Johann Seyfried

With two sons in one generation for the first time, the succession of the family seemed to be more secure than ever before. However, the brothers Johann Christian and Johann Seyfried were not very successful in dealing with the family’s fortunes. After taking up their studies at the university in Graz, they both embarked on a Grand Tour throughout the whole of Europe. Serious disputes began, however, after both brothers came of age.

As the unexpected death of their father Johann Anton I had left the family with no valid last will and testament, both sons started to disagree over the division of the estate and a long inheritance quarrel ensued. Finally they agreed upon an equal partition of the estate. Johann Christian received the Bohemian countries with the residence in Krumau and Johann Seyfried decided to take the Inner Austrian territories with the new residence in Graz. Gradisca was ruled by both brothers.

Johann Seyfried turned his attention to the magnificent decoration of the Inner Austrian estates he had inherited and especially to the completion of the palace residence in Graz. It was during his rule that the first sumptuous and elaborate furnishings and interiors were created and the first gardens established at Eggenberg Palace. Johann Seyfried’ s most important task by far must, however, have been when he played host to the bride of Emperor Leopold I in 1673. He spared absolutely no expense in order to fittingly receive the Imperial wedding party and he was also known to be a generous patron of the arts. While his brother Christian proved to be an exemplary householder who knew how to increase his property in Krumau, Johann Seyfried had seemingly not inherited the financial and economic talents of his family. In just a few decades he succeeded in ruining himself almost completely, only being able to save himself from bankruptcy after selling off various estates and due to his close connections with the Emperor and the imperial family.

After the death of Johann Christian, he became the “sole heir” of the Eggenberg fortune and also received the income from the Bohemian countries, which greatly relieved the pressures of his financial situation. Johann Seyfried died in December 1713, aged 69, at Waldstein Palace to the north of Graz. He, too, was interred in the Prince’s family crypt at the Minorite Convent in Graz.