Joseph von Kerzl

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Joseph Kerzl , since 1914 Knight of Kerzl (* 28. August 1841 in Veska in Pardubice , † 23. June 1919 in Haidbachgraben am Semmering , Lower Austria ) was an Austrian officer , and medical professionals , who as a longtime personal physician of Emperor I. Franz Joseph known has been.

Life

Kerzl in uniform, 1912
Kerzl in civil suit, 1912

After joining the imperial army, Kerzl completed a course of studies at the medical and surgical Josephs Academy in Vienna , from which he emerged as a field doctor and as Dr. med. received his doctorate . In 1870 he became a senior physician . In 1875 Kerzl, who had meanwhile been assigned to the imperial court, became court physician at Laxenburg Palace , and in 1884 he became court doctor in Vienna.

In this role, Kerzl accompanied Empress Elisabeth on her travels, among others. a. to Corfu and the Italian Riviera . In 1889 Kerzl witnessed the death of Crown Prince Rudolf as court doctor , from whose possession he received the "Hubertus watch". During the summer vacation of the court in Bad Ischl , he was on duty in the imperial villa . In 1897 Kerzl was appointed personal physician to Emperor Franz Joseph, whom he looked after until his death in 1916. His last rank in the Austro-Hungarian Army was that of General Chief Staff Doctor .

As the emperor's personal physician, Kerzl held a position that, in medical terms, was comparable to that of a bourgeois family doctor. In fact, however, he held a very influential position, since the life and health of the ruling family were important for the whole country. Emperor Franz Joseph was prone to catarrhal illnesses in his later years without ever being seriously ill. They occurred several times after maneuvers in which the Kaiser caught a cold, for example after the Imperial maneuvers in the Klagenfurt area in September 1907.

Until his death at the age of 86, Emperor Franz Joseph insisted on conducting state affairs himself. This is also evident in a medical bulletin drawn up the day before his death:

“During the course of the previous night, His Majesty had a limited inflammatory focus in the right lung with otherwise constant catarrhal symptoms. Morning temperature 38 degrees, evening temperature 37.8 degrees, heart activity good, breathing evenly calm, lower appetite. His Majesty spent the whole day out of bed, worked until the evening and, in addition to the First Supreme Court Master, Prince of Montenuovo , the two Adjutants General Colonel Count Paar and Colonel General Baron von Bolfras , Cabinet Director Freiherr von Schiessl and Section Head of Daruvary, His Austro-Hungarian Highness received the most distinguished field marshal Archduke Friedrich in an audience of three quarters of an hour. Vienna, November 20, 1916, in the evening. Personal physician Dr. Kerzl, Professor Dr. Ortner "

Emperor Franz Joseph I on his death bed

At the death of Emperor Franz Joseph on November 21, 1916 in Schönbrunn Palace, Ritter von Kerzl was present. He was also involved in the conservation of the corpse and appears in the medical protocol, which is now one of the exhibits at the Pathological-Anatomical Museum in Vienna . It says: “Protocol recorded on November 23, 1916 about the conservation of the corpse of His Majesty the Emperor Franz Josef I from the finished one in the presence of the two signed doctors. The two large carotid arteries are exposed, cannulas are tied into them and then injected with formalin in a concentrated state into the head on the one hand and into the trunk on the other hand in an amount of 5 liters. Finally, the neck wounds are sewn up. ”The protocol is signed by the coroner and pathologist Prof. Dr. Alexander Kolisko , from the emperor's personal physician Dr. Joseph Ritter von Kerzl and the board of the II. Medical University Clinic Prof. Dr. Norbert Ortner .

After the death of Emperor Franz Joseph, Kerzl retired ; For a while he had his apartment on the second floor of the stable castle . Joseph Ritter von Kerzl died on the night of June 22nd to 23rd, 1919 in the spa town of Semmering and was buried next to his wife Louise (1851–1916) in the Hietzinger Friedhof in Vienna (group 20, no. 58).

Knighthood coat of arms of Joseph von Kerzl, 1915

In the course of his service, Kerzl was among other things by being awarded the title " Hofrat ", with the Order of the Iron Crown III. Class and the Grand Cross of the Franz Joseph Order . On his 70th birthday in 1911, he was given honorary citizenship by the city of Bad Ischl . In a very high handwriting dated June 19, 1914, Emperor Franz Joseph elevated him to the hereditary Austrian knighthood; he received the corresponding diploma including the award of a coat of arms on March 16, 1915. Shortly before the end of the monarchy, Kerzl was appointed a " secret council " by Kaiser Karl . The written estate of Kerzl is in the house, court and state archives in Vienna.

Anecdotes

Emperor Franz Joseph enjoyed excellent health well into old age. Kerzl had to report to the emperor early every morning and ask about his health. The Kaiser handed him a cigar, and while they were smoking Franz Joseph used to chat with Kerzl for a while about the weather or what had happened in Vienna the day before. One morning, however, Kerzl was turned away by the body servant. When he inquired about the reason, his reply was: “Your Majesty sincerely regrets, but he is not feeling well, has to stay in bed and therefore does not feel like having the morning interview. The doctor should come back tomorrow. "

Kerzl is said to have said: “The lights of science take care of the health of other monarchs. Only our monarch is satisfied with a fellow . "

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Death book of the Roman Catholic parish Maria Schutz (Semmering) Volume V, Folio 65, No. 10 ( online ).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Hedwig Abraham: Graves in the Hietzinger Friedhof: Dr. Josef Kerzl. (Accessed September 9, 2012).
  3. ↑ The estate of the Vetsera-Baltazzi family ( memento from February 18, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  4. ↑ a b If the dead should live longer ( memento of the original from February 18, 2013 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. . Report on www.springermedizin.at , March 28, 2007 (accessed on September 7, 2012).  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.springermedizin.at
  5. ↑ Arno Kerschbaumer, Nobilitations under the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I. / I. Ferenc József király (1914–1916) . Graz 2017, ISBN 978-3-9504153-2-2 , pp. 153–155.
  6. ^ House, court and state archives, estate of Dr. Joseph von Kerzl

literature

  • Richard H. Kastner: Splendor and Glory. The Vienna Hofburg under Emperor Franz Joseph. Amalthea, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-85002-510-1 .
personal data
SURNAME Kerzl, Joseph von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kerzl, Joseph Ritter von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian officer and medic, imperial personal physician
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Veska near Pardubice
DATE OF DEATH June 23, 1919
Place of death Semmering (Lower Austria)