Royal Hunts & Hunters

 By Larry B. Schuknecht

    During the late Middle Ages hunting became the passionate sport of the nobility with game and conservation laws enacted which protected the hunted game for noble use. These laws made the wild game animals the property of the nobility, outlawed poaching, and set aside woodlands and wild game habitat for the sole use of the nobility. Strict rules of the hunt developed which regulated how the hunt took place, the conduct of the hunters, how the game was taken and how the animals were handled after the hunt.

    Along with the hunts the equipment for hunting used by the nobles became not merely tools but became works of art in themselves. One example of this was the flintlock Jäger Rifle. Many nobles had extensive collections of them with lavish use of stock carving, engraving and etching and Ivory and horn inlays and precious metals. These rifles were actualy seldom used but were often simply eye candy. 

    The nobles favored the taking of game with large mature antlers and horns and these were mounted to become extravagent trophies of the hunts. These trophies were prominently displayed in the Royal residences with pride. 

    In the 19th Century after the devastating Napoleonic Wars as the influence of the noble ruling houses began to lose their influence and power hunting became something that the middle class could participate in. The 1848/49 German Revolutions brought about legal changes which gave farmers the right to protect their crops from wildlife predation. With the fall of the Royal houses after World War I the noble hunts became a thing of the past and people who wished to hunt could do so after meeting certain conditions and followed certain rules and laws. 

    Before we go on to an investigation of the Royal Hunters and their Trophies, lets take a brief look at the species of Deer that they hunted. 

  The preceeding is certainly an over simplification of the story of Hunting in Europe and the following items are meant to give the viewer a glimpe into the world of the 18th and 19th Century Royal Hunts and Hunters. 

The following story by my friend Hans E. Pfingsten was first published in the Spring 2001 issue of Der Waffenschmied.

   The following three images are from a group of five that were sold by Joh. Sringer’s Erban in Vienna July 2, 2014 and are courtesy of them. They show the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este with his family, his game keepers and his entire entourage. 

    Two of the most famous Royal Hunters were Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. The following images are of the Kaiser Wilhelm and Emperor Franz Joseph with some of their Hunting Trophies sold by the Rock Island Auction Company on April 29th, 30th and May 1st 2016 and on Dec. 1st, 2nd and 3rd. of 2017.

Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and Crown Prince Rudolph Circa 1865
Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria in his hunting garb circa 1895 from the book The Martyrdom of an Empress by Marguerite Cunliffe-Owen

 

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany

To view an excellent article about The Hunting Guns of Kaiser Wilhelm II click here

A set of full head Fallow Deer mounts known as the Imperial Twins roportedly taken by the Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, sold by and courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
Fallow Deer Skull Mount from 1892 from the Eulenburg Hunt Collection, image courtesy of Rock Island Auction Co.
Fallow Deer Skull Cap Mount taken by Kaiser Wilhelm II, part of the Kaiser’s Favorite Park Collection, image courtesy Rock Island Auction Co.
21 point Red Stag Mount taken during a Schonbuch Hunt, part of Kaiser Wilhelm’s collection, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
10 Point Red Stag Mount taken in 1891 at Bad Gastein and part of Kaiser Wilhelm’s collection, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
A 16 point Red Stag Mount from the Habsburg/Royal Hunt Collection, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
Two Roe Deer mounts from the Royal Hunt Collection one taken on a Eckartsau Hunt. Image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
19 Point Red Stag Skull Cap Mount from the Royal Hunt Collection, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
22 Point fallow deer Skull Cap Mount from the George of Saxony/Royal Hunt collection, image courtesy of the Rock Iskland Auction Co.
Fallow Deer Mount from Kaiser Wilhelm II Favorite Park/ Royal Hunt Collection, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
10 point Red Stag Mount taken by the Kaiser at Solitude Park in 1904, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
17 point Fallow Deer mount from Jagdschloss Granitz/Royal Hunt Collection, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
Four Roe Deer mounts from the From the Franz Joseph/Habsburg Dynasty Hunt Collection, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
27 point Red Stag mount taken during a Schonbuch hunt/Kaiser Wilhelm II collection, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
Red Stag mount from the Royal Hunt Collection, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.
Mount from the Royal Hunt Collection, image courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Co.

Our good friend Fredrik Fránzen of Sweden sent us the following pictures of Swedish nobility and some of their guns. 

The fourth man from the left in the front is Gustav V, the King of Sweden from 1907 to 1950. The last man on the right is the Royal Hofwaldmeister Erik von Eckermann. He was a very famous hunter at that time. Around 1915 Erick von Eckermann designed two guns, and double shotgun and a double rifle for the Husqvarna Gun Factory. They are named Husqvarna 310 Model Eckermann.
Erick von Eckermann and his two custom Husqvarna guns.
Erick von Eckermann’s Husqvarna shotgun.
The gold plaque on the stock of Erick von Eckermann’s Husqvarna
A Barrella once owned by the King of Sweden.

The following three pictures are of a W. Foerster of Berlin double once owned the the King of Sweden.

The Russian Emperor Alexander II of Russia was also an avid hunter. The following Slider and images are of a rifle built by Heinrich Barella of Berlin & Madgeburg. It was made in the mid 1860’s. Click HERE to see more about this rifle and about Barella. Below is an image from Wikipedia showing Czar Alexander II and the German Emperor William I on a hunting trip in 1872.

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   On May 2, 2014 the auction house Rock Island Auction Co. sold a rifle made for Kaiser Wilhelm II by Johann Springer Erban in Vienna. The rifle is an 11mm with a 24 inch full octagon barrel. The receiver bears a deep relief engraved monagram of the Kaiser. The rifle has double set triggers, and horn forend cap and trigger guard extension. The bolt bears a number 1120, the butt plate a number 6453 and the top tanng a number 24. We thank the Rock Island Auction Co. for allowing us to use these images. 

In 1901 the German author Fritz Skowronnek wrote and published a book Die Jagd (The Hunt) which included chapters about the German wild game, hunting guns, and famous hunters, etc. Here I have included chapters V titled “Der Jagdherr” and chapter VI “Hirsh und Sau” which include images of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria along with images of the Kaisers hunting lodges and wild game. 

Following are several images of other Royal Hunters also shown in the book Die Jagd

The images that follow are of a 20 ga. side by side hammer gun once owned by King Albert of Saxony. The proof marks show that it was made as a combination gun with one barrel rifled and the other for shot. After 1912 it was repaired or re-worked and afterwards Nitro proofed in Zella-Mehlis. It may be the gun he is holding in the above picture. 

In 1897 a Saxon-Thuringian Industrial & Trade Exhibition was held in Leipzig where King Albert displayed many hunting trophies and 145 Rifles & Guns. The list follows.

Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

    Another Royal Hunter was Herzog Ernst I. Von Sachsen- Altenburg. The book Deutsche Jagd und Deutsche Fürsten by Fritz Frenzel published in 1905 chronicals the history of the royal hunters of Thuringia and Saxony. It has a chapter which describes the hunts which took place in 1891, 1900 and 1904 at Ernst’s hunting lodge Hummelshain with Kaiser Wilhelm II. The following are images from that book.

The newer hunting lodge at Hummelshain.

Below are two vintage post cards of the Hummelshain hunting lodge.

The bugling Stag sculpture at Hummelshain

   Not every Royal hunt went according to plan. The Author Marguerite Cunliffe-Owen in her book The Martyrdom of an Empress relates a hunt by Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen which had a humerous ending. The following is her story about that hunt.

Archduke Albrecht