The first prominent member of the family was Ferenc Zerházy (1563–1594), who was elevated to the title of baron of
Galántha (an estate his family had held since 1421) and took the name Esterházy. Family history since this time is described according to three lines of descent, each originating in one of Ferenc's sons: the Fraknó (or
Forchtenstein) line, the
Csesznek line, and the Zólyom (or
Zvolen) line.
Fraknó (Forchtenstein) line The Fraknó (
Forchtenstein) line became "the most prominent of the three". Paul Anton was a musical prince; he played the
violin, the
flute, and the
lute, and compiled a large inventory of musical manuscripts. Paul Anton also played an important role as a patron of music. In 1728, his mother Maria Octavia, "probably at her son's instigation" He disbanded the Esterházy musical establishment for the duration of his reign. File:AntonEster.JPG|center|thumb|200px|Prince Anton [Antal] (1738–1794)
Prince Nikolaus II [Miklós Ferdinánd] (1765–1833) Born in Vienna, on 12 December 1765, he was the son of Anton and his first wife Maria Theresia. He became reigning Prince on the death of his father in 1794. Like several of his predecessors Nikolaus II pursued a military career. He is remembered for his amassing a large art collection, for his musical patronage of
Haydn and
Beethoven, for his sexual debauchery, and for his high expenditures. Ultimately these led to the family being placed under a
sequestration order, roughly the equivalent of bankruptcy. in 1793. Oil on canvas. Esterházy Privatstiftung, Burgenland.
Prince Paul Anton III [Pál Antal] (1786–1866) Served Austria in a series of diplomatic posts, and in 1848 was briefly Foreign Minister. The family encountered financial trouble during his reign, and (according to the
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, ), "the last years of his life were spent in comparative poverty and isolation, as even the Esterházy-Forchtenstein estates were unequal to the burden of supporting his fabulous extravagance and had to be placed in the hands of curators." File:Cäcilie Brand - Paul Anton Esterhazy (Lithographie 1830).jpg|thumb|center|200px|Prince Paul Anton III [Pál Antal] (1786–1866)
Prince Nikolaus III [Miklós Pál] (1817–1894) Owing to financial trouble, Nikolaus III sold the family art collection "on generous terms" to the Austro-Hungarian state in 1870. The collection is, as a result, on public view today in the
Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. ====
Prince [Pál Antal Miklós] (1843–1898)==== ====
Prince Nikolaus IV [Miklós Pál] (1869–1920)==== The reign of Nikolaus IV was a time of revival for the Esterházy family fortunes. The family estates were made into flourishing businesses, including a "traditional welfare net, providing security for employees." With the resulting improvement in the family finances, the family properties were finally released from decades of sequestration. In addition, the family palaces—including the long-abandoned
Esterháza—were restored and provided with modern plumbing and electricity. Prince Nikolaus IV, his wife
Margit, their son Anton († 1944) and other family members are buried in the Esterházy family cemetery in
Fertőd, which is located in a small park around two kilometers northeast of the
Eszterháza Palace (position: ). ====
Prince Paul V [Pál Maria Alois Antal Miklós Victor] (1901–1989)==== The lifetime of this prince witnessed momentous, often catastrophic changes for the Esterházy family. At the end of the
First World War, the
Austro-Hungarian Empire was split up, and the family's land holdings thus came to be located in several different countries. In 1938, the legal instrument of
fideicommiss, which had allowed families to hold property in foundations owned by the whole family, but governed by the head of the family alone, was abolished in Austria (aristocratic families had used this instrument to finance the representative household of the head of the family as well as to maintain palaces and castles, and to pay allowances to family members without personal wealth.) After the dissolution of the Esterházy trust, prince Paul became the sole owner of the wealth accumulated therein so far. The
Second World War proved disastrous: the family was scattered during the war years, and at the end of the war the new Hungarian government carried out a comprehensive
land reform, "confiscating the land of gentry with estates of more than 50 hectares". Only the land in Austria remained in prince Paul's possession. Further, in the years after 1945 Hungary came under the rule of the
Hungarian People's Republic, an authoritarian Communist regime sponsored by the
Soviet Union. Prince Paul endured a
show trial and was sentenced to
solitary confinement for 15 years. Freed in the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956, he moved to Zurich with his wife, Melinda Ottrubay, whom he had married in Budapest in 1945, and lived in Zurich, from there managing his Austrian domains, until his death. Paul's wealth was inherited by his wife
Melinda. Since she had no children, she created several foundations to preserve the cultural and historic heritage of the family, with the historic family seat
Schloss Esterházy in
Eisenstadt as the centre of all activities. Her nephew Stefan Ottrubay acts as general manager. , Schloss Esterházy
Prince Anton Rudolf Marie Georg Christoph Hubertus Johannes Karl Aglaë (1936–2025) Prince Paul-Anton Nikolaus Maximilian, born in Munich in 1936. The title of Prince has no legal standing in Hungary today, as noble titles were abolished in 1947 (for details see
Hungarian nobility). In Austria, aristocratic titles were
abolished in 1919.
Other members of the Esterházy family Listed chronologically. •
Count Carolus [Károly] (1725–1799). Son of Countess Szidónia Pálffy and Count
Ferenc, Bishop of
Eger. Founder of the
Eszterházy Károly Főiskola (College) in Eger (1774). •
Joseph Eszterházy was nephew to Palatine Paul. He was
Ban of Croatia between 1733 and 1741.
Francis Eszterházy also held that title between 1783 and 1785, but he was opposed by Francis
Széchenyi. •
Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy (1847–1923), a minor member of the family, was notorious for his role in the
Dreyfus affair. • Count
Paul Oscar Esterházy was an immigration agent, who, in 1886, settled south of the present town of
Esterhazy, in
Saskatchewan, Canada with 35 Hungarian families from the vicinity of
Kaposvár. His claim to the Esterházy name was never recognized by the Esterházy family, although he claimed he had "incontrovertible proof of the legality of my claim and of birthright". • Count
János Esterházy (1901–1957) was a politician in Czechoslovakia and later Slovak Republic during the WWII, renowned for being the only member of the Slovak parliament to vote against the expulsion of the Jews in 1942.https://www.iwp.edu/articles/2020/09/29/a-saintly-underdog-count-janos-esterhazy/ After the war ended, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Soviet Union, later charged with treason and collaboration with the Nazis, sentenced, and died in prison in Czechoslovakia; in Russia he was posthumously rehabilitated in 1993. • The renowned Hungarian writer
Péter Esterházy (1950–2016) was the grandson of Count
Móric Esterházy (1881–1960), prime minister of Hungary and one of the five biggest landowners of Hungary. After the regime change in 1989, Péter Esterházy refused to accept the return of any land or valuables nationalised by the communists. •
Katalina Esterházy is the maiden name of the wife of the late
Timothy Landon, a Brigadier General and Knight who was instrumental in the modernization of Oman. •
Márton Esterházy (born 1956) is the younger brother of Péter Esterházy. He was a soccer player, playing for the
Hungarian national team between 1980 and 1988 and took part in the world championship of
1986, in Mexico. He obtained 29 caps and scored 11 goals. At the club level, Márton played for
Budapest Honvéd and also
AEK Athens. •
Christine Esterházy (born 1959), German opera singer and wife of Count Endre Esterházy von Galántha. •
Paul-Anton Nikolaus Maximilian Prinz Esterházy von Galántha (born 1986) is the current speaker of the family ==Esterházy properties==