The House of Auersperg ( or Turjaški) is an Austrian princely family and one of the most prominent families of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. The family originates from the comital line of Auersperg in the Duchy of Carniola in today's Slovenia during the Middle Ages and belongs to the high nobility (one of the mediatised houses, or former sovereign families).
The Auerspergs held the rank of Princes of the Holy Roman Empire from 1653 and had an individual vote (Virilstimme) in the College of Princes of the Imperial Diet from 1664.Ruvigny and Raineval, Melville Henry Massue. The Titled Nobility of Europe : An International Peerage or Who’s Who of the Sovereigns, Princes and Nobles of Europe. Facsim. ed., Burke’s Peerage, 1980. (Google Books) They also held at various times the duchies of Münsterberg and Gottschee. Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, their Imperial State was mediatised to the Grand Duchy of Baden. The Auerspergs remained one of the most prominent families in the Austrian Empire and later Austro-Hungarian Empire, most notably serving as generals, prime ministers of the western half of the empire (Minister-President of Cisleithania) and presidents of the Austrian House of Lords.
History Origins
The oldest member of the House of Auersperg known for certain is Engelbertus de Ursberch, who is documented as a witness in a deed of 1162 issued by Herman, Duke of Carinthia at his residence in St. Veit an der Glan. The family's ancestral seat was Auersperg Castle (Slovene: Grad Turjak; German: Burg Auersperg), south of Ljubljana. It was built in 1067 by one Conrad of Auersperg, according to an engraving on site. Above the engraving stands the original Auersperg coat of arms, displaying an aurochs (German: Auerochs, Slovene: Tur).
The family may trace its origins to the town of Ursberg in Swabia, and their ancestors probably settled in Lower Carniola after Otto the Great’s victory over the Hungarians at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955. They held large estates from Grosuplje in the north down to Velike Lašče and Ribnica in the south, rivalling the Meinhardiner counts of Götrz, the Carinthian Ortenburg dynasty, and the Patriarchs of Aquileia.
In the mid-13th century, the edelfrei branch of the Auersperg family died out and was succeeded by a ministerial branch that retained the family's coat of arms, ancestral castle, and other estates.
Chamberlains of Carniola In the early 15th century, the Auerspergs acquired the office of hereditary chamberlain (Obersterblandkämmerer), previously held by the lords of Reitenburg (Čretež). Herbard of Auersperg was the first member of the family to hold the office, inherited from the family of his mother, Elisabeth of Reitenburg (†1425), beginning in 1407. After Herbard's death, the office was inherited by his relative Engelhard of Auersperg (1404–1466), who owned Auersperg Castle.
Engelhard and his brother Volkhard V of Auersperg (1401–1451) jointly inherited the estate and castle of Schönberg (Šumberk) in Lower Carniola upon the death of their relative Johann II of Schönberg (†1443). The family subsequently split into two branches and divided their estates, with Engelhard's descendants retaining Auersperg Castle and Volkhard's descendants inheriting Schönberg. Pankraz II of Auersperg (1441–1496) succeeded his father Engelhard as chamberlain of Carniola, and was appointed captain of Möttling (Metlika) in 1470. Pankraz's son Trojan of Auersperg (1495–1541) fought against the Ottomans at the Siege of Vienna in 1529 and became governor of Lower Austria in 1537. Trojan was responsible for restoring Auersperg Castle following extensive damage caused by an earthquake in 1511.
Lords of Schönberg
Volkhard's sons (Johann III, Wilhelm II, Georg V) inherited Schönberg in the mid-15th century and established the so-called “Schönberg branch” of the family. They sided with Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor in his rivalry against his brother, Archduke Albert VI for control over Austria, and in return for their support, the emperor awarded them with the office of hereditary marshal (Erblandmarshall) in Carniola and the Windic March in 1463.
Wilhelm II of Auersperg (†1506) succeeded as head of the Schönberg branch and became governor (Landeshauptmann) of Carniola in 1483. He had amassed such wealth in the second half of the 15th century that his contemporaries named him “the Rich,” and he was even able to lend money to the emperor. As Wilhelm remained without children, he raised his nephew Johann IV of Auersperg (†1529) as his heir. Johann was appointed governor of Carniola by Maximilian I (later Holy Roman Emperor) in 1501 and served in the War of the League of Cambrai against the Republic of Venice (1508–1516).
Johann's son, Wolf Englebert of Auersperg (†1557), inherited Schönberg, and in 1538 he acquired the nearby Seisenberg Castle (Žužemberk Castle) from King Ferdinand I (later Holy Roman Emperor). Wolf Englebert's son, Andreas von Auersperg (1556–1593), played a significant role in the military affairs of the empire and was called the “Carniolan Achilles” or “Turkish Terror” because of his military successes. In 1589 he was appointed commander of the Croatian Military Frontier, and in 1593 he was one of the military commanders that led the victory at the Battle of Sisak against the Ottoman Bosnian forces. The Schönberg branch died out in the generation after Andreas and its estates and titles passed to their relatives at Auersperg Castle.
Barons of Auersperg
Herbard VIII von Auersperg (1528–1575) succeeded his father, Trojan, as chamberlain of Carniola. He became a renowned military leader in battles against the Ottomans and, in 1566, was appointed commanding general of the Croatian and Slavonian Military Frontier and governor of Carniola. In 1550 he was made imperial baron of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsfreiherr) in Vienna. He died in battle in 1575, and his severed head was brought to the Sultan in Istanbul as a trophy. The ransom for the release of Herbard's head, as well as for the release of his son, is said to have paid for the construction of the Ferhat Pasha Mosque. Herbard's statue is exhibited in the Generals’ Hall (Feldherrenhalle) of the Museum of Military History in Vienna, which contains full-figure marble statues of Austria's best known and most distinguished generals.
Christoph of Auersperg (1550–1592) succeeded his father, Herbard, as head of the barons of Auersperg as well as chamberlain and regent of Carniola. Christoph's sons inherited Schönberg Castle, as well as the office of hereditary marshall of Carniola, when the Schönberg branch of the Auersperg family died out. The family subsequently split into two branches and divided their estates, with Christoph's eldest son, Baron Herbard of Auersperg (1574–1618), retaining Auersperg Castle, whilst his younger son, Baron (later Count) Dietrich of Auersperg (1578–1634), inherited Schönberg. Dietrich converted from Protestantism to Catholicism in 1625, which was particularly consequential for the family given the extent of religious conflict in Europe at that time.
Counts of Auersperg Dietrich and his nephew Johann Andreas of Auersperg (1615–1664) were both raised to imperial counts (Reichsfreiherren) with the style “Well Born” (Wohlgeboren) by Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria at Regensburg in 1630. Johann Andreas established the senior comital branch at Auersperg Castle, while Dietrich established the junior comital branch at Schönberg Castle, which was raised to princely status in the following generation. All members of the Auersperg family today descend from these two branches.
Sovereign princes of Auersperg
Johann Weikhard of Auersperg (1615–1677) served as a court councillor in Vienna and took part in the peace negotiations at Osnabrück that ultimately ended the Thirty Years’ War with the Peace of Westphalia. He was appointed tutor (Hofmeister) of the heir to the throne, Ferdinand IV with the ultimate aim of obtaining the Spanish crown for him, since the Spanish king did not have a son at that time. Following the election of Ferdinand IV to King of the Romans in 1653, Johann Weikhard was raised to the rank of imperial prince of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsfürst) and to imperial count palatine (Großes Palatinat) with the style “High Born” (Hochgeboren), heritable in primogeniture. He was also granted the county of Wels and was given minting rights. In 1654 he was granted the Silesian duchies of Münsterberg and Frankenstein and was conditionally admitted to the Council of Princes (Fürstenrat) of the Imperial Diet with an individual vote (Virilstimme). The following year he became head of the imperial court (Obersthofmeister).
Johann Weikhard secured an unconditional seat in the Council of Princes in 1664 by acquiring the imperial estate of Tengen, together with the associated county of Nellenburg, from Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Austria. Tengen was subsequently raised to a princely county (gefürstete Grafschaft), and Johann Weikhard raised to princely count (Gefürsteter Graf) at Tengen. He subsequently served as prime minister to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor from 1665 to 1669.
Dukes of Gottschee
Following the Silesian Wars, Karl Joseph, 5th Prince of Auersperg (1720–1800) sold the duchies of Münsterberg and Frankenstein to the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II in 1791. In return, Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor elevated the Auersperg-owned county of Gottschee in Carniola to the duchy of Gottschee (German: Herzogtum Gottschee, Slovene: Kočevska Vojvodina) and granted Karl Joseph the title of duke of Gottschee. In the same year, the title of prince of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsfürst) with the style “High Born” (Hochgeboren) was extended to all of Karl Joseph's descendants. Over the next century, all of his agnatic descendants were referred to as Fürst/Fürstin in official documents without exception. However, by the late 19th century, it became customary for cadets of the family to bear the title Prinz/Prinzessin, whilst only the head of the princely house carried the title of Fürst (as well as the ducal title). An exception was made, by agreement within the family, for the senior agnatic descendant of Prince Vincenz Nepomuk of Auersperg (1790–1863), who continued to carry the honorary title of Fürst as head of the Tyrolean branch of the family (later called Auersperg-Trautson).
Johann Adam of Auersperg (1721–1795), the younger brother of Karl Joseph, 5th Prince of Auersperg, was raised to imperial prince (Reichsfürst) in his own right and to imperial count palatine (Großes Palatinat) by Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1746. Johann Adam married Countess Katharina of Schönfeld (1728–1753), heir to her father's estates in Bohemia, which Johann inherited after her death. His second marriage was to Maria Wilhelmina von Neipperg (1738–1775), mistress of Emperor Francis I. In 1777 Johann Adam acquired Palais Auersperg, originally called Palais Rosenkavalier, which he transformed into one of the most important buildings in Vienna. In 1862, Auerspergstraße in Vienna's Innere Stadt was named after him. As Johann Adam's children predeceased him, his titles became extinct with his death in 1795. His properties were inherited by his nephew Count (later Prince) Karl Joseph Franz (1750–1822), the second son of his older brother.
Auersperg-Trautson Karl Joseph, 5th Prince of Auersperg married Countess Maria Josefa of Trautson (1729–1794), whose father, Johann Wilhelm, 2nd Prince of Trautson (1700–1775) was the last male member of a prominent Tyrolean princely house. Their first son, Wilhelm I, 6th Prince of Auersperg (1749–1822), inherited the Auersperg estates as head of the princely house, whilst their second son, Karl Joseph Franz, became sole heir to his maternal grandfather and therefore took the name Auersperg-Trautson.