Auerspergi in njihove povezave s Hrvaško
The Auerspergs and their connections with Croatia

Summary/Abstract: The Auerspergs, who were called Turjaški because of their home-castle in Turjak, were one of the oldest and most influential noble lineages on the territory of Slovenia. Even though they were mostly oriented towards Kranjska (Carniola), the many members of the Auersperg family left a deep trace and were firmly connected with the other provinces of the former Habsburg Monarchy. The first contacts the Auerspergs had with Croatian lands were made as early as the 15th century when Engelhard of Turjak reached Samobor following his family’s expansionist aspirations. There, he lived as a feudal landowner for quite some time. He was succeeded by his son Pankrac who married Ana Frankopan and thus formed family ties with the Croatian nobility. In the 16th century the Auerspergs’ contacts with Croatian territory had predominantly military characteristics. Since they were devoted soldiers and capable leaders they took over the commanding positions in the Military Border (especially Croatian Krajina). Their military exploits – the heroic death of baron Herbard near Budački in 1575 and the victory near Sisak under the command of Andreas von Auersperg in1593 which had powerful reverberations – were recorded in the annals of Croatian and Central European military history. From the 17th century on, the Auerspergs asserted themselves as landowners. The Counts of Auersperg took over the earldom of Pazin and some neighboring manorial estates which they kept as alodial estates until the 20th century. Their noble relatives, mostly those who owned estates in the southeastern part of Kranjska (Carniola), married into Croatian-Hungarian nobility. In this way, the Auerspergs got to own several Croatian estates – and the most valuable acquisitions were Samobor, Rasinja and Bosiljevo. From the 18th century on, the contact the Auerspergs had with Croatian lands came to a halt only to be resumed in the second half of the 19th century after the creation of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire when the position of Hungary, and consequently, Croatia, strengthened. It was then the Auerspergs began to follow the examples of other Austrian noble families in choosing spouses from Croatian-Hungarian noble families. As a result, they had a strong influence on Croatian lands both as landowners and as their organic, biological constituent. The Auersperg example shows the influence that nobility had on political, economic and cultural development of the countries. It also helps to determine the supranational and connecting role of nobility, which is, even today, a very current issue in the united Europe.

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