House of Auersperg

The House of Auersperg (Auerspergi or Turjaški) is an Austrian princely family and formerly one of the most prominent European noble houses. The family originates from the comital line of Auersperg in the Duchy of Carniola 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. They also held at various times the duchies of Münsterberg and Gottschee. Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire 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.

Origins to early modern period
The former edelfrei family was first mentioned as Ursperch in a deed of 1162 issued by Duke Herman II of Carinthia at his residence St. Veit. The family's ancestral seat was Turjak Castle (Burg Ursperg, later Burg Auersperg) in the March of Carniola, according to an engraving on site built in 1067 by one Conrad of Auersperg. Above the engraving stands the original Auersperg coat of arms, displaying an aurochs (German: Auerochs(e) or Ur, Slovene: Tur). The family name may derive from Ursberg in Swabia, and their ancestors probably settled in Lower Carniola after the victory of King Otto I of Germany over the Hungarian forces at the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. They held large estates from Grosuplje in the north down to Velike Lašče and Ribnica, rivalling with the Meinhardiner counts of Görz, the Carinthian Ortenburg dynasty and the Patriarchs of Aquileia.

In the 13th century, the high noble line became extinct and was succeeded by a dynasty of ministeriales. In the mid 15th century, this line split into two eponymous branches with the brothers Pankraz II (1441–1496) and Volkhard VIII (1442–1508). The Auerspergs inherited the estate of Žužemberk and Šumberk in the Windic March, which passed on to a cadet branch. Pankraz II of Auersperg held Turjak Castle in the Duchy of Carniola and married Anne of Frankopan. His son Trojan (1495–1541) served at the Habsburg courts in Ljubljana and the Austrian capital Vienna as a Carniolan chamberlain and regent, Imperial Hofrat and commander during the Ottoman Siege of Vienna in 1529. Trojan's son Herbard VIII von Auersperg (1528–1575), called Hervard Turjaški in Slovene, was Carniolan Landeshauptmann and commander of the Croatian and Slavonian Military Frontier, he played a vital role as a patron of Primož Trubar, Jurij Dalmatin and the Protestant Reformation in the Slovene Lands. He received the noble rank of an Imperial Baron (Reichsfreiherr) in 1550, his descendants were elevated to Imperial Counts (Reichsgrafen) in 1630.

The Auersperg cadet branch, named after the castle of Šumberk in Lower Carniola, was influential throughout the 16th century. Wilhelm Auersperg (called "the Rich", cca. 1462–1507) and his nephew Hans (1480–1529) were regents (Landeshauptmann) of Carniola. Hans's son Wolfgang-Engelbert was considered one of the most educated noblemen in Carniola, and a strong supporter of Lutheranism. His son Andreas von Auersperg was one of the military commanders during the decisive Battle of Sisak against the Ottomans, gaining the nickname "Carniolan Achilles". In the early 17th century, the Šumberk cadet line, which was considered wealthier and more influential than the main one, died out; its estates were transferred back to the main line, and were later mostly inherited by the so-called "princely branch" of the family.

17th to 19th centuries
Count Johann Weikhard of Auersperg (1615–1677) served as head of the Aulic Council (Reichshofrat), as envoy of Emperor Ferdinand III in the negotiations preparing the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, and as a tutor to young King Ferdinand IV. Emperor Ferdinand III elevated Johann Weikhard to a hereditary Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1653 and enfeoffed him with the Silesian Duchy of Münsterberg in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown the next year. In 1663, Johann Weikhard received in pawn the lands of the extinct Counts of Tengen (Thengen), a Habsburg possession in Further Austria since 1522, and reached Imperial immediacy as Gefürsteter Graf with a seat in the Imperial Diet the next year.

The Duchy of Münsterberg was conquered by Prussia in the course of the First Silesian War with Austria in 1742, but the Auerspergs at first could retain their possessions as a Silesian state country. In 1791, Karl Joseph of Auersperg finally sold Münsterberg to King Frederick William II of Prussia. In the same year, Emperor Leopold II granted Karl Joseph the title of Duke of Gottschee and elevated the Auersperg-owned County of Gottschee to be the Duchy of Gottschee (German: Herzogtum Gottschee, Slovene: Kočevska Vojvodina). Upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Auersperg territory at Tengen was mediatised to the Grand Duchy of Baden.

Princes of Auersperg (1653–present)



 * Johann Weikhard, 1st Prince of Auersperg (1653–1677), Count of Auersperg, Duke of Silesia-Münsterberg (1615–1677)
 * Johann Ferdinand, 2nd Prince of Auersperg (1677–1705), Duke of Silesia-Munsterberg (1655–1705)
 * Franz Karl, 3rd Prince of Auersperg (1705–1713), Duke of Silesia-Munsterberg (1660–1713)
 * Heinrich Joseph Johann, 4th Prince of Auersperg (1713–1783), Duke of Silesia-Munsterberg (1697–1783)
 * Karl Josef, 5th Prince of Auersperg (1783–1800), Duke of Silesia-Munsterberg, Duke of Gottschee (1720–1800)
 * Wilhelm I, 6th Prince of Auersperg (1800–1822), Duke of Gottschee (1749–1822)
 * Wilhelm II, 7th Prince of Auersperg (1822–1827), Duke of Gottschee (1782–1827)
 * Karl Wilhelm Philipp, 8th Prince of Auersperg (1827–1890), Duke of Gottschee (1814–1890)
 * Prince Adolf of Auersperg (1821–1885)
 * Karl, 9th Prince of Auersperg (1890–1927), Duke of Gottschee (1859–1927)
 * Adolf, Hereditary Prince of Auersperg (1886–1923)
 * Karl Adolf, 10th Prince of Auersperg (1927–2006), Duke of Gottschee, Princely Count of Wels (1915–2006)
 * Adolf, 11th Prince of Auersperg (2006–present), Duke of Gottschee, Princely Count of Wels (born 1937)
 * (1) Hereditary Prince Carl Adolf of Auersperg (born 1962)
 * (2) Prince Alexander of Auersperg (born 1963)
 * (3) Prince Alejandro of Auersperg (born 1993)
 * (4) Prince Andreas of Auersperg (born 1980)
 * (5) Prince Francisco of Auersperg (born 2010)
 * Prince Ferdinand of Auersperg (1939-2019)
 * (6) Prince Fernando of Auersperg (born 1976)
 * (7) Prince Juan Sebastián of Auersperg (born 2010)
 * (8) Prince Matías of Auersperg (born 2012)
 * (9) Prince Guillermo of Auersperg (born 2015)
 * Prince Franz of Auersperg (1923–2004)
 * (10) Prince Egmont of Auersperg (born 1947)
 * (11) Prince Georg of Auersperg (born 1985)
 * (12) Prince Andreas of Auersperg (born 1949)
 * (13) Prince Lukas of Auersperg (born 1981)
 * (14) Prince Ludwig of Auersperg (born 2015)
 * (15) Prince Philipp of Auersperg (born 1969)
 * (16) Prince Ferdinand of Auersperg (born 1995)
 * (17) Prince Leopold of Auersperg (1997)
 * ''Prince Karl of Auersperg-Breunner (1895–1980)
 * ''Prince Karl of Auersperg-Breunner (1930-2024)
 * (18) Prince Franz-Joseph of Auersperg-Breunner (born 1956)
 * (19) Prince Camillo of Auersperg-Breunner (born 1984)
 * (20) Prince Douglas of Auersperg-Breunner (1987)
 * (21) Prince Karl-Georg of Auersperg-Breunner (born 1960)
 * (22) Prince Karl Ilias of Auersperg-Breunner (born 1995)
 * (23) Prince Dimitri of Auersperg-Breunner (born 2000)
 * (24) Prince Alexander of Auersperg-Breunner (born 1968)
 * (25) Prince Aloysius of Auersperg-Breunner (born 2006)
 * (26) Prince Balthasar of Auersperg-Breunner (born 2011)
 * (27) Prince Hannibal of Auersperg-Breunner (born 2014)
 * (28) Prince Heinrich of Auersperg-Breunner (born 1931)
 * (29) Prince Johann Weikhard of Auersperg-Breunner (born 1961)
 * Prince Maximilian of Auersperg-Breunner (1964-1990)

Sources:

Other family members

 * Herbard VIII von Auersperg (1528–1575), Habsburg general in the wars against the Ottoman Empire
 * Andreas von Auersperg (1556–1593), the "Carniolan Achilles", a leader  in the Battle of Sisak in 1593
 * Joseph Franz Auersperg (1734–1795), Austrian count, prince bishop of Passau, cardinal
 * Count Anton Alexander von Auersperg (1806–1876), Austrian poet ("Anastasius Grün") and liberal politician from Carniola

Properties
The Auerspergs were among the largest landowners in Carniola. In addition to Turjak Castle, which was their central possession, for centuries they were the owners of many other properties, both within and outside their territories. Among these were two Baroque palaces in the center of Ljubljana, Turjaška palača (Auersperg Palace) and Knežji dvorec, which means 'Princely Palace'. They were both damaged in the 1895 Easter earthquake, and the land was sold to the municipality. The Slovene National and University Library was built on the site of the Princely Palace in the 1930s, modelled on the latter's size and form. The City Museum of Ljubljana was opened at the Auersperg Palace in 1937.

Palais Auersperg is a Baroque palace at Auerspergstrasse 1 in the Josefstadt or eighth district of Vienna. The palace was owned by the family from 1777 to 1953.

Turjak Castle and all the other Slovenian property was seized by the government of Yugoslavia in 1946. It has never been returned to the head of the family. However, other branches still own property in Austria and Southern Tyrol (Italy):