Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg
Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg | |
---|---|
Born | Graz, Duchy of Styria | 12 January 1638
Died | 4 January 1701 Vösendorf, Archduchy of Austria | (aged 62)
Buried | |
Allegiance | Holy Roman Empire |
Service/ | Imperial Army |
Years of service | c.1660–1701 |
Rank | Generalfeldmarschall |
Battles/wars | Great Turkish War
|
Awards | Order of the Golden Fleece |
Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg (12 January 1638 – 4 January 1701) was military governor of Vienna from 1680, the city's defender during the Battle of Vienna in 1683, Imperial general during the Great Turkish War, and President of the Hofkriegsrat. By birth, he was a member of the House of Starhemberg.
Life
He was born in Graz, Styria, as son of Count Conrad Balthasar von Starhemberg (1612-1687) and his first wife Countess Anna Elisabeth von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf (died in 1659). His cousin Count Guido von Starhemberg also became a famous soldier and fought as an adjutant at his side. Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg fought in the 1660s under Imperial Lieutenant general Raimondo Montecuccoli against French and Ottoman forces.
In 1683 he was military commander of the city of Vienna, with fewer than 20,000 men to oppose about 120,000 besieging Ottomans. On 15 July 1683 Starhemberg refused an offer by the Turkish commander Kara Mustafa Pasha to capitulate, counting on the speedy arrival of an Imperial army, sent by the Habsburg emperor Leopold I who had fled his residence, and the strength of city walls which had been fortified after the first Ottoman Siege of Vienna in 1529.
When after two months the relief army under the command of
Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg was promoted to the rank of a
Personal life
He married firstly his third cousin, Countess Helena Dorothea von Starhemberg (1634-1688). After the death of his first wife, he married again in 1689 to Countess Maria Josepha Jörger von Tollet (1668-1746), his fourth cousin, once removed. He left issue from both marriages. The later Austrian politician Ernst Rüdiger, Fürst zu Starhemberg (1899-1956) was his descendant.
Death
Starhemberg died at Vösendorf on 4 January 1701, aged 62. His tomb (by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach) is situated in the Vienna Schottenkirche.
Legacy
Later generations have idealized Starhemberg as saviour of the
Sources
Adolf Schinzl: Starhemberg, Ernst Rüdiger Graf von. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 35, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1893, S. 468–470. Die Türkenkriege, Angriff auf das Abendland (= G/Geschichte; Heft Juni 2007)