Wildenstein knighthood on blue earth

The Wildenstein Knighthood on Blue Earth was an association founded by Anton David Steiger in 1790. It was created under the sign of the emerging romanticism of knights. The headquarters of the Knights' Union was Seebenstein Castle , which Steiger leased from Johann Ferdinand Graf Pergen.

The knight's association took its name from the Wildenstein family resident in the area.

The members, including Archduke Johann , Goethe's friend Carl August von Weimar and the Archbishop of Olmütz , gave themselves titles from the time of knights and addressed themselves as knights . Knight games also took place, which even contemporaries found ridiculous. Nevertheless, the knighthood was also valued by the then Emperor Franz II . Steiger was even ennobled and was allowed to call himself Edler von Amstein .

Because of the increasing distrust of the imperial court, who also feared secret bundles, the knight's union had to be dissolved again in 1823. It is assumed, however, that the members continued to meet, as the total number of knight associations increased.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Wildensteiner, the . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 56th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1888, p. 152 ( digitized version ).

Web links

• Castle history - Seebenstein Castle
• Entry on Seebenstein in the database of the state's memory of the history of Lower Austria ( Museum Niederösterreich )
• Entry over Castle Seebenstein to Burgen-Austria