This article is about the 17th century Austrian field marshal. For the 20th century conservative politician see Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg

Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg

Ernst Rüdiger Camillo Starhemberg was an Austrian nationalist and conservative politician prior to World War II, a leader of the Heimwehr and later of the Christian Social Party/Fatherland's Front...

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Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg (Graz

Graz

The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

, 12 January 1638 – Vösendorf

Vösendorf

Vösendorf is a town in the district of Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria....

 (near Mödling

Mödling

Mödling is the capital of the Austrian district of the same name located approximately 14 km south of Vienna.The settlement dates back to the Neolithic. In medieval times, the town was the residence of a branch of the Babenberger family, as a result of which it received the nickname...

), 4 January 1701) was the army commander of Vienna during the second siege of Vienna

Battle of Vienna

The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...

 in 1683, imperial general during the Great Turkish War

Great Turkish War

The Great Turkish War refers to a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and contemporary European powers, then joined into a Holy League, during the second half of the 17th century.-1667–1683:...

 and President of the Hofkriegsrat.

Starhemberg fought in the 1660s under Raimondo Montecuccoli

Raimondo Montecuccoli

Raimondo, Count of Montecúccoli or Montecucculi was an Italian military general who also served as general for the Austrians, and was also a prince of the Holy Roman Empire and Neapolitan Duke of Melfi....

 against the French and the Turks.

In 1683 he was military commander of the city of Vienna, with fewer than 20,000 men to oppose 100,000 besieging Turks. On 15 July 1683 Starhemberg refused to capitulate, counting on the speedy arrival of the army of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...

, and the strength of city walls which had been fortified after the first siege of Vienna

Siege of Vienna

The Siege of Vienna in 1529 was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire, led by Suleiman the Magnificent, to capture the city of Vienna, Austria. The siege signalled the pinnacle of the Ottoman Empire's power, the maximum extent of Ottoman expansion in central Europe, and was the result of a...

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When the relief army under Jan Sobieski arrived in the first half of September, Vienna was on the brink of collapse, its walls having been breached by Turkish sappers who had tunnelled under the walls, packed the tunnels with gunpowder, and detonated the explosive charges.

Finally, on 12 September, 80,000 Polish, Imperial, Venetian, Bavarian, and Saxon troops attacked the Turks and defeated them in the Battle on the Kahlenberg

Battle of Vienna

The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...

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Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg was promoted to field marshal by the Emperor, recognizing Starhemberg's action in saving the imperial capital. He was also made a minister of the state.

Starhemberg was severely wounded in 1686 during the Siege of Buda

Battle of Buda (1686)

The Battle of Buda was fought between the Holy League and Ottoman Turkey, as part of the follow-up campaign in Hungary after the Battle of Vienna...

 and had to abandon his command. In 1691 he was made President of the Hofkriegsrat and was responsible for the organisation of the Austrian army.

He died at Vösendorf on 4 January 1701. His tomb (by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach

Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach

Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, also Fischer von Erlach the younger was an Austrianarchitect of the baroque, Rococo and baroque classicism.-Life and career:...

) is situated in the Schottenkirche in Vienna

Schottenkirche, Vienna

The Schottenkirche is a parish church in Vienna attached to the Schottenstift, founded by Iro-Scottish Benedictine monks in the 12th century. In 1418, the Duke Albert V of Austria transferred it to the German-speaking Benedictine monks from the Melk Abbey during the Melker Reform initiated after...

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His cousin Guido Starhemberg

Guido Starhemberg

Guido Wald Rüdiger, count of Starhemberg; was an Austrian military officer.He was a cousin of Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg , the famous commander of Vienna during the Turkish siege of 1683, and acted as his ADC during the siege...

 also became a famous Austrian soldier and fought as an adjutant at his side.

The latter Austrian politician Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg

Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg

Ernst Rüdiger Camillo Starhemberg was an Austrian nationalist and conservative politician prior to World War II, a leader of the Heimwehr and later of the Christian Social Party/Fatherland's Front...

(1899-1956) was a collateral descendant.