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Prinz Eugen
by
Hans
Kopp
Prince Eugene of Savoy is the most
important personality in the history of the
Danube Swabian. He began his career as a 19 year
old with the commission of 400 men under Karl V
of Lothringen and his uncle
Max Emanuel Duke of
Bavaria in the “Entsatz Schlacht”
(freeing Vienna) at Vienna. He also served under
the “Türken Louis” Ludwig von Baden commander at
the battle of Slankamen. He experienced battle
after battle against the Turks and was seriously
wounded at the battle in Belgrade. He was given
the high command in Zenta (located in today’s
Vojvodina, Serbia-Montenegro) in 1697 of an army
of 50,000 men and gained one of the most notable
victories at the battles in Zenta near the
Theiss River losing only 429 men as compared to
an estimated 25,000 Turks in the river while
crossing. According to historians only about
2,000 Turks reached the other side of the river.
In 1699 16 years after the battle at Vienna a 25
year piece treaty was signed in Karlowitz,
however in 1716 war started anew between the
German Nation and the Ottoman Empire. The
victories of Prince Eugene in Temeschburg
(Timisoara, today’s Romania) June 19 1717 and
Belgrade on August 22 1717 over the Turks, led
to the peace treaty of Passarowitz in 1718. The
Batschka and the Banat become part of Hungary.
The
most notable accomplishments of Prince Eugene of
Savoy besides his military achievements, was his
organizational talent in the area of urban
development. One of the largest projects was
draining of the “Vidovaje Ocean”,
a lake that spread between the rivers Tisza and
Maros, whose size was estimated perhaps almost
as large as Lake Constance in Germany.
When Prince
Eugene died in April 21
1736 he left this
world as the richest man. Among his estates were
the Belvedere palace in Vienna, his Danube
island castle in Hungary was among other hunting
castles he builds. He left a collection of
15,000 books, paintings and other important
documents which were dispersed.
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Prinz
Eugen der Edle Ritter
as he is called by the Danube
Swabians.
The battle of
Temeschburg
The Belvedere Palace |
