21 Parma: Constantinischer St. Georgs Orden - Großkreuzstern aus dem Besitz des österreichischen Feldmarschalls Graf Radetzky.
Silver, the cross of the order applied in gold and enamel. On a genuine gold pin. On the back, a cover made of green Morocco leather. The background of the translucent red enamel is decorated with particularly fine guilloché work.
In the beautiful original red Morocco leather presentation case, the lid with a gold-embossed palmette frieze.
Splendid example of the finest old Italian jewellery quality from the first half of the 19th century.
Includes proof of origin.
Johann Josef Wenzel Anton Franz Karl Graf Radetzky von Radetz (Czech: Jan Josef Václav Antonín František Karel hrabě Radecký z Radče; born 2 November 1766, died 5 January 1858) was an Austrian field marshal and Bohemian nobleman, and probably the most important Austrian military commander of the first half of the 19th century.
After the early death of his parents Peter Eusebius von Radetzky (1732-1776) and Maria Venantia Bechyně von Lazan (1738-1772), Josef Wenzel came to his paternal grandfather Wenzel Leopold (1704-1781) in Prague, where he attended the Piarist school. He spent the rest of his youth at the Ritterakademie in Brno and the Theresianum in Vienna.
After graduating from high school, he began studying law. Due to a lack of physical fitness, he was initially unable to pursue the military career he had aspired to.
Radetzky joined the 2nd Cuirassier Regiment as a cadet in 1784, was promoted to lieutenant after two years and to lieutenant colonel a year later. In 1788/89 he took part in the Russo-Austrian-Turkish War under the generals Franz Moritz von Lacy and Gideon Ernst von Laudon. From 1792 to 1795, he took part in the campaigns of the War of the First Coalition in the Austrian Netherlands and the Rhineland. Radetzky was promoted to captain and appointed adjutant to Field Marshal Lieutenant Jean-Pierre de Beaulieu, where he took part in the 1794 Battle of Arlon and the Battle of Fleurus. He distinguished himself at Voltri in Italy and was appointed major in the engineer corps on 29 May 1796.
When General of Cavalry Michael von Melas was appointed supreme commander of the Imperial-Royal Army in Upper Italy in 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, he requested Lieutenant-Colonel Radetzky from the Aulic War Council as his adjutant general. After the successful Battle of Genola, he was promoted to colonel on 4 November 1799. After the defeat at the Battle of Marengo, Radetzky left the Italian theatre of war in June 1800 and took command of the 3rd Cuirassier Regiment at Steyr. He also fought with distinction in the Battle of Hohenlinden (1800), for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa in April 1801.
At the beginning of the War of the Third Coalition in 1805, Radetzky was transferred to Italy. On 1 September 1805, he was promoted to Major General and appointed brigade commander. In the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809, he fought with the 5th Army Corps under Field Marshal Lieutenant Ludwig of Austria as commander of the vanguard at Braunau am Inn and Lambach, also with distinction, and after the Battle of Aspern on 27 May, he was promoted to Field Marshal Lieutenant. In this capacity, he also participated in the Battle of Wagram as a division commander. In that year Radetzky was appointed Chief of the General Staff, but the French demands and lack of financial resources forced him to abandon his ambitious plans for reforming the Austrian imperial and royal army.
In 1813, as head of the quartermaster's office of the Bohemian army, he developed the plan for the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig during the Sixth Coalition War (also known as the Wars of Liberation). He reorganised the Austrian army in the period that followed and served on the staff of General Karl Philipp zu Schwarzenberg. During his service as chief of staff for Schwarzenberg, Radetzky also advocated to Foreign Minister Klemens Wenzel von Metternich for the plans of Field Marshal Vincenz von Augustin to produce his own rockets as a weapon of war, and he obtained a corresponding permit for Augustin.
In 1815, the Bavarian King Maximilian I Joseph awarded him the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph.
After the peace agreement, Radetzky came to Ödenburg as a divisional general, later to Ofen (today part of Budapest) and in 1821 as a general of the cavalry and on 24 November 1829 as the fortress commander in Olmütz. From 1818 to 1828 he advised Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria-Este. From 1831 to 1857 he was General Commander of the Imperial-Royal Army in the Kingdom of Lombardo-Venetia (with the rank of field marshal from 1836).
Radetzky became famous mainly for his military successes in 1848/1849 against Sardinia-Piedmont and the national Italian rebels supported by this kingdom, who rose up against Austrian domination on 18 March 1848 (see Risorgimento). He won the Battle of Santa Lucia on 6 May 1848, the Battle of Vicenza on 10 June 1848, the Battle of Custozza on 25 July 1848, the Battle of Mortara on 21 March 1849 and the Battle of Novara on 23 March 1849. In September 1849, Radetzky travelled to Vienna to thank the emperor for all the imperial honours, and the journey was a brilliant triumph for him.
From 1848 to 1857, Radetzky was Governor General of Lombardy-Venetia. He was replaced by Archduke Maximilian of Austria.
It was only on 17 December 1856 that Radetzky wrote his resignation from Emperor Franz Joseph I from Verona:
‘Your Majesty, after 72 years of service and 90 years of life, the laws of nature force me to humbly request your most gracious release from my post. Your Majesty deign to grant me this release with the same supreme favour and mercy with which Your Majesty has already showered me so many times, and allow me on this occasion to express to Your Majesty the supreme favour and imperial benevolence [...] My advanced age has indeed paralysed my activity, but until my last breath I will implore the Almighty's blessing for the exalted house and the glorious throne of my beloved monarch, to whom I die in deepest humility.’
On 28 February 1857, at the age of 90, he was finally retired. With 72 years of service in the Imperial-Royal Army, he broke many military records; for example, he had served under five emperors and taken part in no fewer than 17 military campaigns.
In total, Radetzky received 146 domestic and foreign medals, including the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa (1799 for his conduct at the Battle of Novi), the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa (for his victory at the Battle of Custozza in 1848), and in 1849 he became a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece (for his victory at the Battle of Novara).
On 5 April 1798, he married Franziska, Countess Strassoldo-Graffemberg (b. 3 January 1781; d. 12 January 1854), a daughter of Field Marshal Leopold, Count Strassoldo, and Franziska Xaveria, Princess of Auersperg. Five sons and three daughters were born of this marriage, but only one son and one daughter survived their father. The son Theodor (1813-1878) became a major general, the daughter Friederike (1816-1866) married Count Karl von Wenkheim (1811-1891).
Due to his generosity, his large family and his wife's extravagance, Radetzky was in financial difficulty throughout his life.
Radetzky died of pneumonia in Milan on 5 January 1858. After his body was transported to Vienna, it was laid out in the Arsenal. From there, he was taken in a funeral procession, personally commanded by Emperor Franz Joseph I, to St. Stephen's Cathedral for a blessing. After that, he was taken by the Franz-Josefs-Bahn to Kleinwetzdorf. On 19 January 1858, he was buried in the presence of the emperor at Heldenberg in Lower Austria.
Actually, the Emperor had wanted him buried in the Imperial Crypt,
but Radetzky had left his earthly remains and the right to bury him to the arms supplier Joseph Gottfried Pargfrieder, who had paid off his debts, including gambling debts, for decades. He built an open-air pantheon, the Heldenberg memorial, which is decorated with statues of warriors. Radetzky is buried there in a crypt under a monumental obelisk.
Radetzky was greatly revered by many patriotic and monarchist-minded Austrians. Franz Grillparzer wrote an ode in his honour with the famous line ‘In deinem Lager ist Österreich’ (‘Austria is in your camp’). Johann Strauss (father) composed the Radetzky March in 1848.
In 1860, Radetzkystraße (here at number 2A also the Radetzkystraße Grammar School) in Vienna's third district, Landstraße, was named after him, as was Radetzkyplatz in 1876. In 1862, Novaragasse in the 2nd district of Leopoldstadt was named after the battle of the same name, followed in 1866 by Custozzagasse in the 3rd district. In 1869, the Radetzky Bridge over the Wien near Urania was named after him (built in 1855, today's new building from 1900). There is also a Radetzkystraße and a Radetzkybrücke over the Mur in Graz-Innere Stadt, as well as in Baden-Weikersdorf, Salzburg-Maxglan, Klagenfurt-Villacher Vorstadt, Innsbruck-Reichenau, Dornbirn and Hohenems.
By imperial decree of Franz Joseph I on 28 February 1863, Radetzky was included in the list of ‘the most famous, worthy of perpetual emulation of Austria's warlords and generals’, in whose honour and memory a life-size statue was erected in the Generals' Hall of the then newly built Imperial and Royal Court Weapons Museum. The statue was created in 1867 by the sculptor Thomas Greinwald in Carrara marble and was dedicated ‘by the generals of the imperial army to their commander’.
In 1886, Caspar von Zumbusch was commissioned by Archduke Albrecht of Austria-Teschen to create a Radetzky monument. Initially, the equestrian statue was to be erected in front of the Palace of Justice on Vienna's Ringstrasse. Eventually, it was erected in front of the then Ministry of War on Am Hof square and moved there in 1912, after the completion of the new Ministry of War on Stubenring.
A hall is dedicated to the general in the Museum of Military History in Vienna, the Radetzkysaal. Among other things, Radetzky's uniform, his honorary saber, numerous medals, including the Order of the Golden Fleece, and his resignation are on display. The honorary sword was presented to the general by the Vienna National Guard according to a design by the architect Eduard van der Nüll and handed over in May 1849 in Milan. 11] Numerous oil paintings by contemporary artists such as Albrecht Adam and Wilhelm Richter depict scenes from his campaigns.
The Imperial-Royal Navy named a class of battleships in honour of the general, the Radetzky class. A paddle steamer used by the Donau-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft from 1851 to 1913 was also named Radetzky.
Austrian film also paid homage to the popular field marshal on several occasions. In 1929, for example, Karl Forest could be seen in the title role of the silent film Vater Radetzky (Father Radetzky), while Paul Hörbiger played the role of the elderly Radetzky in the 1958 romance Hoch klingt der Radetzkymarsch (The Radetzky March Sounds).