Draft:The Hildprandt Family

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The Hildprandt Family
The south facade of Castle Blatna
Current regionSouth Bohemia
Place of originOttenhausen, Holy Roman Empire
Founded1530
Mottoper angusta ad augusta (Latin for through anguish to glory)
Estate(s)Castle Blatna

The Hildprandts are a Tyrolean noble family originally from the Upper-Austrian township of Ottenhausen. They received their title of nobility from Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, and were later given an Imperial Knighthood by Rudolf II in 1579. The family settled in Bohemia in the early seventeenth century, and in 1799 they moved to Blatna, where they still reside today.

History

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The origin of the Hildprandt family is currently disputed amongst experts. Most historians believe that the family hail from Tyrol, in modern day Austria. However, some scholars suggest that the Upper Bavarian township of Landsberg may be a more accurate location.[1]

In 1530, brothers Georg and Jobst Hildprandt received emblem privileges from Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, allowing them to bear a coat of arms. The oldest surviving records of the Hildrpandt family date back to 1579, which mention brothers Simon and Joachim. They are likely descended from either Georg or Jobst; which brother they are descended from, however, remains unclear. Simon served as mayor of Landsberg.[2]

Two other brothers of Georg also appear in historical records, however due to military commitment abroad, they were never awarded official titles. It was not until 1620, when Simon son, Johann Reinhard, petitioned Emperor Ferdinand II, that the family was made noble.

In 1628, a year after Ferdinand II issued a land reform, the Renewed Provincial Ordinance, the Hildprandt family were given an inkolat. This allowed them, as a noble family, to settle in Bohemia. Johann Reinhard Hildprandt von Ottenhausen was the first member of the family to come to the area. He served under Emperor Rudolf II as the overseer of the Royal Lion House. Later, he served Emperor Matthias, and then Archduke Leopold Wilhelm.[3] In 1756, the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa promoted the Hildprandt family, then headed by Karl Josef Hildprandt, to the title of free lords.[4]

In 1798, Wenzel Karl Baron Hildprandt von Ottenhausen and his wife Countess Anna Kavanagh de Borries purchased Castle Blatna. They settled in Blatna in 1799. Wenzel Karl greatly increased agricultural and industrial production in the town.[5] They established iron mills, a sugar factory, and worked to modernise existing farming methods. Thus began a long Hildprandt tradition of investment in the local community. Wenzel Karl also enjoyed engagement with the lavish social circles centred in Prague. He spent time with a great many prominent aristocrats and politicians, including the future president of the United States of America, John Quincy Adams.[6]

Wenzel Karl’s son, Franz de Paula, inherited the Blatna estate in 1803.[7] Like his father, he enjoyed a rich social life. He showed particular interest in the sciences and thus co-founded the National Museum (Prague).[8] He hired the young Jan Evangelista Purkyně as the personal tutor to his son Ferdinand between 1810 and 1813.[9]

After Ferdinand's death, the Hildprandt estate was managed for some time by his widow Karolina. In 1849, she passed the administration onto her son Robert. Before assuming control of his family’s estate, Robert Hildprandt developed his interests in politics. He was a part of the Prague Slavic Congress, 1848 and fought on the barricades in Prague during the Revolution.[10] He returned to Blatna after the uprising’s defeat. Later in life as head of the Hildprandt estate, he began a formal political career. He served, on and off, as Blatna’s district mayor from 1865 to 1888.[11] He also served as both a Member of the Czech Parliament and of the Imperial Council during his lifetime. Robert’s son, Ferdinand, carried forward the Hildprandt tradition of community development. Graduating from Hranice Cadet School in 1879, Ferdinand served as a lieutenant until 1888. After his father’s death in 1889, he oversaw the family estate. In 1892, he married Countess Josefina Thun-Hohenstein, a marriage which joined the Hildprandts with one of the most powerful noble families in the region. Ferdinand served as Blatna’s mayor during the First World War and was responsible for significant infrastructural developments in the region, including a school in Blatna and the Strakonice – Blatna – Breznice railway line.[12] In 1913, he was formally recognized for his sustained and significant contribution to the town. Ferdinand was also a keen marksman and hunter. He was a close friend of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Ferdinand Hildprandt died in 1936, and he was survived by his four children: Robert, Karl, Heinrich, and Friedrich.[13] The latter took over from Ferdinand as administrator of the estate. Ferdinand’s decision to bequeath the family estate to his youngest son provoked great conflict within the family, which culminated in a legal trial. Eventually, the dispute was dismissed, but the relationship between the brothers never fully recovered. Friedrich signed the Declaration of the Czech and Moravian Nobility in 1939, in the face of Nazi Occupation.[14]

Modern day

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In 1948, Castle Blatna was formally confiscated from Friedrich by the National Monuments Commission, although he and his family were permitted to live on the property until 1953, when they were eventually evicted entirely.[15] The family lived in the neighbouring town of Rojice until 1959, when Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia invited the family to emigrate to Ethiopia. He knew the family due to the diplomatic connections of Friedrich’s father-in-law. Friedrich had married Cornelia Hildprandt (née Veverka) in 1936. She came from a diplomatic family and her father, Ferdinand Veverka, once served as Czechoslovakian ambassador to the United States of America, as well as in the League of Nations, where he became acquainted with the Ethiopian Emperor.[16][17]

In Ethiopia, Friedrich was made supervisor of the imperial stud farm in Addis Ababa, and Cornelia, worked as an interpreter at the UN Centre in the city. In 1974, the Hildpandts were forced out of Ethiopia following the Derg coup. They travelled first to Spain and then to Germany. Baron Friedrich died in Gauting, Germany in 1981.[18]

Castle Blatna was returned to the Hildprandts as part of the Czech government’s restitution programme in 1992. Baroness Cornelia moved back to the estate with her two daughters, Josefina and Jana, as well as Jana’s husband, Greek architect Spyridon Germenis. After the death of both Baroness Cornelia and Spyridon Germenis in 2014, Jana and her son, Stephanos Germenis-Hildprandt, took over the management of the castle, and have been running it ever since.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Buben, Milan (1995). "Hildprandtové z Ottenhausenu". Střední Evropa. 47: 113-120.
  2. ^ "SOA Třeboň, Rodinný archiv Hildprandtů z Ottenhausen, inv. č. 2". Porta Fontium. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  3. ^ Fiala, M. (1992). "Erbovní a nobilitační listiny svobodných pánů Hildprandtů z Ottenhausenu". Heraldická Ročenka: 52.
  4. ^ Vokrojová, Eliška (2017). Osudy Hildprandtů z Ottenhausenu na Blatné (Thesis). Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta. p. 10.
  5. ^ Trajer, J (1862). Historisch-statistische Beschreibung der Diöcese Budweis. Czechia: Zdarssa. p. 467.
  6. ^ Adams, John Quincy. Diaries vol.24. p. 266.
  7. ^ Trajer, J (1862). Historisch-statistische Beschreibung der Diöcese Budweis. Czechia: Zdarssa. p. 467.
  8. ^ Krueger, Rita (2009). Czech, German and Noble: Status and National Identity in Hapsburg Bohemia. p. 178.
  9. ^ Koehler, Peter; Bruyn, George W.; Pearce, John M. S. (2000). Neurological Eponyms. p. 37.
  10. ^ Vokrojová, Eliška (2017). Osudy Hildprandtů z Ottenhausenu na Blatné (Thesis). Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta. p. 12.
  11. ^ "Rûzné zprávy". Národní Politika. 7 (89).
  12. ^ Vokrojová, Eliška (2017). Osudy Hildprandtů z Ottenhausenu na Blatné (Thesis). Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta. p. 14.
  13. ^ Vokrojová, Eliška (2017). Osudy Hildprandtů z Ottenhausenu na Blatné (Thesis). Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta. p. 15.
  14. ^ Vokrojová, Eliška (2017). Osudy Hildprandtů z Ottenhausenu na Blatné (Thesis). Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta. p. 26.
  15. ^ Vokrojová, Eliška (2017). Osudy Hildprandtů z Ottenhausenu na Blatné (Thesis). Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta. p. 34.
  16. ^ Dubovicky, Ivan (2018). Češi v Americe a česko-americké vztahy v průběhu pěti staletí. Epocha. p. 179. ISBN 978-80-7557-648-4. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  17. ^ Dvoráček, Jan (2018). Československo-etiopské vztahy 1945-1974 (Thesis). University of Pardubice Faculty of Philosophy Institute of Historical Sciences. p. 201.
  18. ^ Vokrojová, Eliška (2017). Osudy Hildprandtů z Ottenhausenu na Blatné (Thesis). Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta. p. 40.
  19. ^ Vokrojová, Eliška (2017). Osudy Hildprandtů z Ottenhausenu na Blatné (Thesis). Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta. p. 62.