Court Council of War (Wiener Hofkriegsrat)

Swiss Gate in Vienna
The predecessor of the royal ministry of defence. Its main duty was the direction of the military affairs of the Habsburg Empire and the border defence system of the Hungarian boundaries from the Turks. It was established by king Ferdinand I. (1526-1564) in 1556 in Vienna. It was a modern national defence organisation of the time, which was regularly in session i.e. two times per day. It also organised the border fortress system in Hungary, and thus played a rather significant role in the fact that Hungary managed to avoid being entirely occupied by the Turks.