Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg (12 January 1638 – 4 January 1701) was military governor of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

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 The ''Hofkriegsrat'' (or Aulic War Council, sometimes Imperial War Council) established in 1556 was the central military administrative authority of the Habsburg monarchy until 1848 and the predecessor of the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of War. Th ...

. By birth he was 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 Polish king Jan Sobieski arrived in the first half of September, Vienna was on the brink of collapse. Its walls were breached by Turkish

sappers A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing fie ...

who had tunnelled under the walls, packed the tunnels with gunpowder, and detonated the explosive charges. Finally, on 12 September, 80,000 Polish, Venetian, Bavarian, and Saxon troops attacked the Turks and were able to defeat them in the Battle on the

Kahlenberg The Kahlenberg () is a mountain () located in the 19th District of Vienna, Austria (Döbling). General The Kahlenberg lies in the Vienna Woods and is one of the most popular destinations for day-trips from Vienna, offering a view over the entire ...

Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg was promoted to the rank of a field marshal by the Emperor, recognizing Starhemberg's action in saving the imperial capital. He was also made a minister of the state. Going after the retiring Ottoman troops, Starhemberg was severely wounded in 1686 during the Siege of Buda by a shot in his left hand and had to abandon his command. In 1691 he was made President of the Hofkriegsrat and was responsible for the organisation of the Habsburg army.

Personal life

He married firstly his third cousin, Countess Helena Dorothea von

Starhemberg The House of Starhemberg is the name of an old and distinguished Austrian noble family originating from Upper Austria, specifically Steyr and Steinbach. Members of the family played important political role within the Holy Roman Empire and ...

(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 Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, also ''Fischer von Erlach the younger'' (13 September 1693 in Vienna – 29 June 1742 in Vienna) was an Austrian architect of the Baroque, Rococo, and Baroque- Neoclassical. Biography Joseph Emanuel was the son ...

) is situated in the Vienna Schottenkirche.

Legacy

Later generations have idealized Starhemberg as saviour of the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

. By order of Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

, a statue was erected in his honour in 1872 at the

Heeresgeschichtliches Museum The Museum of Military History – Military History Institute (german: Heeresgeschichtliches Museum – Militärhistorisches Institut) in Vienna is the leading museum of the Austrian Armed Forces. It documents the history of Austrian ...

in Vienna, where the Battle of Vienna is thoroughly documented, with Starhemberg's

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contain ...

and armour on display.

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)

Life

Personal life

Death

Legacy

Sources

See also