Karl II Prince of Schwarzenberg (Karl Philipp Borromäus Prince of Schwarzenberg) (

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, 21 January 1802 -

, 15 June 1858) was an Imperial Austrian and Czech noble and

Feldzeugmeister General of the Artillery () was a historical military rank in some German and Austro-Hungarian armies, specifically in artillery. It was commonly used in the 16th and 17th centuries, and survived until the beginning of the 20th century in some Euro ...

, who fought in the

First Italian War of Independence The First Italian War of Independence (), part of the ''Risorgimento'' or unification of Italy, was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other conse ...

. He was

Governor of Transylvania The governor of Transylvania was a viceroy representing the Habsburg monarchs in the Principality (from 1765 Grand Principality) of Transylvania between 1691 and 1867. List of governors Seventeenth century Eighteenth century Nineteenth centu ...

between 1851 and 1858.

Biography

Karl was a son of the famous Field Marshal

Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg Karl Philipp, Fürst zu House of Schwarzenberg, Schwarzenberg (or Charles Philip, Prince of Schwarzenberg; 18/19 April 1771 – 15 October 1820) was an Habsburg monarchy, Austrian Generalissimo and former Field Marshal. He first entered milita ...

(1771–1822) and Countess Maria Anna von Hohenfeld (1768–1848). His 2 brothers were Friedrich Karl (1800–1870) and

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

zu Schwarzenberg (1803–1873), who also became a Field Marshal . In mid-February 1821 he joined the Habsburg Army. In 1834 he became colonel and in 1840 he was promoted to major general and took over a brigade in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

. At the beginning of January 1848, he was entrusted with the divisional command that had become vacant in

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

, and on 7 February 1848 he was appointed Field Marshal Lieutenant (FML). At the beginning of the

, there were uprisings against the Austrian rule in Brescia on 18 March 1848. On 22 March, Schwarzenberg and his troops left Brescia to join the Army of Field Marshal Count Radetzky, who was retreating from Milan. Schwarzenberg reached Crema on 24 March, where he united with the imperial main army and retreated further to

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

. Prince Schwarzenberg was then given command of a division of the I. Corps under FML Wratislaw von Mitrowitz. On 6 May, he was lightly wounded by a Sardinian bullet at the

Battle of Santa Lucia The battle of Santa Lucia, part of the First Italian War of Independence, was fought on 6 May 1848, when the king of Sardinia, Carlo Alberto, sent the I Corps of the Sardinian army to assault the fortified positions held before the walls of Ver ...

. He distinguished himself again in the following campaign of 1849 as a division general with the I. Reserve Corps under FML Gustav von Wocher in the Battle of Novara. After the Armistice of Vignale on 24 March 1849, he took command of an observation corps in

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

on 20 June, and after the Peace of Milan on 6 August 1849, he became acting governor and military governor of Lombardy in Milan on 16 October, he was also in Paullo. The following year, he was given command of the IV Corps on 18 December 1850, until he was appointed civil and military

on 29 April 1851. In recognition of his services, he was awarded the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

on 16 December 1852, and on 24 April 1854, he was promoted to

. The prince stayed in Transylvania until 1858, which he had to leave on 6 April due to a serious illness. A recovery cure in Karlsbad was already in vain, he died when he returned to Vienna at the end of June 1858.

Marriage and offspring

The prince had married on 26 July 1823 with Josephine Countess

Wratislaw of Mitrovic The Wratislaw of Mitrovice or Vratislav of Mitrovice (; ) is a Bohemian nobility, Bohemian noble family. The first mentioned member of the family is Wratislaw, who acquired the estate of Mezno, Mitrovice in 1448. The family gradually gained sign ...

(16 April 1802 - 17 April 1881). They had one son: * Karl (III.) Joseph Adolph Prince of Schwarzenberg (5 July 1824 - 29 March 1904), Order of the Golden Fleece, great-great-grandfather of Czech politician

Karel Schwarzenberg Karel Schwarzenberg (, 10 December 1937 – 12 November 2023) was a Czech politician, diplomat and statesman who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Czech Republic), Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic from 2007 to 2009 and ...

Ancestry

Sources

BLKÖ:Schwarzenberg, Karl Borromäus Philipp FürstÖBL:Schwarzenberg, Karl II. Fürst zuGeni.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karl II , Prince of Schwarzenberg 1802 births 1858 deaths Political office-holders in Transylvania Karl II Nobility from Vienna Princes of Schwarzenberg Austrian generals Military personnel from Vienna Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Austrian Empire military personnel