Austria: dispute in the Esterházy family

Esterházy - the name has a sound like no other in Austria. The Esterházy's are one of the richest families in the country. There is an Esterházy cake, Esterházy vegetables, various Esterházy meat dishes.

And there are several Esterházy streets, such as in Eisenstadt, capital of the Austrian province of Burgenland. There, on Tuesday afternoon, an elderly lady was allegedly abducted: the 88-year-old Magdolna Theresia Ottrubay, a member of this family, who was just walking with her carer.

At around 3.30pm, two black limousines stopped next to them, both "presumably with foreign plates," as the nurse later reported. One of them was a woman and a man, one woman from the other. One of the women pushed the nurse aside and put Ottrubay in one of the carriages. Then the cars were brewed away.

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The incident triggered a large-scale deployment, more than a hundred police officers were on duty, it was searched beyond the country's borders. About the identity of the victim, the police were silent "for criminal tactics and victim protection reasons".

But the names Esterházy and Ottrubay were soon circulating. In addition, doubts arose as to whether one could actually speak of a kidnapping, whether it was not more about a feud within the family. Interior Minister Herbert Kickl said it was not certain "if it is a kidnapping in the classical sense". The police only said that they were investigating "in all directions".

"My mother came with me voluntarily"

A few hours later, the elderly lady reappeared. Apparently, the inmates of the two sedans had heard the radio reports of the alleged abduction. They were on their way to Switzerland - Magdolna Theresia Ottrubay is Swiss. Her alleged kidnapper was her own daughter, who wanted to bring the woman Mama home.

Home, that also means away from Stefan Ottrubay, whose mother is Magdolna Theresia and manages the Esterházy fortune as General Director of Esterházy establishments. This task was entrusted to him by his aunt, who died in 2014, and the landowner, Princess Melinda Esterházy, née Ottrubay. Last year, Stefan Ottrubay brought his mother from Switzerland to Eisenstadt.

Mother and daughter were shocked by the kidnapping news on the radio and reported to the police in Kitzbühel late Tuesday evening. "I'm here with my mother, my mother volunteered with me," the daughter said, according to the prosecution. Magdolna Theresia Ottrubay, of which the astonished officials were able to convince themselves, was safe anyway and confirmed the information of her daughter.

"We take completely different manners"

What consequences this action has is unclear. The police see no further investigation need, with the public prosecutor's office, meanwhile, a preliminary investigation on suspicion of detention and coercion pending, it is said. Witnesses confirm, however, that the mother had voluntarily and without compulsion got in the car and drove along.

The incident casts a spotlight on the dispute within the aristocratic clan. He was inflamed by the question of who controls the Esterházy fortune. How tense the internal relationship is, shows a message. "As the spokesman for the princely Esterházy family, I attach importance to the statement that this case, which is to be examined by the authorities, has nothing to do with the Esterházy family and that we also ask the representatives of the media to distinguish the Ottrubay and Esterházy families", writes the 33-year-old Paul-Anton Esterházy in a press release.

"We take completely different manners - especially with elderly ladies, which we like to integrate into the large family association - which incidentally was already made impossible for us with regard to Melinda Esterházy by very unusual measures."

The 2014 deceased Melinda was the widow of the former head of the family Paul Esterházy. The marriage was childless. In 2000, Melinda Esterházy therefore made her nephew Stefan Ottrubay general manager of Esterházy Betriebe GmbH. Since then, the house blessing hangs askew.

A spokesman for the Ottrubay family said they should respect their privacy. The family saga is likely to continue to occupy the public in the coming days, if only because the press release of the Esterházy family makes no secret of the clash within the clan - and because it is about a lot of money.

Because there would be a lot to distribute. The Esterházy empire includes castles, palaces, art treasures and lands - about 44,000 hectares. According to the newspaper "Standard", the total net assets of the Esterházy Group in 2014 were valued at around 800 million euros. According to the newspaper, Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt or Forchtenstein Castle were not even included.