Nikolaus III, Prince Esterházy

Nicholas III, Prince Esterhazy

Family Tree House Esterhazy

Nicholas III, Prince Esterházy (Hungarian: Esterházy III. Miklós, German: Nikolaus III Esterházy (Regensburg, June 25 1817 - Vienna, January 28 1894) was the ninth prince of the Hungarian House of Esterházy.

Life

Unlike his ancestors, Nicholas didn't spent his youth in the Schloss Esterháza in Hungary, but in England, where his father , Paul III Anton, Prince Esterhazy, was Ambassador for the Austrian Emperor. Nicholas married the English Sarah Frederica Caroline Child Villiers (1822–1853), daughter of George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey and Lady Sarah Sophia Fane.

After his return from England, Nicholas entered in the service of the new Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, and accompanied him on his travels through Hungary and Transylvania. Like most of his ancestors, he received in 1862 the Order of the Golden Fleece.

In 1866, he succeeded his father, but under very difficult circumstances. In 1865 the Esterházy estates had been placed in the hands of curators until 1898, because of the enormous debts caused by his father's and grandfather's extravagance.

Nicholas was forced to sell the family's collection of paintings to the Kingdom of Hungary. This collection can today be seen in the Hungarian National Gallery.

He had 3 sons and was succeeded by the eldest, Paul IV, Prince Esterhazy.