Helene née Wolfram was born in the 1400s into a minor noble family of German ancestry from the region of Sopron County. Her father was Peter Wolfram, who was still alive in 1435. Her unidentified mother lived in Sopron and was last mentioned as a living person by contemporary records in 1442. Helene understood, but did not speak Hungarian. Kottanner married twice and bore three children. Her first husband was Peter Székeles, a notable patrician in Sopron. He was already a member of the local magistrate in 1402. He served as mayor of the town from 1408 until at least 1421. He died in 1430 or 1431. They had a son, William, who lived in Austria and was involved in a lawsuit over a meadow in Sopron in 1435. Because of his illness, he did not present before the court personally, but represented by his stepfather and maternal grandfather. William was still alive in 1437. After Székeles' death, Helene married Johann Kottanner, a burgher from Vienna, in 1432. During that time, Johann was chamberlain of the St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. According to historian Karl Uhlirz, he has reached the age of majority only in 1426, thus Helene was approximately six years older than her second husband. Their marriage produced more children, including a daughter Catherine. By 1436, both Kottanner and her second husband were servants of Albert II of Germany, the then Duke of Austria, and his wife Elizabeth. Kottanner's role in this royalHabsburg household was nanny to princesses Anne and Elizabeth, the children of Albert and Elizabeth. Note that, according to the contemporary German custom of calling a wife or sometimes daughter, the alternative names ending in "-in" amount to adding a feminine suffix to her husband's name.
Kottanner, later a member of Elizabeth's court, wrote a memoir around 1451 entitled Denkwürdigkeiten in which she provides a first-person account of the theft of the Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen on 20 February 1440. This was an action in which she participated at the request of Queen Elisabeth, widow of King Albert. This crown was considered holy by the Hungarian people. It was then stored at the Hungarian stronghold of Visegrád. Kottanner noted in her memoir that she exposed herself and her family to great danger by assisting the queen in her efforts to obtain the crown. In an atmosphere of political intrigue, where death was a common punishment for many crimes, Kottanner apparently had reservations concerning the advisibility of the queen's request: "The queen's request frightened me, for it meant great danger for me and my little children." In her writing she describes how she prayed for success and promised to make a barefoot pilgrimage to Zell. At least two assistants accompanied Helene, who did the breaking in while Kottanner kept watch. After they got the crown without attracting attention, they locked the doors again and fixed the queen's seal. The crown was smuggled out of Visegrád inside a pillow. Kottanner took the crown with her in her sledge and she described worrying about the ice on the Danube breaking as she crossed it. The golden crosson top of the crown was however bent as they fled, and is still visible in this condition today. Kottanner then brought the crown secretly to Elizabeth, who was hiding from her enemies at the castle of Komorn. She witnessed the birth of Ladislaus the Posthumous, who in her eyes was the natural heir to the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia. Kottanner noted in her memoir that the timing had been close: "Within the same hour in which the Holy Crown arrived from Plintenburg in Komorn, within that same hour King Laszlo was born." She further stated in her memoir that she thought that this was clearly God's will at work.
A new king is crowned
Elizabeth promised Kottanner a reward in return for her actions in obtaining the Holy Crown of Saint Stephen. At this time, only the owner of the royal insignia was considered legitimate king of Hungary. This was an important distinction since the Hungarian nobles voted for the coronation of the 16-year-old king of Poland. With his help they hoped to defend themselves better against the Turks' attacks against the Hungarian kingdom. When finally both attendants were crowned kings of Hungary at the same time, the Polish king gathered his forces against Ladislaus the Posthumous. The royal family now separated for their own safety: While the queen tried to rescue the holy crown from the approaching Polish army, Kottanner fled with the infant king.
Later life
Helene Kottanner and her husband were granted the village of Kisfalud and its accessories by Regent John Hunyadi in March 1452, for their loyal service of Ladislaus V. Hunyadi's son, King Matthias Corvinus confirmed the land donation in November 1466, and also in February 1470. Helene Kottanner died thereafter.
