Clary-Aldringen

Coat of arms of the House of Clary and Aldringen

The House of Clary-und-Aldringen or Clary-Aldringen is one of the most prominent Austro-Hungarian princely family of Bohemian noble origin.

Origin

Count Manfred von Clary-Aldringen

The Bohemian princes of Clary-und-Aldringen are descending from two noble families of the Holy Roman Empire. On the one hand, the von Clarys, lords of Riva del Garda, are Upper-Italian nobles who enter the Bohemian nobility in the 14th century. On the other hand, the von Aldringens is a catholic noble family from the Spanish Netherlands who sided with the Habsburgs during the Reformation and the subsequent religious wars. In 1622, countess Anna Maria von Aldringen, sister and heir of Thirty Years War's Austrian general Reichsgraf Johann von Aldringen, married count Hieronymus von Clary, son of Bohemian lord Franz von Clary. Their descendants were allowed by imperial decree to adopt the name and arms of both families. Ever since, they are named Clary-und-Aldringen (or Clary-Aldringen).

Illustration

In the Austrian Empire

The princes von Clary-Aldringen have been one of the most prominent family of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Bohemia.

The rise of the family started when Franz von Clary left his ancestral lands in Trentino to settle in the Kingdom of Bohemia where his family was known since the 14th century. In 1623, Clary bought properties in the Ústí nad Labem region. But it is the inheritance of Johann von Aldringen's estates through Franz's son's wife, Anna Maria von Aldringen, that has made the Clary-Aldringens one of the most influential and wealthy Bohemian noble family. Indeed, in 1634 Johann had received from Emperor Ferdinand II the ownership of the lands in and around the wealthy city of Teplitz (Teplice)^[1] only to die the same year without any heir but his sister Anna Maria. The inheritance was disputed but Emperor Ferdinand II recognized the Clary-Aldringens as legitimate heirs of Teplice, making them the most powerful nobles of the Sudetes. Consequently, the rise of the family speeded up and, in 1666, the Clary-Aldringens are raised to the rank of Count of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Joseph I. Soon after, they bought huge estates in Tyrol, eventually taking the lead of the Lander's Estates in 1693.

In 1767, imperial Treasurer and Emperor Joseph II's private council member Reichsgraf Wenzel von Clary und Aldringen, is raised to princely rank and the Clary-Aldringens are mediatized. Members of the family became hereditary members of the Austrian Reichsrat (or Imperial Council). From that date, the princely title (Prince/Fürst von Clary und Aldringen) is borne by the head of the family (styled Durchlaucht (Serene Highness)) while junior members bear the title of Counts/Graf or Cooutess/Grafin von Clary und Aldringen (styled Erlaucht (Illustrious Highness)).

During the Napoleonic Wars, the family's Teplitz castle was the headquarters of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon, uniting Austria, Prussia and Russia. There was first signed the triple alliance against Napoleon I of France that led to the coalition victory at the nearby Battle of Kulm and eventually instated the Holy Alliance officially signed in Paris on September 26, 1815. During the rest of the century, the family hosted Royals several times at their Teplitz castle: in 1835, they received King Frederick William III of Prussia, Emperor Nicolas I of Russia and Empereur Franz I of Austria; in 1849, they received Emperor Franz-Joseph and Kings Frederick William IV of Prussia and Frederick-August II of Saxony; in 1860 they received the Emperor and the prince-Regent William of Prussia. During the late 19th century, the princely family kept a great influence within Austro-Hungarian elites (the 100 Hoher Adle Familien) and thus played an important role in politics and diplomacy as illustrated by prominent Austro-Hungarian diplomat Prince Siegfried (1848–1929) and his brother prominent Austrian statesman Count Manfred (1852–1928).

Nowadays

Since 1945 when the Czechoslovak communist regime confiscated their Bohemian ancestral estates, the family has lived in Germany and Italy. Since March 2007, the head of the family is Prince Hieronymus von Clary und Aldringen (born in 1944).

Notable members

• Reichsgraf Johann von Aldringen (1584–1634), commandant of the Austrian army during the Thirty Years War
• Prince Wenzel von Clary und Aldringen, first prince Clary-und-Aldringen
• Princess Elizabeth-Alexandrine von Clary-und-Aldringen, née Countess de Ficquelmont, daughter of Count Charles-Louis and Countess Dorothea de Ficquelmont, née Tiesenhausen
• Prince Siegfried von Clary-Aldringen (1897–1920), prominent Austro-Hungarian ambassador; son of the previous one
• Count Manfred von Clary-Aldringen (1852–1928), Austro-Hungarian statesman, Governor of Austrian Imperial Lander of Silesia and Styria, minister-president of the Austrian part of Empire (1889); and brother of the previous one

Residences

Clary-Aldringen Palace in Vienna

Teplice Palace's chapel

The main residences of the princely family are:

• Palais Mollard-Clary in Vienna
• Teplice castle
• Herrnau castle in Salzburg

Dubí's St-Mary's Church was built on the order of the Clary-Aldringens between 1898 and 1906 as a copy of the Venice church Santa Maria dell'Orto to become their new family Church.

Marriages

The Clary-und-Aldringens are tied with the Radziwill, Glam Gallas, Mensdorff-Pouilly, Ficquelmont, Pejácsevich, Baillet-Latour, Kinský, Stromberg, Donnersmarck etc.

Bibliography

• Alfons Clary Aldringen, History of an old Austrian, Ullstein, Frankfurt, 1977, ISBN 3-550-07474-3
• Genealogy of princes Clary-Aldringen since the early 19th centyury on Gotha website

References

1. ^ the Emperor had taken these lands away from the protestant Kinsky family