Dauerausstellung: Anna Neumann und ihre Zeit

The Story of Anna Neumann

Anna Neumann and Murau are closely connected. When Anna Neumann was the mistress of Murau, the town truly flourished. But let's go back to the beginning: Anna Neumann was born on November 25, 1535, in Villach. There, she grew up in very reputable merchant circles. At the age of 22, she married Hans Jakob Baron von Thannhausen and gave birth to two daughters – Elisabeth and Barbara. Thannhausen died just three years after their marriage. Anna then married Baron Christoph II of Liechtenstein in 1565, whose family had sat in Murau for several centuries. Anna acquired a large fortune through the death of her family. The Liechtenstein brothers also sold their shares in Murau, and thus to Anna, who subsequently called herself "Mistress of Murau." However, she did not give her husband, who died in 1580, any heirs.

Two years later, in 1582, she married Baron Ludwig Ungnad von Weissenwolf, a leader of the Protestant party, to which Anna also belonged with full conviction. Ludwig Ungnad died just one year later.
From 1586 until his death in 1610, she was married to Baron Karl von Teufenbach, whose ancestral castle is near Murau. Due to her continually increasing wealth, she was labeled a witch by the envious, even though her subjects could deposit their savings with her rule and receive interest for it. Anna Neumann was a modern businesswoman of her time! It’s no wonder that the seventy-year-old found another suitor – the thirty-year-old Count Ferdinand von Orttenburg from the House of Salamanca. This marriage lasted from 1611 to 1616.

In 1617, Anna married the Imperial Count Georg Ludwig von Schwarzenberg. With a donation certificate from October 20 of the same year, she transferred the city and rule over Murau to him. Anna Neumann died on December 18, 1623, at the age of 88 as a Protestant. For this reason, she was denied a burial site in the city parish church. Although the Archbishop of Salzburg allowed a church burial, the body was laid to rest in the Elisabeth Church in such a way that the head lay outside of the church. Only in 1873 did Anna receive her final resting place in the church of the Capuchin monastery.
The city of Murau owes the "Mistress of Murau" the re-establishment of the citizens' hospital. Furthermore, she regulated the timber and pasture rights for the 101 existing citizen houses, as well as the financial circumstances of the city parish church.
Today, Anna Neumann can still be encountered in Murau. As a bronze statue, Anna Neumann is immortalized in life size for touching and viewing. The Anna-Neumann-Street proudly carries her honorable name. Anna's final resting place can, of course, also be visited in the Capuchin Church. Anna Neumann – a clever businesswoman who made a name for herself in her time and overshadowed many men.
Guided tours can be booked individually with the Murau ambassadors

-> Info at www.murau-botschafter.at