New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-31
HOUSE Of ESTERHAZY
PrinceIy Family Claims Descent
from Queen Esther.

spect is the great house OF Esterhazy.
whose estates extend over an area superior
10 that of Ireland and who are perhaps
the most disputatous Of all the great
houses Of the Magyar aristocracy. Fortu-
nately their quarrels are for the most part
restricted to their own kith and kin. and
II draw attention to the fact here it is
because the recent destruction by fire of
the grand old castle OF Cseklesz has led
g. charges by Count Charles Esterhazy
the owner OF the castle. that 1t was set on
fire by his relatives. with whom he is at
daggers drawn. while they on their side
accuse him Of arson. In order 10 under
stand these charges IL is necessary to ex-
plain that the castle of Cseklesz formed
part of the entailed property Of the house
of Esterhazy-was, indeed. next TO Totis.
its most precious possession, and has been
| recently the subject Of no end Of litiga-
ton. owing TO the insistence on the part
of the other members Of the Esterhazy
family that Count Charles had forfeited his
rights to the entailed property through his
mesalliance.
To the public, and especially TO the stu
dents of history. the burning of the castle
! is a great loss, through the destruction of
the wonderful library, which had been in
| process Of formation for centuries; the
| priceless collection of pictures, the I'M
/ rivaled museum of ancient armOr and of
| arms. and in particular the collections Of
RELICS OF Empress Maria Theresa and of
| the first Emperor Napoleon. Not even the
| gallery formed by Prince Victor Napoleon
! at Brussels of objects belonging to the
! founder of his house and connected with
4 the latters career could equal that at the
Esterhazy castle Of Cseklesz 1t was
| formed by that Count Esterhazy who &C.
/ cupied so high a place in the regard of the
/ first Napoleon that the Emperor, through
| him. made "A definite offer to Prince Nico-
| las Esterhazy. who was then the head Of
| the house, OF the crown OF St. Stephen.
| The prince. however. declined to be King
| OF Hungary save by the election of his
/ fellow mobiles. which he knew would he
| out of the question. owing 10 the iealousies
| among them, and refused TO accept the
| Magyar crown At the hands Of Napoleon,
feeling probably, too. that no gift from
man he regarded as Corsican adventurer
could add to the prestige or TO the gran
| deur OF his house. which claims descent
from Queen Esther OF the Old Testament
and also from the Hun monarch Attila,
through Paul q Esteras. who is on record
as having been baptized in 900.
The Esterhazys have always been mag
! ma tes-that IS 70 say, great mobiles Of Hun
| gary-since the dawn Of Magyar history;
| in addition TO which they have been barons
| Of the Holy Roman Empire since the
| twelfth century, counts since the sixteenth
| century and were created princes OF the
empire, with the right Of petty sove eighty.
| in the seventeenth century, and as such
had a seat in the Diet OF the empire To
this day the princely branch Of the Ester
hazy family retains. as mediatized, the
right Of mating with the reignng houses
Of Europe on footing Of equality.
Every page Of the history Of Hungary.
and in only a slightly lesser degree that
Of Austria, contains mention of the name
OF Esterhazy Thus q Paul Esterhazy. Of
Galantha. bore himself so magnifcently in
the wars against the Turks that he bb-
tanned from the Emperor at Vienna the
right Of coming money and Of comforting
titles OF nobility in Hungary. Another
! Esterhazy. Francis by name. was a par
ticular fevorite of Empress Maria Theresa.
but a favorite in the right sense Of the
| word. for her one object was TO see him
| well married. and with this purpose in
view she found him a wife in the person
Of Princess Pauline Staremhers few
months later the princess eloped with
Count schulemberg. and took up her resi-
dence with him in a villa on the border
! Of Lake Lucerne The Austrian envoy AT
/ Berne. in Switzerland. was shocked and
/ caused proceedings to he instituted against
-.
demned him 10 death for infractiOn Of the
! Seventh Commandment But Count Francis
Esterhszy interviewed, saying that he could
not be sufficiently grateful to Count Schulz
emberg for having rid him Of she devil
! by clipping with her. and eventually the
/ culprit was pardoned.
! 1t was Prince Paul Esterhazy who
| PLAYED so great role in diplomacy in the
! carly part of the nineteenth century. being
I a favOrite lieutenant Of the great Prince
| Metternich and a colleague Of the equally
! famous Prince Talleyrand. on one oc-
/ casion when visiting the first Earl OF
| Leicester at Holkham. IN Norfolk. the peer,
| whose locks were larger than those Of
any one else in the United Kingdom. point
| cd TO several large fields crowded with
| sheep and remarked that there were four
! thousand Of them there. by curious
| coincidence quietly rejoined the prince.
] II have exactly that number Of shepherds
| I'm my employ" 1t was this prince too
who married Lady Sarah Villiers. the
| lovely daughter Of that celebrated beauty.
| the Countess OF Jersey. on state occasions
he wore his costume Of Hungarian mag
nate. which was so covered with mag
nincent diamonds that It was said 10 cost
him thousands OF dollars each time he
! donned IT, owing TO the Jewels that
dropped of or were injured. The aigrette
4 NJ his kalpak, or cap alone was adorned
! bv more than FIVE thousand brilants.
The present head OF the house is Prince
/ Nicholas Esterhazy Of Galantha. who is
| about forty years Of age. and who lost his
/ wife. member OF the house Of Czraky,
/ last fall. his eldest son and heir being now
4 ton years Of age. His fathers brother
General Prince Alloys Esterhazy, has. like
I him. the order Of the Golden Fleece. was
/ COR many years military attache Of the
/ Austrian Embassy in London. and is now
/ commander Of the Royal Hungarian Body
Guard Of Francis Joseph. Prince Nicholas
! divides his time between his palace IN
| Vienna. his castle of Esterha2y, near the
old Hungarian town Of Esterhazy, and his
| ohstaau of Eisenstadt where the great com
,oser Haydn resided as leader Of the pri-
Ito orchestra of the Prince Esterhazy Of
| hie dav and wrote many OF his most ia
nous compositions.
Another celebrated Esterhazy castle IS
! ,i,ot Of Tots. belonging to Count Francis
rs,erbazy. Of the so-called Forchtenstein
! Lranch. II is more Of palace than
80. and may be described as poem OF
- and marble There arc $40 guest