Joseph Freiherr von Spaun (November 11, 1788November 25, 1865) was an Austrian nobleman, an

Imperial and Royal The phrase Imperial and Royal (German: ''kaiserlich und königlich'', ), typically abbreviated as ''k. u. k.'', ''k. und k.'', ''k. & k.'' in German (the "und" is always spoken unabbreviated), ''cs. és k. (császári és királyi)'' in Hungari ...

Councillor, lottery director, and honorary citizen 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 ...

and

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; cs, Těšín ; german: Teschen; la, Tessin; szl, Ćeszyn) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitant ...

. He is best known for his friendship with the composer

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

Family

Joseph von Spaun came from the Spaun family, originally of Swabian origin first mentioned in documents from 1583-1593 among farmers and yarn spinners ''Bartholomäus Spaun.'' The family, originally from

Deisenhausen Deisenhausen is a municipality in the district of Günzburg in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...

(

Günzburg Günzburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Genzburg'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is a ''Große Kreisstadt'' and the capital of the Swabian Günzburg (district), district Günzburg. This district was constituted in 1972 by combining the city ...

) became wealthy in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

. He was the son of Franz Xaver Ritter von Spaun (1756-1804) a royal councillor and

Imperial State An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( la, Status Imperii; german: Reichsstand, plural: ') was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise si ...

Syndic Syndic (Late Latin: '; Greek: ' – one who helps in a court of justice, an advocate, representative) is a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a universi ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

and the widow Josepha Steyrer von Riedenburg (1757-1835). His brother was the historian and folklorist Anton Ritter von Spaun (1790-1849). Spaun married ''Franziska Roner Edle von Ehrenwert'' (July 17 1795-Jan 31, 1890), daughter of landholder and military captain ''Joseph Roner Edler von Ehrenwert'' on April 14 1828 in Vienna. The son of this union became Admiral

Hermann von Spaun Hermann Freiherr von Spaun (9 May 1833 – 28 May 1919) was an admiral in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy from December 1897 to October 1904. Background Born into the Swabian noble family of Sp ...

. He was raised to the Austrian nobility on August 25 1859 ( Adelsbrief on Nov. 2, 1859), and assumed the title

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

(baron).

Life

Spaun studied law from 1806 to 1809 at Vienna University and entered the civil service. At the Vienna seminary he met

, eight years younger than himself, and they developed a lifelong friendship. Spaun supported Schubert financially, enabling the young composer to attend the opera and theater, and providing him with a supply of music paper. The patronage lasted to the end of Schubert's life, and Spaun hosted the final

Schubertiade A Schubertiade (also spelled Schubertiad) is an event held to celebrate the music of Franz Schubert (1797–1828). Modern Schubertiades also include concert series and festivals, such as the Schubertiade Vorarlberg. History During Schubert's lifet ...

on January 28, 1828. Spaun was made an honorary citizen of Vienna on May 18, 1841.

References

* *Karl Glossy: From the memoirs of Joseph Freiherrn von Spaun, in "Grillparzer-Jahrbuch", viii, (Vienna: 1898), pp. 275-303. *

Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First published ...

, Adelige Häuser B Band XVIII, Seite 443, Band 95 der Gesamtreihe, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1989, {{DEFAULTSORT:Spaun, Joseph Von Barons of Austria Franz Schubert 1788 births 1865 deaths