Paul V. Esterházy de Galantha
Paul V (Hungarian Pál ) Maria Aloys Anton , Prince Esterházy de Galantha (born March 23, 1901 in Eisenstadt , † May 25, 1989 in Zurich ) was an Austro-Hungarian nobleman and large landowner .
Life
As a young student, Paul Esterházy took over the Esterházy possessions (mostly in Hungary , a smaller part in Burgenland ), was imprisoned and expropriated in Hungary after the Second World War and was able to flee to Switzerland in 1956 , where he lived in seclusion and from where he lived Austrian possessions headed. The Esterházy family was considered to be the wealthiest in Hungary or, in the past, Austria-Hungary, and over the centuries has had a strong influence on the history of the country.
Paul (V.) was born the second of five children. He studied law and political science, where he obtained a doctorate. After the sudden, early death of his father, he took over in 1920 as the 12th Majoratsherr the possessions of the Esterházy family with about 128,000 hectares of land in Hungary and about 66,000 ha in German-West Hungary, which named 1921 Burgenland was connected to Austria. It was then that he decided to become a Hungarian citizen. Due to the general prohibition of aristocratic titles in the Republic of Austria , his real name there was Dr. Paul Esterhazy . The prince largely kept out of the political life of the eventful interwar years (the Hungarian Soviet republic under Béla Kun , civil war, the Horthy regime) and the German occupation of Hungary during the World War.
On August 3, 1946, he married the Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the Hungarian State Opera, Melinda Ottrubay, in Budapest . The marriage remained childless and his wife became the sole heir after his death.
From 1946 to 1947 the Esterházy property was nationalized in Hungary, and in Austria in 1946 it was placed under the administration of the Soviet-run USIA , since Burgenland was in the Soviet zone of occupation. Paul Esterházy was indicted in Hungary on the pretext of foreign currency offenses and in the show trial of Cardinal József Mindszenty and others and sentenced to 15 years in prison. After the fall of communism in Hungary, the verdict against Paul Esterházy was annulled posthumously in 1990.
In the course of the 1956 popular uprising in Hungary, Esterházy fled across the border to Austria. After his escape he settled in Zurich (Switzerland), where he lived until his death.
The Esterházy possessions in Burgenland were the focus of heated political debates in Burgenland in 1946/47, 1956 and 1964 to 1968; it has been criticized that a single family owns one sixth of the total land area. In the 1960s, the SPÖ made the demand for expropriation an election issue. After about 25% of the property was sold, the situation calmed down.
After 1970 the relationship between politics in Burgenland and Paul Esterházy in Zurich eased to a large extent. There were a number of successful collaborations in the cultural field ( Forchtenstein Castle Games , International Sculpture Symposium St. Margarethen ) and the establishment of the Neusiedler See National Park .
On June 2, 1989, he was buried at the Manegg cemetery in Zurich in the presence of the Bishop of Eisenstadt Stephan László and the Burgenland Governor Hans Sipötz . His grave has since been lifted.
literature
- Hanna Molden: Griffin and Rose. Story of a princely couple . Europa Verlag, Munich / Vienna 1998 ISBN 978-3-203-80005-9
Individual evidence
Web links
- Literature by and about Paul V. Esterházy de Galantha in the catalog of the German National Library
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Nicholas IV |
Majority lord of the Esterházy family 1920 - 1989 |
Anton II |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Esterházy de Galantha, Paul V. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Paul V Maria Aloys Anton, Prince Esterházy de Galantha; Pál Maria Aloys Anton |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austro-Hungarian nobleman and landowner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 23, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Eisenstadt |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 25, 1989 |
| Place of death | Zurich |