Austrian aristocrat and diplomat.

Career Summary

Baron Dr. Erwin von Ferstel was the grandson of Ignaz Ferstel, head cashier of the Austrian National Bank. His parents were Charlotte Fehlmayer and the well known Viennese architect Heinrich von Ferstel, who played an important part in the rebuilding of Vienna in the mid-19th century. The latter was elevated to hereditary baronial status by the Emperor in 1879.

From 1884, Erwin von Ferstel was employed by the Foreign Office of the Austria-Hungary monarch. In 1896 he was nominated to the rank of Consul. In this capacity, he served first in London, then from 1902 in Berlin. In 1901 he was accorded the title of General Consul Second Class, and in 1910 he was promoted to General Consul First Class. From 1920 to 1923 he served on the Governing Board of the Bank of Liechtenstein. Ferstel was married to Marie Charlotte Thorsch, with whom he had four children.

Ferstel's address c. 1901 was Vienna I, Zedlitzgasse 8, in 1911‒14 Vienna III, Reisnerstraße 55‒57, and in 1916‒20 Reisnerstraße 40 (which happens to have been next door to Schenker's apartment house!).

Ferstel and Schenker

Ferstel appears in Schenker's diary for May 17, 1907: "Visit by Baron Erwin Ferstel to my place regarding the 400 florins requested for Floriz." What ensued on that visit was a furious argument about the nature of patronage. This may have arisen out of Schenker's contact with the family of Ferstel's wife during 1906 and early 1907. On April 17, 1907 he discovered that Mrs. Thorsch's foundation had just donated 300,000 florins to the care of wealthy elderly people, and had "cut adrift" Violin: he was incensed. It would have not have been out of character for Schenker to communicate his anger to the family, and this may have occasioned the visit and argument.

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