The House of Thun und Hohenstein, also known as Thun-Hohenstein, belonged to the historical Austrian and Bohemian nobility. There is one princely and several comital branches of the family. The princely branch of the family lived at Děčín in Bohemia for more than 200 years. The family maintained an album of artistically and technologically innovative armour throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Coat of arms of the Princes of Thun und Hohenstein
Thun Castle at Ton, Trentino, Italy
Coats of Arms of Alfonso Franz (1625–1688), Anna Barbara (1632–1709) and their daughter Pulcheria Felicitas von Thun und Hohenstein displayed on an 18th century ancestry chart
Leopold, Count von Thun und Hohenstein
The Austrian nobility is a status group that was officially abolished in 1919 after the fall of Austria-Hungary. The nobles are still part of Austrian society today, but they no longer retain any specific privileges. Austria's system of nobility was very similar to that of Germany, as both countries were previously part of the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806).
The imperial court of Maria Theresa at the Hofburg in Vienna
During the baroque era, the nobility started to move into the cities and built themselves lavish residences called Palais. The Palais Kinsky in Vienna, belonging to the princely Kinsky family, is one of the most outstanding pieces.
Aristocrats gathering around Emperor Franz Joseph at a ball in the Hofburg Imperial Palace, painting by Wilhelm Gause (1900).
Ludwig Edler von Mises
