Chief steward
At the court of the Roman-German Emperor (until 1806) and the Emperor of Austria in Vienna (1804–1918), Obersthofmeister acted as direct head of the imperial court and household. When the unified empire of Austria was reclassified into the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867 , the now kuk Obersthofmeisteramt remained responsible for both parts of the empire.
The monarch's wife, Empress and Queen Elisabeth , had her own court with a chief steward and a chief stewardess, court ladies and chamber. Staff with the title of Obersthofmeister were also available to the Crown Prince and other archdukes who were old.
Such court officials also occurred at other royal courts and also with smaller dynasts . In the 15th century, the office of Hofmeister gradually gained the importance of a state office, and the Hofmeister finally developed almost the effectiveness of a house and cabinet minister at the German royal courts .
The duties of his Majesty's chief stewardship in Vienna included the administration of the castles and palaces used by the court, including construction work, supervision of the kk court theaters ( Hofburgtheater and court opera in Vienna ), and the planning of the ceremonial (e.g. speech and Table arrangement, order of the right of way of the carriages) for formal appearances of the monarch and the preparation of the invitations to the audiences of the ruler.
As can be seen in the annual Court and State Handbook, the monarch's first chief steward ranked immediately behind the ore house , the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty , and above all other high nobility. The monarch's chief stewardship was located in the Hofburg in Vienna.
Prince Alfred of Monte Nuovo , in addition to 1908 Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein distantly related Second, from 1909 first High Steward of the emperor and the imperial family, powerful influence on the aged to Franz Joseph I have owned. The last chief steward of Charles I was Count Leopold Berchtold during the First World War , when the office had lost its importance in favor of the military and politics .
When the last emperor, Charles I, renounced any share in state affairs on November 11, 1918 , the office of chief steward became obsolete. Its infrastructural administrative tasks were taken over in the area of today's Austria (still without Burgenland ) by the state government Renner I of the new state German Austria .
List of the (first) chief stewards of the emperor and king in Vienna
- 1619–1625 Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg
- 1625–1626 Gundaker of Liechtenstein
- 1626–1637 Leonhard Helfried von Meggau
- 1637–1650 Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff
- 1650–1655 Maximilian von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg
- 1655–1657 Johann Weikhard von Auersperg
- 1657–1665 Johann Ferdinand von Porcia
- 1665–1674 Wenceslaus Eusebius von Lobkowicz
- 1675–1682 Johann Maximilian von Lamberg
- 1682–1698 Ferdinand Joseph von Dietrichstein
- 1699–1705 Ferdinand Bonaventura von Harrach
- 1705–1709 Karl Theodor Otto Prince Salm
- 1709–1711 Johann Leopold Donat Prince Trautson , Count of Falkenstein
- 1711–1721 Anton Florian of Liechtenstein
- 1721–1724 Johann Leopold Donat Prince Trautson , Count von Falkenstein
- 1724–1747 Sigmund Rudolph Count of Sinzendorf and Thannhausen
- 1747–1751 Joseph Lothar von Königsegg-Rothenfels
- 1753–1769 Corfitz Anton Graf von Ulfeldt
- 1769–1776 Prince Johann Joseph von Khevenhüller-Metsch
- 1776–1782 Joseph I, Prince of Schwarzenberg
- 1783–1807 Johann Georg Adam I, Prince of Starhemberg
- 1807–1827 Prince Ferdinand von und zu Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg
- 1827–1835 vacant
- 1835–1843 Rudolph Fürst zu Colloredo-Mannsfeld
- 1844–1848 vacant
- 1848–1849 Karl Ludwig von Grünne
- 1849–1865 Prince Charles of Liechtenstein
- 1866–1896 Konstantin zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
- 1896–1908 Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein
- 1909–1917 Prince Alfred von Montenuovo
- 1917–1918 Konrad zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
- 1918 Count Leopold Berchtold
Russia
In the Russian Empire there were two titles at court until 1917, Oberhofmeister ( Russian Ober-gofmeister ) and Hofmeister (Russian Gofmeister ). According to the ranking table, they corresponded to the ranking categories K2 and K3.
See also: Hofmeister