Apponyi family
While tracing its origins to the High Middle Ages, the family became prominent in the 18th century with its elevation to the rank of Counts of Nagy-Appony in 1739 and the acquisition of seventeen grand domains between 1760 and 1800.
In the last century of the Habsburg monarchy, four of its members received the Order of the Golden Fleece, a total held in a draw among the European nobility by the houses of Esterházy, Batthyány, Cziráki [de] and Pálffy (4 each).
In addition to this the Apponyi family sat within all Hungarian Kings and then Habsburg private courts which was reserved only for the most powerful and important members of the Kingdom.
[4] He in turn was made a Baron by King Ferdinand II, on 12 November 1624, possibly for his literary activity and/or role in negotiations in Vienna with the supporters of Gabriel Bethlen.
He was personally raised to the hereditary rank of Baron by Charles VI in Vienna on 16 February 1718, for his outstanding military contribution to the Habsburg fights against the Ottoman Empire.
Charles VI then made Lázár Count of Nagy-Appony on 30 May 1739 in Laxenburg, and his descendants kept that title until the end of the monarchic period.
József, son of Lázár, joined the Society of Jesus in Vienna in 1736, studied there and in Graz until 1741, then taught grammar in Győr (1742) and Trnava (1743).
He was also well respected by all of the major leaders of the time, such as Theodore Roosevelt who considered him a very dear friend, along with stayed at his estate when he came to visit Budapest in 1910.
Maria Teresa, née Nogarolla in Munich of an old family originally from Verona, married Antal Apponyi in 1808.
[9] Lajos, grandson of Antal and son of Gyula Apponyi (1816–1857), was appointed Marshal of the Court in Hungary (Hofmarschall in Ungarn) by Emperor Franz Joseph in December 1895, a newly created position that entailed guardianship of the royal palaces of Budapest and Gödöllő.
Among other functions, he represented the monarchy at the ceremonial reburial of King Béla III and Queen Agnes of Antioch in Matthias Church on 21 October 1898.
[12] Marguerite, née von Seherr-Thoss (de) from an ancient noble family in Silesia, married Lajos Apponyi in 1871.
She also had the decades-long correspondence of her mother-in-law Szofia (née Sztáray, wife of Gyula) with Charles de Montalembert edited by François Buloz and published in the Revue des deux Mondes in 1913.
[3] Henrik started a diplomatic career, in Berlin (1912–1913) and Istanbul (1913–1914), but that was cut short by World War I and the end of the Habsburg monarchy.
Rudolf, son of Antal, was a diplomat, initially in Paris and Saint Petersburg where he married in 1843, with Emperor Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna both attending.
The brothers Pál and János Apponyi (not descendants of Lázár, thus not counts) together inherited the castle in Jablánc (German Jablonitz or Apfelsdorf, formerly also Jabloncza or Jablonicz in Hungarian, now Jablonica in Slovakia) in 1772.
In 1645 it was badly damaged by fire and was finally destroyed by the Habsburg army in 1708 after it had been used by Kuruc rebels during Rákóczi's War of Independence.
[4] The old castle at Ybrehart (today Malinovo) was acquired by Count György Apponyi, son of Lázár, in June 1763.
[18] The manor in Jabloncza, inherited by the family in 1772, was remodeled by József Apponyi around the time of his elevation as Count in 1808, possibly to better reflect his new higher status.
[19] The Hőgyész domain in Tolna County was acquired in 1722 by Count Claude Florimond de Mercy, and purchased by György Apponyi (son of Lázár) in 1772.
It was privatized in 1999 and renovated into a luxury hotel, but was embroiled in the troubles of controversial financier Ghaith Pharaon which led to its closing in the 2010s.
[20][21] The Swabian village of Lengyel ("Polish" in Hungarian) in Tolna County was purchased by Count Antal György Apponyi in 1799.
After Sándor's passing away, his widow Countess Alexandra Esterházy donated the castle in 1926 to the Hungarian National Museum but kept the privilege of living there until her death in 1930.
During World War II it was used by Hungary's National Cartography Office, then became a Russian military hospital from January to March 1945, and later that year an internment camp for displaced Germans.
[22] The Apponyis inhabited various properties in the capitals cities of Vienna, Pressburg (Pozsony, today's Bratislava) and Budapest, many of which were rented.
[23] Albert Apponyi lived in an old house on Castle Hill in Budapest, now Táncsics Mihály utca 17, where a plaque honors his memory and that of his son György.
It was partly dispersed in stages from the late 19th century to the eve of World War II, and what was left in Apponyi Castle deteriorated during the Communist era.
Part of the latter collection was specifically dedicated to the history of Verona and the local Nogarol[l]a family from which his grandmother (Antal's wife Teresa) stemmed, including the late medieval humanist Isotta Nogarola.
