Franz Erwein, Count of Schönborn-Wiesentheid (1776–1840) was a German art collector and politician from the
House of Schönborn
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...
.
Life
His parents were the Damian Hugo Erwein Franz von Schönborn (1738–1817), a chamberlain and member of the counsel from
Aschaffenburg, and his wife Maria Anna (1746–1817), who had been countess of
Stadion zu Thannhausen und Warthausen. From 1792 onwards he studied at Jura and the
University of Würzburg
The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...
. In 1802 he married Fernandine, Countess of Westphalia, from Hildesheim (1781-1813). She was the daughter of the imperial envoy Clemens August of Westphalia. That year Franz also took over the
entail on the Schönborn-Besitzungen in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
.
In 1806 the county of
Wiesentheid
Wiesentheid is a municipality in the district of Kitzingen in Bavaria in Germany.
History
It was first mentioned in 918 as "Wisenheida". Mediatization in 1806 brought the former county of Schönborn into the Grand Duchy of Würzburg, along with ...
was handed over to the
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...
as part of
German Mediatisation
German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large number ...
. As a result, Franz Erwein von Schönborn mainly focused on administering his Frankish estates and those in the wine-growing areas of
Rheingau
The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part of the Rheing ...
. In 1811 he and his family moved to
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, where he met
Ludwig, Crown Prince of Bavaria the following year. He was given the rank of major general in the Bavarian army and began to operate as an art collector, making contact with several major artists.
On his wife's death in 1813, Schönborn moved to
Schloss Gaibach
Schloss Gaibach (full title: Gräflich Schönborn’sches Schloss Gaibach or Comital Schönborn Castle at Gaibach) is a castle in Gaibach, a district of the town of Volkach in Germany. Previously the residence of the counts of Schönborn, it no ...
, rebuilding it between 1800 and 1830. He also added a park in the English style, in which he built a
Constitution Column. The column was designed by Schönborn's friend
Leo von Klenze
Leo von Klenze (Franz Karl Leopold von Klenze; 29 February 1784, Buchladen (Bockelah / Bocla) near Schladen – 26 January 1864, Munich) was a German neoclassicist architect, painter and writer. Court architect of Bavarian King Ludwig I, Leo ...
and commemorated
Maximilian I Joseph's 1818 grant of a
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
to the Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1828 he also completed a Constitution Hall in the castle, painted at von Klenze's suggestion by
Carl Heinrich Hermann and
Jakob Götzenberger, two of
Peter von Cornelius's pupils. Schönborn's collection ranked alongside Ludwig's own as two of the most notable ones in southern Germany.
As a state counselor of Bavaria, Schönborn was a member of the state's Imperial Council from 1819 until his death. He sometimes served as Vice President of the Privy Council, in which capacity he represented the Council at the 1819 funeral of
Anton Eggstein Anton Eggstein (3 March 1780, Burgau - 13 March 1819, Munich) was a German brewer and politician, most notable as a member of the first-ever Landtag of Bavaria.
Life
Eggstein lived and worked as a brewer in his home town of Burgau. He was married, ...
, the first Bavarian member of parliament to die in office.
[Verhandlung der Kammer der Bayerischen Abgeordneten, 1819, Band 13, Nachruf Anton Eggstein] Schönborn was also hereditarily appointed as a member of the first chamber of the Nassau
Landstände according to the Nassau Ducal Edict of 29 October 1831. He was elected from 1832 to 1837.
References
Bibliography
*Constantin von Wurzbach:
Schönborn, Erwein Franz Damian Graf.' In: ''Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich.'' Band 31. Verlag L. C. Zamarski, Wien 1876, S. 135 (Digitalisat).
*Angelika Burger:
' In: ''
Neue Deutsche Biographie
''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (''NDB''; literally ''New German Biography'') is a biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 26 volumes published thus far cover ...
'' (NDB). Band 23, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007, , S. 396 f. (Digitalisat).
*Katharina Bott: ''Ein Kunstsammler zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts: Franz Erwein Graf von Schönborn (1776–1840)'', Verlag für Geisteswissenschaften, Weimar, 1993; Rezension zum Buch
*Cornelia Rösner: ''Nassauische Parlamentarier: Nassauische Parlamentarier. Teil 1. Der Landtag des Herzogtums Nassau 1818 - 1866'', Wiesbaden 1997,
External links
Franz Erwein von Schönborn-Wiesentheid in the Parlamentsdatenbank in the 'Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erwein, Franz
Members of the Bavarian Reichsrat
Politicians from Mainz
German art collectors
19th-century art collectors
1776 births
1840 deaths