Windischgrätz

The House of Arenberg was the most important, most prestigious and richest family of the high nobility in the Austrian Netherlands. Although the family was integrated in various ways into the structures of Austrian power, no marital connections to the Austrian aristocracy were contracted during the eighteenth century before 1781. Between that year and 1876, however, ten members of the Arenberg family contracted nuptial alliances with Austrian nobles. Especially Austrian women often married into the Arenberg family. Some of these marriages produced daughters who were raised and socialized in the Habsburg monarchy. Five women, Countess Therese Windisch-Graetz, Countess Julie Hunyady, Princess Ernestine Arenberg, Princess Sophie Auersperg and Princess Eleonore Ursula Arenberg, lived as an Arenberg wife or daughter in the nineteenth-century Habsburg monarchy. Their lives are the focus of this paper.
Noblewomen and their scope of action in the nineteenth century have seldom been the object of historical research. In those cases where attention has been drawn to this topic, narratives concerning the experiences of the nineteenth century middle-classes have determined perspectives on noblewomen. This paper aims at elucidating the different spheres of activity of noblewomen. It examines maternity, marriage, housekeeping, estate economy and society, and highlights the practical meanings and diversification of these traditional activities by Arenberg women. One outstanding example was Julie Arenberg, née Hunyady and widow of Prince Mihailo Obrenović of Serbia. Unable to conceive children she did not have the duties of motherhood, but as princess of Serbia she was involved in nation-building on behalf of that country. Yet the patterns of behavior of Ernestine and Eleonore Ursula show that noble girls sometimes struggled with the traditional role model for noblewomen. As a consequence these two women developed different strategies of self-fulfillment. Furthermore this article examines the issues of religion and nation in relation to the identity of these five women. Religion was important for all Arenberg women; in the case of Ernestine it provided the main purpose of life. Her numerous religious endowments offer insight into another traditional field of noble action. National ascriptions deeply determined the life of Julie Arenberg as princess of Serbia. Nevertheless, the nationalization of Arenberg women did not occur before the First World War, as the example of Eleonore Ursula demonstrates. Even this case was exceptional both within the Arenberg family and the female nobility of the Habsburg monarchy generally.

The post-Napoleonic political system in the first half of the nineteenth century produced individual Arenberg family lines based in the various states including Belgium, Prussia, Hanover and France where the Arenberg family now possessed landed estates.
However, the Arenbergs had never possessed significant links to the Hohenzollern and Welf dynasties, and they neither identified with the constitutional monarchy in Belgium nor with the Republic of France. In the context of this crisis of political identification and loyalty, three Arenberg princes decided to pursue military careers in the Austrian Empire. All occurring between 1852 and 1870, these three careers are in many ways exemplary of the fundamental changes in the Austrian military in the middle of the century. When the three Arenbergs entered the military, the Austrian army enjoyed a good reputation thanks to its successes in putting down the revolts of 1848. The later defeats at Solferino and Königgrätz fundamentally changed the situation. There was both a professionalization and dearistocratization of the officer corps and a mechanization and industrialization of the army in general. This paper illustrates the consequences of Austrian army reform on the basis of three Arenberg careers, while highlighting the problematic reorientation of the Arenberg family in the nineteenth century.
The brothers Karl and Joseph entered the military as young men in the course of the educational journey they made in 1852 to Vienna. Their careers were highly influenced by the old system of regimental proprietors, who were mostly well-connected nobles with command and organizational authority over their units. Joseph’s advancement was made possible only by the patronage of the Windisch-Graetz family, to which the Arenbergs were related. Their cousin Louis, by contrast, possessed a good education, leadership skills, and scientific interest in military and engineering. His qualifications conformed more to the meritocratic requirements for officers that gained acceptance after 1868. Therefore he stayed in the military after the mandatory eight years of service, embarking additionally on a career as a military attaché. This paper deals with the different career trajectories, demonstrates the importance of traditional chivalry for the nobility and the army in the nineteenth century, describes the daily routine of offices, and elucidates the new challenges and changes for the nobility and the military resulting from the industrialization of warfare, such as advanced training for officers and the requirements of service for military attachés.