Ulrich II of Ernau

Ulrich II of Ernau

Grave monument for Ulrich II. Von Ernau in the parish church Moosburg in Moosburg

Ulrich II von Ernau (* 1531 in Moosburg ; † November 3, 1607 in Klagenfurt ) was an Austrian nobleman and lord of Moosburg .

Gender of the Ernauer

"The Ernau were typical of the development of the nobility since the 14th century, since the sovereign service, that is, the official position of this type and time, and the relocation of numerous families with office holders was decisive for their rise."

- GA from Metnitz

Members of the noble family of Ernauer had proved themselves in different wars: in 1490 a Ernauer drove the soldiers of Matthias Corvinus from the city Friesach , a Leonard of Ernau and Jakob von Ernau fell in 1525 in the fight against the rebellious Salzburg farmers, others fought in the wars against the Turks .

The family got its name from the castle Ernau in the Styrian valley of the Liesing . A Jakob von Ernau was married in 1462 to a Margaretha von Moosburg, whose family had died out in the male line ; the rule of Moosburg came to the Ernauer, whose ownership it passed in 1515 by purchase.

Life

Ulrich von Ernau probably grew up in the new Moosburg Castle above the village of the same name. It was built on a hill next to an existing defensive tower. The late Gothic complex was still rooted in a very medieval building tradition: a huge knight's hall , which was divided into three naves by four octagonal pillars, lay above a high-vaulted basement . At that time the family had a seat and vote in the circle of the estates . These estates dominated state politics and had chosen Klagenfurt as their metropolis. In 1533 the sovereign pledged the coin to them. After the relevant contract had been renewed several times, in 1580 the Estates Coin General was re-appointed. When Ulrich von Ernau found out that they wanted to entrust him with the job of making money, he refused, pointing out “the weakness of his head”, even though he was only 49 years old at the time. For his part, he proposed Ludwig von Dietrichstein for this position , who was "a strong and healthy man". As a result, there was a new three-way proposal, but the interest was concentrated all the more on Ernau, who now apologized for his business. How long he hesitated to take on the office of mint is not known. In 1586, however, the Moosburg lordship not only confronts us as the “superior mint owner”, but also as the person responsible for the estate's construction industry. He took over the second office from Governor Georg von Khevenhüller . The minting of the Carinthian Mint and the entire public construction industry were therefore in Ernau's hands. The new city fortifications and the estate country house were nearing completion, but other buildings, such as the large Protestant preacher church (today cathedral church ), had only just begun. Ulrich von Ernau was 55 years old in 1586. Since 1585 he was also the owner of the Glanegg estate . He was probably remarried at the time, having been widowed twice. He lost his first wife (Katharina von Pibriach) at the age of thirty in 1561, his second (Johanna Maria von Mager) at the age of fifty in 1581. The third wife (Elisabeth Stöckl) did not survive her husband either; her death in 1596 made him a widower again.

Ulrich von Ernau, who still appears in the coin books in 1603 as the “coin superior”, reached a respectable age: he closed his eyes at the age of 76 on November 3, 1607 in Klagenfurt. His body was buried in the Moosburg parish church.

Grave monument in the Moosburg parish church

Ulrich's sons Balthasar and Hektor commissioned the landscape sculptor and construction foreman Martin Pacobello for a grave monument , which was delivered in 1609 and is located in the vestibule of the Moosburg parish church , which the sons had restored on the occasion of the erection of the monument.

The monument, designed as a "wall tomb", is of considerable artistic quality: It consists of four parts and has different types of marble . The lower part is made up of a black marble tablet with a 13-line legend in German, enclosed by two volutes. In the base zone above, which ends on the outside with a dark-colored diamond cuboid, the coats of arms of Ulrich's three wives, executed in light stone, stand side by side. Above the coat of arms zone lies an expansive cornice , which shows the bust of the nobleman between reddish-gray marble pilasters . White stone was also used for the representation in three-quarter relief. It shows the chief builder and mint master in armor . Ernau rests his right on his hip, while his left holds the open helmet adorned with feathers and a collision, inside of which the bell is visible as the coat of arms of the Ernauer. The head is superbly designed, the face framed by a full beard. To the right of the head is the age (“AETATIS LXXVI”), below it is the year 1609 in an ornament and again below the artist's monogram “MP” with the “F” for “fecit”. The end of the monument is again a writing zone with biblical text, which is enclosed by entablature. The Ernau epitaph is considered the most beautiful work by Martin Pacobello , to whom the Klagenfurt magistrate granted citizenship in 1619. The early baroque sculptor died in 1630.

coin

The gold coins from Klagenfurt were much in demand because of their high fineness. They were minted in an old hammer mill outside the city and not in the mint itself, which was probably housed in the country house. The mint employed around 100 people. In 1611 Melchior Putz von Kirchheimegg was mint master and Hector Ernau mint inspector. Both received a reprimand on May 20, because ducats with no year and a lower purity had been put into circulation. If this got to the ears of the sovereign, it would be badly noted. Putz, the trial was made later and the mint was moved back to St. Veit an der Glan . Hector Ernau was already over 70 when he was forced to emigrate in 1629 because he had refused to renounce the Protestant faith and return to the Catholic Church. His wife Katharina Elisabeth, a von Keutschach-born, and eight children also went into exile. Only one married daughter remained in Carinthia.

literature

• Anton Kreuzer: Carinthian. Biographical sketches . Kärntner Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Klagenfurt 1995–2001, ISBN 3-85391-151-X (16th – 20th century, 9 vols.)