Nikolaus III, Prince Esterházy

Nikolaus III
Prince Esterházy
Prince Esterházy of Galántha
Reign	21 May 1866 – 28 January 1894
Predecessor	Paul III Anton
Successor	Paul IV
Born	25 June 1817 Regensburg, Kingdom of Bavaria
Died	28 January 1894 Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Noble family	Esterházy
Spouse(s)	Lady Sarah Child-Villiers
Issue	Prince Paul IV Prince Aloys Prince Anton
Father	Paul III Anton
Mother	Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis

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

Life

Unlike his ancestors, Nikolaus did not spend his youth in the Schloss Esterháza in Hungary, but in England, where his father, Paul III Anton, Prince Esterházy, was Ambassador for the Austrian Emperor. Nikolaus married Lady Sarah Frederica Caroline Child-Villiers (1822–1853), a daughter of George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, and his wife the former Lady Sarah Sophia Fane. Lady Jersey was a close friend of his mother Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis, who served with her for many years as a patroness of Almack's, the centre of London's social scene. They had three sons, Paul IV, Prince Esterházy (born 1843), Aloys (1844), and Anton (1851). His wife died in 1853.

His wife, Lady Sarah Child-Villiers

After his return from England, Nikolaus entered into 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, in 1862 he received 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. Nikolaus was forced to sell the family's collection of paintings to the Kingdom of Hungary, and it still constitutes the core of the collection of the present-day Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.

When he died in 1894 he was succeeded by his eldest son, Paul.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Nikolaus III, Prince Esterházy

16. Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy 8. Anton I, Prince Esterházy 17. Countess Marie Elisabeth Ungnad of Weissenwolf 4. Nikolaus II, Prince Esterházy 18. Count Nikolaus Erdődy of Monyorókerék and Monoszló 9. Countess Maria Theresia Erdődy of Monyorókerék and Monoszló 19. Countess Maria Antonia Batthyány-Strattmann 2. Paul III Anton, Prince Esterházy 20. Prince Emanuel of Liechtenstein 10. Franz Joseph I, Prince of Liechtenstein 21. Countess Maria Anna Antonia of Dietrichstein-Weichselstädt, Baroness of Hollenburg and Finkenstein 5. Princess Maria Josepha Hermengilde of Liechtenstein 22. Count Franz Philipp of Sternberg 11. Countess Leopoldine of Sternberg 23. Countess Leopoldine of Starhemberg 1. Nikolaus III, Prince Esterházy 24. Alexander Ferdinand, 3rd Prince of Thurn and Taxis 12. Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis 25. Margravine Sophie Christine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth 6. Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis 26. Charles Alexander, Duke of Württemberg 13. Duchess Auguste of Württemberg 27. Princess Marie Auguste of Thurn and Taxis 3. Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis 28. Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg 14. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 29. Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen 7. Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 30. Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt 15. Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt 31. Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg