Anton Egon (23 April 1656 – 10 October 1716), a member of the Swabian House of Fürstenberg, was

Imperial Prince Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (, , cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors of the princely title bore it as immediate vassal ...

and Princely Landgrave of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg from 1674 until his death. He also served as governor of the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

under the Wettin prince-elector

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

Life

Anton Egon was born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, where his father Count Herman Egon of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg (1627–1674) served as privy councillor at the court of the

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria. He was the eldest son from his father's marriage with his cousin, Countess Maria Franziska of Fürstenberg-Stühlingen (1638–1680). In 1664 Emperor Leopold I elevated the Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg branch to the rank of Princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Upon his father's death in 1674, Anton Egon succeeded as head of the line. While on Grand Tour in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Anton Egon received the news of his succession. He endeavoured to hold a critical distance to his spiritual uncles, the

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

prince-bishops Franz Egon and Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg, who were declared supporters of King

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

in the

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, 1672 to 1678, was primarily fought by Kingdom of France, France and the Dutch Republic, with both sides backed at different times by a variety of allies. Related conflicts include the 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and ...

. The young prince was declared to have reached majority in 1676; one year later, he married the wealthy French noblewoman Marie de Ligny (1656–1711). This marriage displeasured Emperor Leopold, who stripped him of his seat in the Imperial Diet and seized his Swabian estates. To regain his favour, Prince Anton Egon moved to the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

court in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and finally was restored in the course of the 1679

Peace of Nijmegen The Treaties or Peace of Nijmegen (; ; ) were a series of treaty, treaties signed in the Dutch Republic, Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republic, ...

. The prince spent the following years at the Bavarian court in Munich, on his mother's estates in Weitra,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, as well as in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He again fell out with the Habsburg emperor in 1691, after the struggles of his uncle Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg with the

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

archbishop

Joseph Clemens of Bavaria Joseph Clemens of Bavaria () (4 December 1671 – 12 November 1723) was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria and also served as the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1688 to 1723. Biography The third son of Ferdinand Maria, El ...

sparked the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

against King Louis XIV. Reconciled again, Leopold sent Anton Egon to supervise the gold mining in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, where the prince met with the

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

(''Raab'') bishop Christian August of Saxe-Zeitz. It was the Wettin bishop, who recommended him to the Saxon court of Augustus the Strong. DD-Augustusstrasse

In 1697, a

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

was founded between the Wettin Electorate of Saxony and the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. Augustus the Strong invested large sums and even converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

to ensure his

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

to the Polish throne. From 2 December 1697, Anton Egon, a Roman Catholic himself, acted as

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the Saxon electorate while the Wettin king was in Poland. Augustus granted Anton Egon a lavish residence on Schloßplatz in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, the former home of Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz, mistress of the late Elector John George IV. The building at the site of the present-day Sächsisches Ständehaus was then renamed ''Palais Fürstenberg''; it temporarily accommodated the laboratories of Johann Friedrich Böttger and

Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus or Tschirnhauß (; 10 April 1651 – 11 October 1708) was a German mathematician, physicist, physician, and philosopher. He introduced the Tschirnhaus transformation and is considered by some to have been the ...

. As an Imperial prince, Anton Egon ranked above the local nobles, whose traditional privileges he tried to curtail. At court, he would carry out essential functions as representative of the prince-elector, who was frequently absent. A proponent of absolutism, he was always ready to protect the interests of the Saxon electoral house, though historians disagree in their assessment of his character.Jochen Vötsch: ''Anton Egon Fürst von Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg'', in: ''Sächsische Biografie'', Institut für Sächsische Geschichte und Volkskunde e.V. 2005
Online at http://www.isgv.de/saebi
/ref> In his later years, Anton Egon again approached to the Saxon estates. During the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, King Augustus sent the prince on a diplomatic mission to Emperor Joseph I in 1706, in order to forge an alliance against the forces of King

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

. After the failed Campaign of Grodno in the same year, however, the Polish crown was temporarily lost in the Treaty of Altranstädt and Prince Anton Egon's office as Saxon governor became obsolete. Though he again was appointed to this position upon the Swedish defeat at the 1709 Battle of Poltava, his actual influence on Saxon politics remained limited and he retired to his private estates in Wermsdorf. Anton Egon died on 10 October 1716 in the Wermsdorf hunting lodge and, as a Catholic, he was buried in the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

abbey of Sankt Marienstern (today part of Panschwitz-Kuckau) in

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (, ; , ; ; or ''Milsko''; ) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the north, it makes up the region of Lusatia, named after the Polabian Slavs, Slavic ''Lusici'' tribe. Both parts of Lusatia a ...

. His heart was placed near the coats-of-arms of his ancestors to the left of the altar in the chapel of Heiligenberg Castle. After his death, the office of Governor of Saxony was abolished. As Prince Anton Egon left no male heirs, his Heiligenberg estates passed to the Fürstenberg-Fürstenberg main line.

Marriage and issue

Anton Egon married on 11 January 1677 to Marie (1656-1711), a daughter of Jean, Marquis de Ligny and Elizabeth Boyer. The marriage produced four children: * Philippine Louise (6 May 1680 – 16 February 1706) married in 1700 to Louis de Gand de Merode de Montmorency, Prince d'Isenghien, who was a

Marshal of France Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to General officer, generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) ...

* Louise (after 1682 – after 1704) married Charles de la Noe, Marquis de Sanzelles (d. 1738) * Francis Joseph (1682 – 1690) * Marie Louise Mauritia (after 1682 – 16 March 1749) married 1708 Marie Jean Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay (d. 19 February 1712), a grandson of Jean-Baptiste Colbert

References

*
Online
* Eduard Johne: ''Fürst Anton Egon zu Fürstenberg (1656-1716), Statthalter August des Starken in Sachsen, im Spiegel zweier Lobgedichte'', in: ''Schriften des Vereins für Geschichte und Naturgeschichte der Baar und der angrenzenden Landesteile in Donaueschingen, XXIV'', issue 1956, Donaueschingen 1956; p. 107-11
Online
* * Hans-Joachim Böttcher: ''Christiane Eberhardine - Prinzessin von Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Kurfürstin von Sachsen und Königin von Polen, Gemahlin August des Starken''. Dresden 2011. . * Hans-Joachim Böttcher: ''Böttger - Vom Gold- zum Porzellanmacher''. Dresden 2011. . * Hans-Joachim Böttcher: ''Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus - Das bewunderte, bekämpfte und totgeschwiegene Genie''. Dresden 2014. .

Footnotes

External links

* Jochen Vötsch, ''Anton Egon, Fürst von Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg''
Entry in the Sächsische Biographie
ed. by Martina Schattkowsky
Anton Egon in the portrait collection of the Austrian National Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anton Egon, Prince of Furstenberg-Heiligenberg Politicians from Saxony Princes of the Holy Roman Empire House of Fürstenberg (Swabia) 1656 births 1716 deaths Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)