Anton II., Durchlauchtig Hochgeborener Fürst Esterházy de Galantha, Erbgraf von Forchtenstein, gefürsteter Graf von Edelstetten, erblicher Obergespan von Ödenburg, such was the full name of the upright, likeable, always friendly and good-natured Prince Esterházy, lover and connoisseur of all the Fine Arts.
After a prolonged illness, he passed away with dignity at the age of 89. He devoted his life to cherishing family traditions and preserving the spirituality of Hungarian cultural heritage, especially Esterházy Castle in Fertöd. This prince was, in direct line, a descendant of the Esterházy's who were patrons of great talented artists such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and others. It was through the music of Haydn that he came to Mechelen for many years to attend numerous concerts organized by the Austrian association Servus and the Haydn Society that grew out of it. With pride we can say and write with Klassiek Centraal that he was a fan of our magazine, which he enjoyed reading. This Hungarian / Austrian / German noble prince was a polyglot who spoke Dutch fluently. He loved the Flemish region, which he got to know much better as a student in the sixties when he studied philosophy and engineering at the French-speaking department of the then still bilingual Catholic University of Leuven. He experienced the enormous tensions of Leuven Vlaams. He enjoyed sitting with Flemish students at Het Kleine Tafeltje Rond, once one of many bustling student cafés in Leuven, now a trendy place for tourists. When I asked him where he had learned such beautiful Dutch, he told me as follows: "At the Kleine Tafeltje Rond when we had pints with those Flemish students. They were much 'more sympathetic' than those Walloons, hahahaaa". Well, so now we know. He became, after the early death of his father, the de facto family head at 11 years old, although his uncle held the title until his death. At 19 he ended up in our country. Later he entered the business world and after the fall of the Wall and the communist dictatorships, including Hungary, he worked on, among other things, the revaluation and restoration of the palace in Fertöd, which had been badly damaged by the aftermath of World War II. The palace where Haydn composed his farewell symphony. The Hungarian state, which became owner of the palace after World War II when it was confiscated, made an apartment available in the palace where the prince grew up and where he had his father reburied in 2019, where the prince and his family could live. Funny really, your property that is no longer your property because of the vicissitudes of war and political choices, where you are allowed to live again decades after your expulsion, obediently listening to and under the watchful eye of the authorities. Haydn, it stands to reason. Which composer other than Joseph Haydn can you more than anyone else not decouple from the princely family Esterházy? The Mechelen Austria enthusiast Alfons Deleus, together with his wife Marie-Jeanne Lambrechts, wanted to celebrate their association's anniversary in grand style. It became something with classical music, not exactly the music both had fallen for, but well, to cut a long story short, it became concerts in Mechelen with music by Haydn. And that turned out to be much more successful than expected. From this grew the Haydn Biennial and later the Haydn Society, which annually in October / November organizes the successful concert series Amazing Haydn. They lose with the death of Prince Anton II Esterházy de Galantha their honorary chairman, but especially their mentor and moral pillar of support. One thing led to another and the organizational talent of Alfons Deleus, who knew that for big celebrations you cannot do without the ambassadors, mayors and ministers of countries like Austria, brought him to the unreachable prince. The man and his (later) second wife became real friends. And so we got to know him with Klassiek Centraal and it must be said, he greatly appreciated our work. So he absolutely wanted to be present at a Golden Labels Award ceremony where he presented, among others, to ballet dancer Alain Honorez the Golden Label Career award (June 2012). A couple of times I was a guest in the beautiful palace in Fertöd (Hungary) and once even as an honorary guest at a concert in the palace where only people with more capital were present at a fundraiser to rebuild the former opera house of the palace. How those people's eyes widened during the break: who was this man not dressed according to protocol, who was sitting there with the prince, drinking apple juice at a table and speaking a language incomprehensible to them, a language that apparently their prince also spoke fluently?With Prince Esterházy, his wife, his family, his palace, his staff, his Hungary and Austria, but also Mechelen, the Haydn Society and Klassiek Centraal lose a wonderful human being. He leaves behind countless pleasant, beautiful, warm memories. Farewell. Lebe wohl lieber Fürst und bitte, grüsst Joseph Haydn von uns!