Son of Ottoman War Hero Gets a Memorial Plaque in Vyšší Brod Abbey

On Tuesday, a bilingual memorial plaque in Czech and Hungarian was unveiled at the Cistercian Abbey in Vyšší Brod in southern Bohemia for János Zrínyi (Jan Zrinski, 1565–1612), son of the hero of Szigetvár, Miklós Zrínyi (Nikola Zrinski).

“Here lies Jan Zrinski (1565–1612), son of Nikola Zrinski, the hero of Szigetvár, and Eva von Rosenberg. Honor the brave!” – is written on the plaque.

Above the white marble memorial plaque and connected to it is a bronze relief portrait of Jan Zrinski, created by Budapest sculptor Attila Pokorny.

The memorial plaque was installed in the St. Benedict Chapel of the Cistercian Abbey at the entrance to the Rožmberk family crypt. The installation was initiated by the Hungarian Embassy in Prague.

Jan Zrinski. Photo: Public Domain

The unveiling of the memorial plaque was attended by András Baranyi, Hungarian Ambassador to Prague, Hajnal Kassai, Director of the Liszt Institute in Prague, Gábor Tomka, Deputy Director General of the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, and representatives of the abbey.

Nikolaus von Serin (1508–1566), who was widowed in 1561, remarried three years later to Eva von Rosenberg, a member of the Rožmberk family, which played an important role in Czech history.

Their son Johann was born in 1565 and was one year old when his father, captain of Szigetvár, died a heroic death during the Turkish siege of the castle.

Jan Zrinski died childless in 1612 in Rosenberg Castle (Rožmberk nad Vltavou), which he had rebuilt in the Renaissance style. He found his final resting place in the traditional burial site of the Rosenberg family, in the Cistercian abbey of Vyšší Brod, just a few kilometers from the castle.