!!!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
Die Fuersten Esterházy, exhibition catalogue, 
Eisenstadt 1995.



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