Esterházy, Nikolaus II. Fürst#

b. Vienna, Dec. 12, 1765, d. Como (Italy), Nov. 25, 1833. Grand-son of Prince Nikolaus I Joseph Esterházy. From 1794 held the first title of prince in the Esterházy family of magnates. 1792 plenipotentiary at the coronation of Emperor Franz II. An art lover like his grandfather. In 1795 recalled J. Haydn as his Court kapellmeister (court orchestra disbanded 1790-1794), who was followed by J. N. Hummel (1804-1811). He established the valuable art collection, which his grand-son Prince Nikolaus III Esterházy donated to the Kingdom of Hungary in 1874. He had the family palace at Eisenstadt redesigned and a landscape garden added to it. Like his predecessors, he was extremely loyal to the House of Habsburg and refused Napoleon's offer of the crown of Hungary in 1809. His extravagant lifestyle (he liberally supported the Viennese theatres), especially in the wake of the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15 led to the Esterházy estates being sequestered for several decades.

Literature#