A Proprietor, or Inhaber, was a term used in the Habsburg military to denote special honors extended to a noble or aristocrat. The Habsburg army was organized on principles developed for the feudal armies in which regiments were raised by a wealthy noble, called the Inhaber (proprietor) who also acted as honorary colonel. Originally, he raised the regiment, funded its needs, and received a portion of its revenue, which might be plunder or loot. He also shared in its shame or its honors. The Imperial Russian military adopted a similar system.

Practical application

When the Inhaber was a famous or royal person, a second colonel was chosen from among the nobility to perform his duties. For example, on 16 September 1789, Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf, led a successful raid on the island of Borecs in the Danube, which garnered massive amounts of supplies from the Turkish forces. On 9 November of that year, he led four squadrons of his regiment to capture Gladova, 10 miles (16 km) from the so-called Iron Gate of the Danube; he was afterward given command of 30th Hussar Regiment Wurmser, named for Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser

Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser

Dagobert Sigismund, Count Wurmser was an Austrian field marshal during the French Revolutionary Wars. Although he fought in the Seven Years War, the War of the Bavarian Succession, and mounted several successful campaigns in the Rhineland in the initial years of the French Revolutionary Wars, he...

. After Wurmser's death, the regiment became known as Nauendorf.

Authority and powers

The Inhaber possessed wide powers. First, he could appoint company officers, or at least held the right of refusal. Second, he had considerable legal authority over his regiment, much like that of a feudal lord. A Colonel-Inhaber/Colonel Proprietor was originally a noble (or wealthy aristocrat) who raised the regiment. Subsequently, a noble or an officer who had achieved some distinction was appointed to the regimental position as an "honorary" appointment. Each regiment was identified by the Inhaber's name as well as a number, and when the Inhaber changed so did the regimental name.

There were exceptions to this practice: If the appointment was honorary, a "second" colonel was appointed who would fulfill the duties of the colonel. The 3rd Infantry Regiment (German) was known as the Erzherzog Karl, or Archduke Charles, from 1780–1847, named for Archduke Charles

Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen

Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...

, one of the sons of Leopold II

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...

. He ceased to function as its direct commander upon his promotion to Field Marshal in 1796, but several "second" colonels were appointed to carry out the administrative and leadership functions of the regiment. The regiment bore Charles' name until his death in 1847. In another example, Karl Aloys von Fürstenberg  was promoted to major general

Major General

Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 and, at the end of June 1790, given the coveted position of second colonel of the 34th Infantry-Regiment Anton Esterhazy, where he served as the executive officer for Antal Esterhazy, the Regiment's Colonel and Proprietor. Thus, a rising-star—in this case Fürstenberg—performed the day-to-day duties of the Colonel and Proprietor, who is usually a noble and is often posted in a different assignment, sometimes a different location.

The Inhaber usually held the position for life: For example, Karl Eugen, Prince von Lothringen-Lambesc was Colonel-Proprietor of the 21st Cuirassier

Cuirassier

Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights...

 Regiment, from 22 June 1794 until his death in Vienna on 21 November 1825. The Inhaber was often of the same nationality as the regiment, be it German, Bohemian, Moravian, Hungarian, or Galician, which reflected the Habsburg vision of their army as the feudal people-in-arms under the control of the aristocracy.

The Imperial Russian military also used this system, and regiments frequently bore the name of a geographic region from which it was originally raised. For example, Friedrich, Baron von Hotze

Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze

Friedrich Hotze, also known as Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze , a Swiss-born field marshal in the Austrian army during the French Revolutionary Wars, campaigned in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition and in Switzerland in the War of the Second Coalition, notably at Battle of...

 entered the service of Catherine II, the Tsarina of Russia, as lieutenant of a regiment of dragoons, the so-called Ingermannland regiment, named for the territory between Lake Peipus

Lake Peipus

Lake Peipus, ) is the biggest transboundary lake in Europe on the border between Estonia and Russia.The lake is the fifth largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in Russia north of St...

, the Narova River, and Lake Ladoga

Lake Ladoga

Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...

, in the old Grand Duchy of Novgorod.