Ruprecht von Eggenberg (1546 – 7 February 1611, Graz, Styria) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

colonel-general from the

Duchy of Styria The Duchy of Styria (german: Herzogtum Steiermark; sl, Vojvodina Štajerska; hu, Stájer Hercegség) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 180 ...

Inner Austria Inner Austria (german: Innerösterreich; sl, Notranja Avstrija; it, Austria Interiore) was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the Habsburg hereditary lands south of the Semmering Pass, referring to the Imperial duchi ...

, part of the

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. He was a member of the Eggenberger family and cousin of Prince

Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg (156818 October 1634) was an Austrian statesman, a son of Seyfried von Eggenberg, Lord of Erbersdorf (1526-1594), and great-grandson of Balthasar Eggenberger (died 1493). He was a prominent member of the House of E ...

Military career

He chose a military career early on in his life. In 1572 he served as a captain with

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forces and saw duty in

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

under the great general Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza. Ruprecht von Eggenberg benefited greatly from this experience and was ultimately appointed by

Charles II, Archduke of Austria Charles II Francis of Austria (german: Karl II. Franz von Innerösterreich) (3 June 1540 – 10 July 1590) was an Archduke of Austria and ruler of Inner Austria (Styria, Carniola, Carinthia and Gorizia) from 1564. He was a member of the House o ...

to the arch-ducal council and to captain of the guard at the main castle in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

. Because of the growing threat from the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

, he served as a commander beginning in 1592. Although outnumbered, Eggenberg vanquished the Ottoman forces under the command of Hasan Pasha Predojević at the Battle of Sisak on 22 June 1593. In 1594 Eggenberg received the command of the Austrian troops along the border to what is today

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

and conquered the Ottoman fortress of

Petrinja Petrinja () is a town in central Croatia near Sisak in the historic region of Banovina. It is administratively located in Sisak-Moslavina County. On December 29, 2020, the town was hit by a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 , causin ...

in 1595. As a hero of the Ottoman wars,Evans, R.J.W.. ''The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1550-1700: An Interpretation''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984. , in 1596 Eggenberg was appointed the ''Feldobristen'' (akin to a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

in contemporary

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) in

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and in 1597 he received his appointment as the ''General-Feld-Obrist-Feldzeugmeister'' (imperfect translation would be Field Colonel General of the Artillery, denoting the second highest rank as well as an artillery officer). In the end, due to his distinguished service, Ruprecht von Eggenberg was elevated by the emperor into the Barons estate as a ''

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 Empir ...

''. He retired from service in 1606 and moved to Graz in what was then the

where he died in 1611. In his last will & testament of 1609 Ruprecht von Eggenberg had stipulated that he should be buried in the

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be cons ...

on the Schlossberg to Ehrenhausen in

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...

. In 1693, as per his final request, he was buried in the privileged mausoleum. Furthermore, Ruprecht von Eggenberg had mandated in his testament that only male,

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

members of the family who had attained the rank of general or higher may be buried in his mausoleum.

Wolff von Eggenberg Wolff von Eggenberg (died 1615) was an Austrian military officer and ''Freiherr'' of the House of Eggenberg. He was the nephew and sole heir of Ruprecht von Eggenberg. Like his uncle, Wolff von Eggenberg chose a military career and received the ...

also attained the rank of General and was interred in the mausoleum next to his uncle in 1615. The mausoleum was designed by the Graz court artist/architect Giovanni Pietro de Pomis who was also responsible for, most notably, the design of Schloss Eggenberg, the Eggenberg sponsored Mariahilfer Kirche (church) and the mausoleum of

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were dev ...

in Graz.

Literature

* Karl Johann Casimir von Landmann. ''Eggenberg, Ruprecht Freiherr von''. In: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB) Band 5. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1877, p. 666 f. * Walther Ernest Heydendorff. ''Die Fürsten und Freiherren zu Eggenberg und ihre Vorfahren''. Graz: Verlag Styria, 1965. * Barbara Kaiser. ''Schloss Eggenberg''. Graz: Christian Brandstätter Verlag, 2006. (English Edition) or (German Edition) (available through the Joanneum) * Kurt Woisetschläger, et al. ''Giovanni Pietro de Pomis''. Graz: Verlag Styria, 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eggenberg, Ruprecht 1546 births 1611 deaths 16th-century Austrian people Ruprecht Barons of Austria Military personnel from Graz