Coudenhove-Kalergi family

Coudenhove-Kalergi
Parent houseCoudenhove (paternal line)
Kallergis (maternal line)
Founded1857 (1857) (marriage)
1903 (1903) (name change)
FounderHeinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi
TitlesCount of Coudenhove-Kalergi
von Ronspergheim (awarded in 1918)[1][2]

The Coudenhove-Kalergi family is an Austro-Bohemian noble family of mixed Flemish and Cretan Greek descent,[3] which was formed by the marriage of Count Franz Karl von Coudenhove (1825–1893) with Marie Kalergi (1840–1877) in 1857.

The Coudenhoves were Catholic barons with estates in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Lower Rhine region and were raised to the rank of counts of the Holy Roman Empire in 1790. After the upheaval of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, they moved to the Austrian Empire and acquired estates in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown.

The Kallergis family had enjoyed high status in Crete, having been sent there by Byzantine emperor Alexios II Komnenos in the mid-12th century.[4] They remained there during the Venetian occupation (1204–1669) and subsequently moved to the Venetian-held Ionian Islands. Their palazzo in Venice is still standing.

The family's most prominent scion was Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, a pioneer of European integration and founder of the Paneuropean Union.

  1. ^ Kleisner, Tomas (2012). "The Medals of The Counts Coudenhove". Sborník Národního Muzea - C. Series C – Historia Litterarum vol.57. Academia.edu: 155. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference de.paneuropa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Parrinder, Patrick; Partington, John S. (2005-05-12). The Reception of H.G. Wells in Europe. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 321. ISBN 978-1-84714-444-7. Archived from the original on 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
  4. ^ "One Europe". Time. November 29, 1943.