Ferdinand Joseph, Prince of Dietrichstein

An important task of Ferdinand Joseph took place in December 1666 on occasion of the marriage of the Emperor with his niece Margaret Theresa, Infanta of Spain and sister of the last King of the Habsburg branch, Charles II.

Ferdinand Joseph became the Empress' confidant and comforted her, and had to defend her against opposing courtiers who expressed their hope that the ailing Margaret soon die in order that the Emperor could contract a new marriage which could provided him with the long-awaited heir.

A few months later (15 October), Leopold I married again with his cousin Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Austria, but Ferdinand Joseph remained in his post of Obersthofmeister for the new Empress.

In addition, the tense international situation caused problems to him: just a year after his appointment in July 1683 took place the second Turkish siege of Vienna by Kara Mustafa Pasha; only thanks to the help of the Polish King Jan III Sobieski and Pope Innocent XI the Imperial capital was saved.

In the Great Turkish War, the city of Belgrade was sieged and captured in 1688 and all Hungary was freed by the decisive victory of Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Battle of Zenta, who was the base for the Austrian rise as a major power.

On the political level, the resistance of the Hungarian nobility against the Habsburg rule was partially ended with the consent for the coronation of Archduke Joseph, Leopold I's eldest son, as King of Hungary in 1687.

In the west, however, King Louis XIV of France was a successful threat for the Empire: in 1683 he capture the imperial city of Strasbourg and in 1688 he entered in the Rhineland, after having devastate the Rhenish Palatinate.

An important personal event for Ferdinand Joseph was the execution of a pending question for decades: the confirmation of the princely title for the Dietrichstein family.

As a result, there are also contemporary representations of the prince, because on both coins on the front of his chest image with great wig, lace ruff and the Golden Fleece, with the inscription "Ferd.

However, the funds originally dedicated for this objective are 60,000 guilders (extracted from the district of Medlanko and Brno) proved to be insufficients, Ferdinand Joseph therefore transferred his rights over the Lordship of Mährisch-Neustadt for the foundation, which finally was completed.