Erwin von Neipperg

Neipperg was born on 6 April 1813 in Schwaigern, in the Kingdom of Württemberg. He was the youngest son of General Count Adam Albert von Neipperg (a grandson of Count Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg) and his first wife, Countess Theresia Pola di Treviso (1778–1815). His elder brother, Count Alfred von Neipperg, married Princess Marie Friederike Charlotte of Württemberg (a daughter of King William I of Württemberg and Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, the fourth daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia).{{cite book |last1=Cuthell |first1=Edith E. |title=An Imperial Victim: Marie Louise: Archduchess of Austria, Empress of the French, Duchess of Parma |date=1912 |publisher=Brentano's |page=337 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KY-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA337 |access-date=5 May 2023 |language=en}} After his mother's death, Adam Albert would marry Archduchess Maria Luisa of Habsburg-Lorraine, Napoleon's widow and daughter of Emperor Franz II, thus acquiring the title of Count of Neipperg.{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Frederick |last2=Keltie |first2=Sir John Scott |last3=Renwick |first3=Isaac Parker Anderson |last4=Epstein |first4=Mortimer |last5=Steinberg |first5=Sigfrid Henry |last6=Paxton |first6=John |last7=Hunter (Librarian) |first7=Brian |last8=Turner |first8=Barry |title=The Statesman's Year-book |date=1873 |publisher=Palgrave |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frARAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA137 |access-date=5 May 2023 |language=en}}

Neipperg completed military studies and after the death of his father acquired, in coregency with his brothers Alfred, Ferdinand and Gustav, lead the village of Schwaigern with its annexation of Burg Neipperg, the hunting grounds in Kleingartach, Bönningheim and Erlingheim as well as lands in Schwaigern and a forest near Neipperg. In 1833, he and his brothers closed a trust on the succession, which gave all the property to the eldest son and regulated the succession in the event of the termination of a line of descendants.{{Cite book|title=Vollständige Sammlung der großherzoglich badischen Regierungsblätter von deren Entstehung 1803 bis 1833|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sK5dAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA77|date=1853|publisher=Marx|language=de|pages=77|access-date=February 12, 2022}}

Neipperg served for a long time in the Imperial Austrian Army as a cavalry officer in the garrison in Parma, where his stepmother Maria Luisa resided.{{Cite book|author=Edith E. Cuthell|title=An Imperial Victim: Marie Louise: Archduchess of Austria, Empress of the French, Duchess of Parma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KY-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA366|volume=2|date=1912|publisher=Brentano's|pages=366|access-date=February 12, 2022}} He was promoted to colonel in 1848 and was commander of the Austrian garrison in Parma. He found himself to stem the weak insurrectional uprisings that took place in Parma and to support the heir to the throne, Carlo III of Parma. He participated in the battles of the First Italian War of Independence, distinguishing himself in Morozzo and Custoza. Subsequently, he was military governor of Gorizia until 1865; having been promoted to Feldmarschall-Leutnant in 1863.{{Cite book|author=James Lucas|title=Fighting Troops of the Austro-Hungarian Army, 1868-1914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j27fAAAAMAAJ|date=1987|publisher=Hippocrene Books|isbn=9780870523625|pages=105|access-date=February 12, 2022}}

Fiercely anti-Prussian and a supporter of a federation of German states led by the Austrian Empire, Neipperg participated in the Austro-Prussian War at the head of the 4th Division of the VIII Army Corps, composed of Austrian and Nassauian troops. On 14 July 1866, due to the pleas of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine for Austrian support in the Campaign of the Main, he clashed with the troops of the Prussian general August Karl von Goeben near Aschaffenburg.{{Cite book|author=Helmut Neuhold|title=Königgrätz 1866|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Q54DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT134|date=June 28, 2016|publisher=Marixverlag |language=de|access-date=February 12, 2022|isbn=9783843805353}} The Prussians, in clear numerical superiority with 16,600 men, won a crushing victory over Neipperg's troops that forced the Austrians, now decimated, to a hasty flight. Neipperg, after having been military commander of Bratislava and Vienna, left the Imperial Austrian Army and for some years served as head of the local militia of the Kingdom of Württemberg, leaving all military posts in 1878. Meanwhile he had been promoted to General of the Cavalry in 1870.{{cite book |last1=Schmidt-Brentano |first1=Antonio |title=Die k. k. bzw. k. u. k. Generalität 1816-1918 |date=2007 |publisher=National Archives of Austria |url=http://www.oesta.gv.at/DocView.axd?CobId=23130 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215757/http://www.oesta.gv.at/DocView.axd?CobId=23130 | page=125 |language=de|archive-date=4 October 2013}}

Neipperg's first marriage was with the Countess Henriette von Waldstein-Wartenberg (1823–1845), who however died after a few months of marriage, and his second marriage was with Princess Rosa von Lobkowitz (1832–1905) at Gorizia. Rosa was a sister of Prince Georg Christian von Lobkowitz and a descendant of one of the oldest and most noble families of the Bohemian aristocracy. His wedding witness was Count Georg Otto von Toggenburg-Sargans, Governor of Veneto. Together, they had three children:{{cite book |last1=Raineval |first1=Melville Henry Massue marquis de Ruvigny et |last2=Raineval |first2=Melville Henry Massue Marquis of Ruvigny and |title=The Titled Nobility of Europe: An International Peerage, Or "Who's Who," of the Sovereigns, Princes, and Nobles of Europe |date=1914 |publisher=Burke's Peerage |isbn=978-0-85011-028-9 |page=1071 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVE4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1071 |access-date=9 May 2023 |language=en}}

• Count Reinhard (1856–1919), who married Countess Gabriele Ida von Waldstein-Wartenberg (1857–1948).{{Cite book|title=Regierungs-Blatt für das Königreich Württemberg|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KY-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA366|date=1887|publisher=G. Hasselbrink|language=de|pages=299|access-date=February 12, 2022}}
• Countess Anna Berta (1857–1932), who married Prince Ferdinand Zdenko von Lobkowitz (1858–1938).{{cite book |last1=Pisano |first1=Sandra |last2=Collections |first2=Lobkowicz |title=The Lobkowicz Collections |date=2007 |publisher=Scala Publishers Limited |isbn=978-1-85759-520-8 |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvYwAQAAIAAJ |access-date=9 May 2023 |language=en}}
• Countess Maria Hedwig (1859–1916), who married Count Franz Xavier von Königsegg-Aulendorf (1858–1927).{{cite book |title=Gothaischer genealogischer Hofkalender |date=1909 |page=150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PPwVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA150 |access-date=9 May 2023 |language=de}}

Count von Neipperg died on 2 March 1897 in Schwaigern.{{cite book |title=Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon: in sechzehn Bänden. Supplement : mit 59 Tafeln, darunter 8 Chromotafeln, 22 Karten und Pläne, und 144 Textabbildungen |date=1897 |publisher=Brockhaus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Ee9haFxLyYC&pg=PT1 |access-date=9 May 2023 |language=de}}

In 1873 he had been awarded by Franz Joseph of Austria, the knighthood of the Order of the Golden Fleece. He also received the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau from Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.Jean Schoos: Die Orden und Ehrenzeichen des Großherzogtums Luxemburg und des ehemaligen Herzogtums Nassau in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Verlag der Sankt-Paulus Druckerei AG. Luxemburg 1990. {{ISBN|2-87963-048-7}}, p. 342.

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|1= 1. Erwin, Count of Neipperg

|2= 2. Adam Albert, Count of Neipperg

|3= 3. Countess Theresia Pola di Treviso

|4= 4. Leopold Joseph, Count of Neipperg

|5= 5. Countess Marie Wilhelmine von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg

|6= 6. Count Antonio V Pola di Treviso

|7= 7. Countess Maria Antonia Floriana von Thurn-Valsassina

|8= 8. Wilhelm Reinhard, Count of Neipperg

|9= 9. Countess Maria Franziska Theresia von Khevenhüller-Frankenburg

|10= 10. Count Karl Ferdinand von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg

|11= 11. Baroness Marie Sophie von Bettendorff

|12= 12. Count Orazio Paolo Pola di Treviso

|13= 13. Countess Felicita di Colloredo

|14= 14. Count Johann Baptist von Thurn-Valsassina-Hofer

|15= 15. Countess Maria Cecilia von Strassoldo

|16= 16. Eberhard Friedrich, Baron of Neipperg

|17= 17. Margareta Lucretia von Hornberg

|18= 18. Count Franz Ferdinand von Khevenhüller-Frankenburg

|19= 19. Baroness Maria Theresia von Lubetich-Chapelot

|20= 20. Baron Wilhelm Franz von Hatzfeld

|21= 21. Baroness Sophie Therese von Loë

|22= 22. Baron Lothar Karl von Bettendorff

|23= 23. Countess Marie Sophie von Stadion

|24= 24. Count Antonio IV Pola di Treviso

|25= 25. Marchioness Aurelia Ippoliti di Gazoldo

|26= 26. Count Rudolf di Colloredo

|27= 27. Countess Delia Maria Silvestri di Congoli

|28= 28. Count Raimondo Bonifacio von Thurn-Valsassina-Hofer

|29= 29. Paolina Clara dei Signori di Caporiacco

|30= 30. Count Johann Josef von Strassoldo

|31= 31. Maria Cäcilia Anna von Gera

}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{BLKÖ|Neipperg, Erwin Franz Graf|20|155|157|}}
• {{Cite ADB|52|605|610|Erwin Franz Graf Neipperg|Ritter Binder Edler von Degenschild|ADB:Neipperg, Erwin Franz Graf von}}
• Immo Eberl: Die Herren und Grafen von Neipperg. In: Heimatbuch der Stadt Schwaigern. Stadtverwaltung Schwaigern. Schwaigern 1994.
• {{Cite book|author=Frank Raberg|title=Biographisches Handbuch der württembergischen Landtagsabgeordneten 1815–1933|publisher=Commissioned by the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg|location=Stuttgart|date=2001|pages=605|isbn=3-17-016604-2}}
• Heinrich Friedjung: Neipperg, Erwin Franz Ludwig Bernhard Ernst Graf von. In: Anton Bettelheim (Hrsg.): Biographisches Jahrbuch und deutscher Nekrolog. Band 2, Seite 325–326, Georg Reimer, Berlin 1898, ([http://www.archive.org/stream/biographischesj08wolfgoog#page/n395/mode/2up Digitalisat]).

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neipperg, Erwin von}}

Category:1813 births

Category:1897 deaths

Category:Lieutenant generals of Württemberg

Category:People of the First Italian War of Independence

Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria

Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class

Category:People of the Austro-Prussian War

Category:People from Heilbronn (district)

Category:Edlers of Austria

Category:Austro-Hungarian generals

Category:Military personnel from Baden-Württemberg

Category:Austrian military personnel of the Second Schleswig War