Beneš decrees , the entire property fell to the Czechoslovak state. The castle is now part of the Slovak National Museum .

Web links

Commons : János Ferenc Pálffy  - collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Paul III. Pálffy de Dericska et Raró lived between 1415 and 1533. Exact details are not known.
  2. ↑ Also referred to in the literature as Clara Erdődy von Csoma .
  3. ↑ Gabriella Pálffy (born November 17, 1833 in Preßburg, † March 22, 1914 in Vienna) was the only sister of Johann Pálffy. She married Count Manó (Emanuel) Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály (* 1821, † 1891), the older brother of the well-known Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Andrássy . The marriage resulted in a son and four daughters.
  4. ↑ a b Quoted from Barbara Trebichalská, diploma thesis, p. 37 (see web links)
  5. ^ Preßburger Zeitung, Wednesday, June 3, 1908, p. 3
personal data
SURNAME Pálffy, Johann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pálffy de Erdöd, Johann (full name); Pálffy de Erdöd, Joannes Baptista Maria Stephan Christianus Meneradus (baptismal name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian nobleman, art patron and philanthropist
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1829
PLACE OF BIRTH Pressburg , Kingdom of Hungary
DATE OF DEATH June 2, 1908
Place of death Vienna , Austria-Hungary