Holzhausen is a leafy suburb in the southeast of Leipzig in Saxony. On a fork in the road, a huge double-headed eagle keeps watch on an imperial monument in the middle of what used to be the communist state of East Germany. For 100 years, the monument was doing fine. But in 2009, the two poplars flanking the monument were starting to fall apart and had to be taken down. Leipzig's city gardeners did just that and sent an invoice for the trouble to the land owner.
That was when problems really started. The land owner couldn't be found. The records showed the Military Order of Maria Theresa owning the 200 square meters of greenery around the monument. The order was declared defunct and was dissolved by the Republic of Austria in 1986. The invoice was returned to sender. The city sent a letter to the Austrian embassy to inquire after the legal owner of the land. I suppose they are still waiting for an answer.
The monument was built in 1913. The Military Order of Maria Theresa erected the monument to commemorate Baron of Janowitz, Johann Count of Klenau, who commandeered the 24,000-man-strong Corps IV of the Austrian army a hundred years earlier in the Battle of Leipzig against Emperor Napoleon. On that battlefield, 500,000 soldiers were deployed. The battle and the carnage lasted for four days. The worst of the fighting had taken place South of Leipzig.
Johann Count of Klenau had distinguished himself in the battles of Aspern and Wagram four years earlier. In Leipzig, his tactic was not successful as a description of the battle of Leipzig written in 1863 revealed. The Count wasn't lucky in this battle, but this didn't do any harm to his status as a hero. His status as a hero was assured since the Battle of Handschuhsheim near Heidelberg in 1795. There, he had defeated the French decisively while seriously outnumbered. He was awarded the Military Order of Maria Theresa only weeks later. The Military Order of Maria Theresa Medal was the highest military decoration which the Hapsburg monarchy handed out.
For 160 years, particularly courageous soldiers of the imperial army were awarded this distinction. Empress Maria Theresa herself had endowed the Order after the Battle of Kolin in June 1757. Until 1918, 1240 medals with perks were handed out. The last one went to Gottfried Baron of Banfield. He was a World War I flying ace honored for his actions (21 victories over enemy aircraft). He died in 1986 in Trieste in Italy as the last holder of the order' medal. Which brings us full circle in this story.
The Austrian Republics before and after World War II had continued to pay the pensions as set out by the statutes of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. They had not acquired the order as a successor state to the Austrian Empire, neither had any other successor state done so. The order remained in the hands of the Imperial family as the last emperor never had abdicated. The pensions were paid as part of the military pension scheme of the Republic of Austria. The payments by far outstripped the monetary possibilities of the order. So when the last holder and pensioner died in 1986, the remaining assets in Austria were seized in repayment for pensions footed by the state. This happened under Austrian law and wouldn't apply in East Germany.
Somehow, our communist friends in East Germany had overlooked this imperial thorn in their side and books and missed the chance to deprive someone of their legal rights to line their own pockets. When East Germany was reunite into West Germany to form Germany in 1989, the land deeds remained as noted unless contested.
Internationally, the order has not been disbanded. It is directly linked to the head of the House of Hapsburg; that no medals have been handed out since 1917 doesn't mean it is legally defunct. Contrariwise, the Imperial family has launched various lawsuits in and against countries that tried to reinvest the order (Nazi regimes in Austria and Hungary come to mind) and managed to suppress the handing out of medals in all cases except one (1944).
What now, Leipzig? Austria is not the legal successor of the order and will not pay the invoice for felling the two old poplars. The Imperial Hapsburg family is not the legal owner of the land either, as they would point out that the order still exists until they dissolve it. The order is the owner, but has no domicile. It looks like an impasse that will remain one for years to come. For Leipzig to go through all the trouble of acquiring the land by deed would cause much higher costs than sending the gardeners over once in a while.
Today, four young poplars grow behind the monument in Holzhausen. They tower imposingly above the double-headed eagle but their stems are still thin and supported by wooden frames. The stumps of the felled trees are proof of how huge these had overshadowed the monument. A gnarled wooden bench invites visitors to linger. If in Leipzig and out for a destination off the beaten trail, you might consider the lonely eagle. Bring some flowers for all the soldiers that lost their lives in that awful battle.
Further reading
Palmanova: Italy's Star City
Royal Changelings
Prince and People of Liechtenstein
No comments:
Post a Comment