General Gideon Ernst Freiherr von Laudon became the hero of the disasterous war against Turkey when he broke the seige of Belgrade in October 1789. When the news reached Vienna there were military parades, a Te Deum was performed in St. Stephen's Cathedral and more than 100,000 people took to the streets for a three day celebration. Mozart wrote songs and a dance to mark the event and his friend, Dr. Anton Schmith, wrote a clever verse in Mozart's album in praise of both the general and the composer. When von Laudon died on 14 July 1790 Joseph, Count Deym von Stritetz (later Joseph Mller) built a mausoleum dedicated to the general for display in his gallery at which "funeral musique", including some by Mozart, was first advertised in the Wiener Zeitung on 26 March 1791. Johann Enrici designed the tomb that von Laudon was actually buried in and a similar design was used for the Countess Walsegg tomb. The latter was vandalised into virtual oblivion but von Laudon's is still in good order and stands in the Hadersdorf suburb of Vienna. There is a collection of personal belongings from the Generals estate as well as artefacts, prints and books devoted to him in a Vienna military museum.
