Nicholas III Esterházy de Galantha
Prince Nicholas III. Esterházy de Galantha (born June 25, 1817 in Regensburg , † January 28, 1894 in Vienna ) was the ninth majorate from the Hungarian noble Esterházy family , the richest family in Central Europe.
Life
Prince Nikolaus did not spend his youth at Esterháza Palace in Hungary , as was customary at the time for his peers , but rather in England , where his father Paul III. Anton was active as a kk envoy. There he met his wife, Sarah Frederica Caroline Child Villiers , a daughter of George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey , and relative of the famous George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham . The marriage took place in London on February 8, 1842 . But Sarah died before he was promoted to majorate. In memory of her Nicholas III. later erect an obelisk in the Eisenstadt palace garden .
On his return from England, as was the tradition in his family, he made himself available to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, who came to the throne in 1848, and accompanied him on his travels through Hungary and Transylvania . For this, like some of his ancestors, he was awarded the highest order of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1862, the Order of the Golden Fleece .
Nicholas III followed in 1866. his late father Paul III. Anton as Majorate Lord . However, due to the huge indebtedness of the family and the impending insolvency, in 1865 Franz Joseph I had to agree to a compulsory administration (sequestration), which the respective majorate ruler until 1898 (!), I.e. over the lifetime of Nicholas III. beyond, kept away from asset management.
A large part of Esterházy's picture gallery was sold to the Kingdom of Hungary in 1874 in order to pay off at least part of the debts that his predecessors Nicholas I and Nicholas II had accumulated. The former Esterházy paintings still form an essential part of the collection of the Hungarian National Gallery and can be viewed in its rooms.
His son Paul IV became his successor as lord of the major.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Paul III Anton |
Majoratsherr of the Esterházy family 1866-1894 |
Paul IV |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Esterházy de Galantha, Nicholas III. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Esterházy de Galantha, Nicholas III. Prince |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ninth prince of the Esterházy family |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 25, 1817 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | regensburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 28, 1894 |
| Place of death | Vienna |