series of diplomatic posts, and in 1848 was briefly Foreign Minister. The family encountered financial trouble during his reign, and (according to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, ), "the last years of his life were spent in comparative poverty and isolation, as even the Esterházy-Forchtenstein estates were unequal to the burden of supporting his fabulous extravagance and had to be placed in the hands of curators." Prince Nikolaus III [Miklós Pál] (1817–1894) Owing to financial trouble, Nikolaus III sold the family art collection "on generous terms" to the Austro-Hungarian state in 1870. The collection is, as a result, on public view today in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. Prince [Pál Antal Miklós] (1843–1898) Prince Nikolaus IV [Miklós Pál] (1869–1920) The reign of Nikolaus IV was a time of revival for the Esterházy family fortunes. The family estates were made into flourishing businesses, including a "traditional welfare net, providing security for employees." With the resulting improvement in the family finances, the family properties were finally released from decades of sequestration. In addition, the family palaces—including the long-abandoned Esterháza—were restored and provided with modern plumbing and electricity. In these efforts Nikolaus was greatly assisted by his wife, Princess Margit (1874–1910), née Countess Cziráky. Prince Nikolaus IV, his wife Margit, their son Anton († 1944) and other family members are buried in the Esterházy family cemetery in Fertőd, which is located in a small park around two kilometers northeast of the Eszterháza Palace (position: ). Prince Paul [Pál Maria Alois Antal Miklós Victor] (1901–1989) The lifetime of this prince witnessed momentous, often catastrophic changes for the Esterházy family. At the end of the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was split up, and the family's land holdings thus came to be located in several different countries. In 1938, the legal instrument of fideicommiss, which had allowed families to hold property in foundations owned by the whole family, but governed by the head of the family alone, was abolished in Austria (aristocratic families had used this instrument to finance the representative household of the head of the family as well as to maintain palaces and castles, and to pay allowances to family members without personal wealth.) After the dissolution of the Esterházy trust, prince Paul became the sole owner of the wealth accumulated therein so far. The Second World War proved disastrous: the family was scattered during the war years, and at