An Auersperg Heart: The Volunteer

After the Revolutions of 1848, during the Springtime of Peoples, the Turjak estate was governed by Count Josef (1812–1883) and Countess Hermine (1820–1893), parents to nine children. Hanno was their eldest son and the designated heir to the Auersperg estate. 

The family mainly resided at the Ig estate, where their manor and the smaller Namršelj estate were attacked and plundered by local peasants who believed that the feudal order had collapsed and that their obligations to the nobility had come to an end. This experience left a lasting impression on Hanno. In 1861, during the revolutionary events in Italy, he joined the army of Naples King Francis II as a volunteer. 

Shortly after enlisting, he was struck in the leg by shrapnel. Although his leg was amputated, he died two weeks later. He was buried in the Church of St Joseph in Gaeta, while his heart was brought back to Turjak, where it was preserved in a niche of the family burial chapel. 

A Young Count’s Aid to the King of Naples  

The young Count Hanno Auersperg (1838–1861) was deeply affected by the revolutionary events of the mid-19^th century – perhaps also influenced by his family’s memory of peasant unrest at the Ig Castle. In Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s forces compelled the young King Francis II of Naples to abdicate in 1860 and were already threatening the territory of the Papal States. These events resonated widely across Europe, including in the Slovene lands. 

Count Hanno Auersperg decided to offer his support to the monarchist cause. As a volunteer, he joined the royal troops in the coastal city of Gaeta, where King Francis II had taken refuge. Hanno arrived in Gaeta in early 1861, but on 5 February he was struck in the leg by shrapnel. Only his heart was brought home. At Turjak, it was placed in a glass vessel and laid to rest in the family crypt. 

Two Hannos and a Local Legend 

Hanno Auersperg, the first in line of succession at Turjak, died in Italy and had a nephew of the same name. The son of his brother Leo, the younger Hanno, took his own life in 1897, thirty-six years after his uncle’s death – reportedly due to an unhappy love affair. 

Over time, the uncle’s heart, preserved in the family crypt, and the nephew’s tragic fate became intertwined in popular imagination, forming a single legend. According to this tradition, the elder Hanno was said to have died of a broken heart. The memory of an unfulfilled love was believed to be symbolised by a red ribbon, supposedly placed on his heart by his lost love.