The House of Habsburg (; ), also Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and Spanish Empire and several other countries.

The House takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a fortress built around 1020–1030 in present day Switzerland by Count Radbot of Klettgau, who chose to name his fortress Habsburg. His grandson, Otto II, was the first to take the fortress name as his own, adding "von Habsburg" to his title. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. By 1276, Count Radbot's seventh generation descendant, Rudolph of Habsburg, had moved the family's power base from Habsburg Castle to the Archduchy of Austria. Rudolph had become King of Germany/Holy Roman Emperor in 1273, but the dynasty of the House of Habsburg was truly entrenched in 1276 when Rudolph became sovereign ruler of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled for the next six centuries.

A series of dynastic marriages enabled the family to vastly expand its domains, to include Burgundy, Spain, Bohemia, Hungary, and other territories into the inheritance. In the 16th century, the family separated into the senior Habsburg Spain and the junior Habsburg Monarchy branches, who settled their mutual claims in the Oñate treaty.

As a result of generations of Habsburg inbreeding, the House of Habsburg became extinct in the male line in the 18th century. The Spanish branch ended upon the death of Charles II in 1700 and was replaced by the Anjou branch of the House of Bourbon in the person of his great-nephew Philip V. The Austrian branch went extinct in the male person in 1740 with the death of Charles VI and in the female person in 1780 with the death of his daughter Maria Theresa and was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine in the person of her son Joseph II. The new successor house styled itself formally as House of Habsburg-Lorraine (German: ''Habsburg-Lothringen''), although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg.

Principal roles

Their principal roles were as:

King of the Romans

Holy Roman Emperors

King of Germany

Rulers of Austria (as Dukes 1282–1453, Archdukes)

Kings of Bohemia (1306–1307, 1437–1439, 1453–1457, 1526–1918),

Kings of Hungary and Croatia (1437–1439, 1445–1457, 1526–1918),

Kings of Spain (1516–1700),

Kings of Portugal (1580–1640),

Kings of Galicia and Lodomeria (1772–1918), and

Grand Princes of Transylvania (1690–1867).

Numerous other titles were attached to the crowns listed above.

History

Counts of Habsburg

The progenitor of the House of Habsburg may have been Guntram the Rich, a count in Breisgau who lived in the 10th century. His grandson Radbot, Count of Habsburg founded the Habsburg Castle, after which the Habsburgs are named. The origins of the castle's name, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau, are uncertain. Most people assume the name to be derived from the High German ''Habichtsburg'' (Hawk Castle), but some historians and linguists are convinced that the name comes from the Middle High German word 'hab/ hap' meaning ford, as there is a river with a ford nearby. The first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108. The Habsburg Castle was the family seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.

The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, especially countship rights in Zürichgau, Aargau and Thurgau. In the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were also able to gain high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other noble families such as the House of Kyburg.

Kings of the Romans

By the second half of 13th century, count Rudolph IV (1218–1291) had become one of the most influential territorial lords in the area between Vosges mountains and Lake Constance. Due to these impressive preconditions, on 1 October 1273 Rudolph was chosen as the King of the Romans and received the name Rudolph I of Germany.

In 1282, the Habsburgs gained the rulership of the Duchy of Austria, which they then held for over 600 years, until 1918. Through the forged Privilegium Maius document (1358/59), a special bond was created between the House and Austria. The document, forged at the behest of Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339–1365), also attempted to introduce rules to preserve the unity of the family's Austrian lands. In the long term, this indeed succeeded, but Rudolph's descendants ignored the rule, leading to the separation of the Albertian and Leopoldian family lines in 1379.

By marrying Elisabeth of Luxembourg, the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund in 1437, Duke Albert V (1397–1439) became the ruler of Bohemia and Hungary, expanding the family's political horizons. The next year, Albert V was crowned as the King of the Romans and received the name Albert II. After his early death in war with the Turks in 1439, and after the death of his son Ladislaus Postumus in 1457, the Habsburgs lost Bohemia and Hungary again. National kingdoms were established in these areas, and the Habsburgs were not able to restore their influence there for decades.

Holy Roman Emperors

In 1440, Frederick III was chosen by the Electoral College to succeed Albert II as the king. After several Habsburg kings had attempted to gain the imperial throne over the years, success finally arrived on 19 March 1452, when Pope Nicholas V crowned Frederick III as the Holy Roman Emperor in a grand ceremony held in Rome. The Pope found in Frederick III an important political ally with whose help he was able to counter the conciliar movement. While in Rome, Frederick III married Eleanor of Portugal, enabling him to build a network of connections with dynasties in the west and southeast of Europe. In contrast to Frederick, who was rather distant to his family, Eleanor had a great influence on the raising and education of Frederick's children, and therefore played an important role in the family's rise to prominence. After Frederick III's coronation, the Habsburgs were able to hold the imperial throne almost continuously for centuries, until 1806.

As Emperor, Frederick III took a leading role inside the family and positioned himself as the judge over the family's internal conflicts, often making use of the privilegium maius. He was able to restore the unity of the house's Austrian lands, as the Albertinian line was now extinct. Territorial integrity was also strengthened by the extinction of the Tirolian branch of the Leopoldian line in 1490/1496. Frederick's aim was to make Austria a united country, stretching from Rhine to Murr and Leitha.

On the external front, one of Frederick's main achievements was the Siege of Neuss (1474–75), in which he forced Charles the Bold of Burgundy to give his daughter Mary of Burgundy as wife to Frederick's son Maximilian. The wedding, which took place on the evening of August 16, 1477, ultimately resulted in the Habsburgs acquiring control of the Low Countries. After Mary's early death in 1482, Maximilian attempted to secure the Burgundian heritance to one of his and Mary's children, Philip the Handsome. Charles VIII of France contested this, using both military and dynastic means, but the Burgundian succession was finally ruled in favour of Philip in the Treaty of Senlis in 1493. After the death of his father in 1493, Maximilian was proclaimed the new King of the Romans, receiving the name Maximilian I. Maximilian was initially unable to travel to Rome to receive the Imperial title from the Pope, due to opposition from Venice and from the French, who were occupying Milan, as well a refusal from the Pope due to enemy forces being present on his territory. In 1508, Maximilian proclaimed himself as the "chosen Emperor", and this was also recognized by the Pope due to changes in political alliances. This had a historical consequence in that in the future, the Roman King would also automatically become Emperor, without needing the Pope's consent. In 1530, Emperor Charles V, became the last person to be crowned as the Emperor by the Pope.

Maximilian's rule (1493–1519) was a time of great expansion for the Habsburgs. In 1497, Maximilian's son, Philip the Handsome (also known as Phillip the Fair) married Joanna of Castile, also known as Joan the Mad, heiress of Castile, Aragon and most of Spain. Phillip and Joan had six children, the eldest of whom became Charles V and inherited the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, including their colonies in America; Southern Italy, Austria and the Low Countries. The foundations for the later empire of Austria-Hungary were laid in 1515 by the means of a double wedding between Louis, only son of Vladislaus II, King of Hungary, and Maximilian's granddaughter Mary; and between her brother, Archduke Ferdinand and Vladislaus' daughter, Anna. The wedding was celebrated in grand style on 22 July 1515, and has been described by some historians as the First Congress of Vienna due to its significant implications for Europe's political landscape. As all the children were still minors, the wedding was formally completed in 1521. Vladislaus died on 13 March 1516, and Maximilian died on 12 January 1519, but his designs were ultimately successful: on Louis's death in 1526, Maximilian's grandson, Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor became the King of Bohemia.

By the time of Charles V the "World Emperor" and his "empire on which the sun never sets", the Habsburg dynasty achieved, for the first and only time in their history, the position of a true world power.

Division of the house: Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs

After the April 21, 1521 assignment of the Austrian lands to Ferdinand I by his brother Emperor Charles V (also King Charles I of Spain) (1516–1556), the dynasty split into the junior branch of the Austrian Habsburgs and the senior branch of the Spanish Habsburgs. The Austrian Habsburgs held the title of Holy Roman Emperor after Charles' death in 1558, as well as the Habsburg Hereditary Lands and the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, while the senior Spanish branch ruled over the Spain and its colonial empire, the Netherlands, the Habsburgs' Italian possessions, and, for a time, Portugal. Hungary was partly under Habsburg rule from 1526. For 150 years most of the country was occupied by the Ottoman Turks but these territories were re-conquered in 1683–1699.

In the secret Oñate treaty, the Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs settled their mutual claims. The Spanish Habsburgs died out in 1700 (prompting the War of the Spanish Succession), as did the last male of the Austrian Habsburg line in 1740 (prompting the War of the Austrian Succession), and finally the last female of the Habsburg male line in 1780. The heiress of the last Austrian Habsburgs (Maria Theresa) had married Francis Stephan, Duke of Lorraine, (both of them were great-grandchildren of Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand III, but from different empresses) and their descendants carried on the Habsburg tradition from Vienna under the dynastic name Habsburg-Lorraine, although technically a new ruling house came into existence in the Austrian territories, the House of Lorraine (see Dukes of Lorraine family tree). It is thought that extensive intra-family marriages within both lines contributed to their extinctions.

Extinction of the Spanish Habsburgs

The Habsburgs sought to consolidate their power by the frequent use of consanguineous marriages, with ultimately disastrous results for their gene pool. Marriages between first cousins, or between uncle and niece, were commonplace in the family. A study of 3,000 family members over 16 generations by the University of Santiago de Compostela suggests that inbreeding directly led to their extinction. The gene pool eventually became so small that the last of the Spanish line Charles II, who was severely disabled by genetic disorders, possessed a genome comparable to that of a child born to a brother and sister, as did his father, likely due to "remote inbreeding". The infamous Habsburg jaw was one such prominent manifestation of inbreeding.

On August 6, 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved under the French Emperor Napoleon I's reorganization of Germany. However, in anticipation of the loss of his title of Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II declared himself hereditary Emperor of Austria (as Francis I) on August 11, 1804, three months after Napoleon had declared himself Emperor of the French on May 18, 1804.

Emperor Francis I of Austria used the official full list of titles: "We, Francis the First, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria; King of Jerusalem, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia and Lodomeria; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Würzburg, Franconia, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola; Grand Duke of Cracow; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Sandomir, Masovia, Lublin, Upper and Lower Silesia, Auschwitz and Zator, Teschen, and Friule; Prince of Berchtesgaden and Mergentheim; Princely Count of Habsburg, Gorizia, and Gradisca and of the Tyrol; and Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and Istria".

Under the terms of the ''Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867'' effective autonomy was given to Hungary (''see'' Austria-Hungary). Under this arrangement, the Hungarians referred to their ruler as king and never emperor. This prevailed until the Habsburgs' deposition from both Austria and Hungary in 1918 following defeat in World War I.

On November 11, 1918, with his empire collapsing around him, the last Habsburg ruler, Charles I (who also reigned as Charles IV of Hungary) issued a proclamation recognizing Austria's right to determine the future of the state and renouncing any role in state affairs. Two days later, he issued a separate proclamation for Hungary. Even though he did not officially abdicate, this is considered the end of the Habsburg dynasty. In 1919, the new republican Austrian government subsequently passed a law banishing the Habsburgs from Austrian territory until they renounced all intentions of regaining the throne and accepted the status of private citizens. Charles made several attempts to regain the throne of Hungary, and in 1921 the Hungarian government passed a law which revoked Charles' rights and dethroned the Habsburgs.

The Habsburgs did not formally abandon all hope of returning to power until Otto von Habsburg, Emperor Charles' eldest son, renounced all claims to the throne.

The dynasty's motto is "Let others wage wars, but you, happy Austria, marry!" (''Bella gerant alii, tu, felix Austria, nube!''), which indicates the knack of the Habsburgs to have their members intermarry into other royal houses, to make alliances and inherit territory. Empress Maria Theresa is recognized quite notably for it and is sometimes referred to as the "Great-Grandmother of Europe" .

Family tree

This family tree only includes male scions of the direct House of Habsburg who survived to adulthood.

Main line

Before Rudolph rose to German king, the Habsburgs were Counts in what is today southwestern Germany and Switzerland.

Ancestors

Guntram the Rich (ca. 930–985 / 990) Father of:

Lanzelin of Altenburg (died 991). Besides Radbot, he had sons named Rudolph I, Wernher, and Landolf.

Counts of Habsburg

Radbot of Klettgau, built the Habsburg Castle (ca. 985–1035). Besides Werner I, he had two other sons: Otto I, who would become Count of Sundgau in the Alsace, and Albrecht I.

Werner I, Count of Habsburg (1025 / 1030–1096). Besides Otto II, there was another son, Albert II, who was reeve of Muri from 1111–1141 after the death of Otto II.

Otto II of Habsburg; first to name himself as "of Habsburg" (died 1111) Father of:

Werner II of Habsburg (around 1135; died 1167) Father of:

Albrecht III of Habsburg (''the Rich''), died 1199. Under him, the Habsburg territories expanded to cover most of what is today the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Father of:

Rudolph II of Habsburg (b. c. 1160, died 1232) Father of:

Albrecht IV of Habsburg, (died 1239 / 1240); father of Rudolph IV of Habsburg, who would later become king Rudolph I of Germany. Between Albrecht IV and his brother Rudolph III, the Habsburg properties were split, with Albrecht keeping the Aargau and the western parts, the eastern parts going to Rudolph III. Albrecht IV was also a mutual ancestor of Sophia Chotek and of her husband Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

Dukes of Austria

In the late Middle Ages, when the Habsburgs expanded their territories in the east, they often ruled as dukes of the Duchy of Austria which covered only what is today Lower Austria and the eastern part of Upper Austria. The Habsburg possessions also included Styria, and then expanded west to include Carinthia and Carniola in 1335 and Tirol in 1363. Their original scattered possessions in the southern Alsace, south-western Germany and Vorarlberg were collectively known as Further Austria. The Habsburg dukes gradually lost their homelands south of the Rhine and Lake Constance to the expanding Old Swiss Confederacy. Unless mentioned explicitly, the dukes of Austria also ruled over Further Austria until 1379, after that year, Further Austria was ruled by the Princely Count of Tyrol. Names in ''italics'' designate dukes who never actually ruled.

''Rudolph II'', son of Rudolph I, duke of Austria and Styria together with his brother 1282–1283, was dispossessed by his brother, who eventually would be murdered by one of Rudolph's sons.

Albert I (''Albrecht I''), son of Rudolph I and brother of the above, duke from 1282–1308; was Holy Roman Emperor from 1298–1308. See also below.

''Rudolph III'', oldest son of Albert I, designated duke of Austria and Styria 1298–1307

Frederick ''the Handsome'' (''Friedrich der Schöne''), brother of Rudolph III. Duke of Austria and Styria (with his brother Leopold I) from 1308–1330; officially co-regent of emperor Louis IV since 1325, but never ruled.

Leopold I, brother of the above, duke of Austria and Styria from 1308–1326.

Albert II (''Albrecht II''), brother of the above, duke of Further Austria from 1326–1358, duke of Austria and Styria 1330–1358, duke of Carinthia after 1335.

Otto ''the Jolly'' (''der Fröhliche''), brother of the above, duke of Austria and Styria 1330–1339 (together with his brother), duke of Carinthia after 1335.

Rudolph IV ''the Founder'' (''der Stifter''), oldest son of Albert II. Duke of Austria and Styria 1358–1365, Duke of Tirol after 1363.

After the death of Rudolph IV, his brothers Albert III and Leopold III ruled the Habsburg possessions together from 1365 until 1379, when they split the territories in the Treaty of Neuberg, Albert keeping the Duchy of Austria and Leopold ruling over Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the Windic March, Tirol, and Further Austria.

Albertine line: Dukes of Austria

Albert III (''Albrecht III''), duke of Austria until 1395, from 1386 (after the death of Leopold) until 1395 also ruled over the latter's possessions.

Albert IV (''Albrecht IV''), duke of Austria 1395–1404, in conflict with Leopold IV.

Albert V (''Albrecht V''), duke of Austria 1404–1439, Holy Roman Emperor from 1438–1439 as Albert II. See also below.

Ladislaus Posthumus, son of the above, duke of Austria 1440–1457.

Leopoldine line: Dukes of Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol

Leopold III, duke of Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol, and Further Austria until 1386, when he was killed in the Battle of Sempach.

William (''Wilhelm''), son of the above, 1386–1406 duke in Inner Austria (Carinthia, Styria)

Leopold IV, son of Leopold III, 1391 regent of Further Austria, 1395–1402 duke of Tyrol, after 1404 also duke of Austria, 1406–1411 duke of Inner Austria

Leopoldine-Inner Austrian sub-line

:* Ernest ''the Iron'' (''der Eiserne''), 1406–1424 duke of Inner Austria, until 1411 together and competing with his brother Leopold IV. :* Frederick V (''Friedrich''), son of Ernst, became emperor Frederick III in 1440. He was duke of Inner Austria from 1424 on. Guardian of Sigismund 1439–1446 and of Ladislaus Posthumus 1440–1452. See also below. :* Albert VI (''Albrecht VI''), brother of the above, 1446–1463 regent of Further Austria, duke of Austria 1458–1463 :* ''Ernestine line'' of Saxon princes, ancestor of George I of Great Britain-descended from sister of Frederick III; also Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse King of Finland 1918

Leopoldine-Tyrol sub-line

:* Frederick IV (''Friedrich''), brother of Ernst, 1402–1439 duke of Tyrol and Further Austria :* Sigismund, also spelled ''Siegmund'' or ''Sigmund'', 1439–1446 under the tutelage of the Frederick V above, then duke of Tyrol, and after the death of Albrecht VI in 1463 also duke of Further Austria.

Reuniting of Habsburg possessions

Sigismund had no children and adopted Maximilian I, son of duke Frederick V (emperor Frederick III). Under Maximilian, the possessions of the Habsburgs would be united again under one ruler, after he had re-conquered the Duchy of Austria after the death of Matthias Corvinus, who resided in Vienna and styled himself duke of Austria from 1485–1490.

King Consort of England

Philip II of Spain (King Consort with Mary I of England 1554–1558)

King of the Romans and Holy Roman Emperors prior to the reunion of the Habsburg possessions

Rudolph I, emperor 1273–1291 (never crowned)

Albert I, emperor 1298–1308 (never crowned)

Albert II, emperor 1438–1439 (never crowned) -ancestor of Empress Catherine II of Russia

Frederick III, emperor 1440–1493

Kings of Hungary prior to the reunion of the Habsburg possessions

Albert, king of Hungary 1437–1439

Ladislaus V Posthumus, king of Hungary 1444–1457

Holy Roman Emperors, Archdukes of Austria

Maximilian I, emperor 1508–1519

Charles V, emperor 1519–1556

Spanish Habsburgs: Kings of Spain, Kings of Portugal (1580–1640)

Philip I of Castile, second son of Maximilian I, founded the Spanish Habsburgs in 1496 by marrying Joanna the Mad, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. Philip died in 1506, leaving the thrones of Castile and Aragon to be inherited and united into the throne of Spain by his son:

Charles I 1516–1556, ''aka Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor; divided the House into Austrian and Spanish lines''

Philip II of Spain 1556–1598, also Philip I of Portugal 1580–1598 and Philip I of England and his wife Mary I of England 1554–1558

Philip III, also Philip II of Portugal 1598–1621

Philip IV 1621–1665, also Philip III of Portugal 1621–1640

Charles II 1665–1700

The War of the Spanish Succession took place after the extinction of the Spanish Habsburg line, to determine the inheritance of Charles II.

Austrian Habsburgs: Holy Roman Emperors, Archdukes of Austria

Ferdinand I, emperor 1556–1564 (→Family Tree)

Maximilian II, emperor 1564–1576

Rudolf II, emperor 1576–1612

Matthias, emperor 1612–1619

Ferdinand II, emperor 1619–1637

Ferdinand III, emperor 1637–1657 (→Family Tree)

Leopold I, emperor 1658–1705

Josef I, emperor 1705–1711

Charles VI, emperor 1711–1740

Maria Theresa of Austria, Habsburg heiress and wife of emperor Francis I Stephen, reigned as Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia 1740–1780.

The War of the Austrian Succession took place after the extinction of the male line of the Austrian Habsburg line upon the death of Charles VI. The direct Habsburg line itself became totally extinct with the death of Maria Theresa of Austria, when it was followed by the House of Lorraine, styled '' of Habsburg-Lorraine''.

House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Holy Roman Emperors, Archdukes of Austria

Francis I Stephen, emperor 1745–1765 (→Family Tree)

Joseph II, emperor 1765–1790

Leopold II, emperor 1790–1792 (→Family Tree)

Francis II, emperor 1792–1806 (→Family Tree)

Queen Maria Christina of Austria of Spain, great-granddaughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor above. Wife of Alfonso XII of Spain and mother of Alfonso XIII of the House of Bourbon. Alfonso XIII's wife Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg was descended from King George I of Great Britain from the Habsburg Leopold Line {above}.

The House of Habsburg-Lorraine retained Austria and attached possessions after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire; see below.

A son of Leopold II was Archduke Rainer of Austria whose wife was from the House of Savoy; a daughter Adelaide, Queen of Sardina was the wife of King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy, and Sardinia and King of Italy. Their Children married into the Royal Houses of Bonaparte; Saxe-Coburg and Gotha {Bragança} {Portugal}; Savoy {Spain}; and the Dukedoms of Montferrat and Chablis.

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Grand dukes of Tuscany

Francis Stephen 1737–1765 ''(later Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor)''

Francis Stephen assigned the grand duchy of Tuscany to his second son Peter Leopold, who in turn assigned it to his second son upon his accession as Holy Roman Emperor. Tuscany remained the domain of this cadet branch of the family until Italian unification.

Peter Leopold 1765–1790 ''(later Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor)''

Ferdinand III 1790–1800, 1814–1824 (→Family Tree)

Leopold II 1824–1849, 1849–1859

Ferdinand IV 1859–1860

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Tuscany line, post monarchy

Ferdinand IV 1860–1908

Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, Prince of Tuscany 1908–1942

Archduke Peter Ferdinand, Prince of Tuscany 1942–1948

Archduke Gottfried, Prince of Tuscany 1948–1984

Archduke Leopold Franz, Prince of Tuscany 1948–1993

Archduke Sigismund, Grand Duke of Tuscany 1993–Present

''See Line of succession to the Tuscan Throne''

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Dukes of Modena

The duchy of Modena was assigned to a minor branch of the family by the Congress of Vienna. It was lost to Italian unification.

Francis IV 1814–1831, 1831–1846 (→Family Tree)

Francis V 1846–1848, 1849–1859

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Modena line, post monarchy

Francis V (1859–1875)

Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Este (1875–1914)

Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este (1914–1917)

Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este (1917–1996)

Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-Este (1996–Present)

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Empress consort of France

Marie Louise of Austria 1810–1814

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Duchess of Parma

The duchy of Parma was likewise assigned to a Habsburg, but did not stay in the House long before succumbing to Italian unification. It was granted to the second wife of Napoleon I of France, Maria Luisa Duchess of Parma, a daughter of the Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was the mother of Napoleon II of France. Napoleon had divorced his wife Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie (better known to history as Josephine de Beauharnais) in her favour.

Maria Luisa 1814–1847 (→Family Tree)

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Emperor of Mexico

Maximilian, the adventurous second son of Archduke Franz Karl, was invited as part of Napoleon III's manipulations to take the throne of Mexico, becoming Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. The conservative Mexican nobility, as well as the clergy, supported this Second Mexican Empire. His consort, Charlotte of Belgium, a princess of the House of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, encouraged her husband's acceptance of the Mexican crown and accompanied him as Empress Carlota of Mexico. The adventure did not end well. Maximilian was shot in "Cerro de las Campanas" in 1867 by the republican forces of Benito Juárez.

Maximilian I (1864–1867) (→Family Tree)

House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Emperors of Austria

Francis I, Emperor of Austria 1804–1835: formerly ''Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor'' (→Family Tree)

Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria 1835–1848

Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria 1848–1916.

Charles I, Emperor of Austria 1916–1918. He died in exile in 1922. His wife was of the House of Bourbon-Parma.

House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Heads of the House of Habsburg (post-monarchy)

Charles I was expelled from his domains after World War I and the empire was abolished.

Charles I (1918–1922) (→Family Tree)

Otto von Habsburg (1922–2007)

Zita of Bourbon-Parma, guardian, (1922–1930)

Karl von Habsburg, (2007–present)

see Line of succession to the Austro-Hungarian throne

Burials

Kings of Hungary

The kingship of Hungary remained in the Habsburg family for centuries; but as the kingship was not strictly inherited (Hungary was an elective monarchy until 1687) and was sometimes used as a training ground for young Habsburgs, the dates of rule do not always match those of the primary Habsburg possessions. Therefore, the kings of Hungary are listed separately.

Albertine line: Kings of Hungary

Albert, king of Hungary 1437–1439

Ladislaus V Posthumus, King of Hungary 1444–1457

Austrian Habsburgs: Kings of Hungary

Ferdinand I, king of Hungary 1526–1564

Maximilian I, king of Hungary 1563–1576

Rudolf I, king of Hungary 1572–1608

Matthias II, king of Hungary 1608–1619

Ferdinand II, king of Hungary 1618–1637

Ferdinand III, king of Hungary 1625–1657

Ferdinand IV, king of Hungary 1647–1654

Leopold I, king of Hungary 1655–1705

Joseph I, king of Hungary 1687–1711

Charles III, king of Hungary 1711–1740

House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Kings of Hungary

Maria Theresa, queen of Hungary 1741–1780

Joseph II, king of Hungary 1780–1790

Leopold II, king of Hungary 1790–1792

Francis, king of Hungary 1792–1835

Ferdinand V, king of Hungary and Bohemia 1835–1848

Francis Joseph I, king of Hungary 1867–1916

Charles IV, king of Hungary 1916–1918

Kings of Bohemia

The kingship of Bohemia was from 1306 a position elected by its nobles. As a result, it was not an automatically inherited position. Until rule of the Ferdinand I Habsburgs didn't gain hereditary accession to the throne and were shifted by other dynasties. Hence, the kings of Bohemia and their ruling dates are listed separately.

Main line

Rudolph I, king of Bohemia 1306–1307

Albertine line: Kings of Bohemia

Albert, king of Bohemia 1437–1439

Ladislaus Posthumus, king of Bohemia 1453–1457

Austrian Habsburgs: Kings of Bohemia

Ferdinand I, king of Bohemia 1526–1564

Maximilian I, king of Bohemia 1563–1576

Rudolph II, king of Bohemia 1572–1611

Matthias, king of Bohemia 1611–1618

Ferdinand II, king of Bohemia 1621–1637

Ferdinand III, king of Bohemia 1625–1657

Ferdinand IV, king of Bohemia 1647–1654

Leopold I, king of Bohemia 1655–1705

Joseph I, king of Bohemia 1687–1711

Charles VI, king of Bohemia 1711–1740

Maria Theresa, queen of Bohemia 1743–1780

House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Kings of Bohemia

From the accession of Maria Theresa, the kingship of Bohemia became united with the Austrian possessions.

Joseph II, king of Bohemia 1780–1790

Leopold II, king of Bohemia 1790–1792

Francis, king of Bohemia 1792–1835

Ferdinand V, king of Bohemia 1835–1848

Francis Joseph I, king of Bohemia 1848–1916

Charles III, king of Bohemia 1916–1918

Queens Consort of France

From the 16th through the 18th centuries, the greatest non-Habsburg power in Europe was usually France. As a result, in usually futile attempts to either unite Europe under the Habsburg family or to prevent French enmity, Habsburg daughters were wed to successive kings of France.

Pre-division Habsburgs

Eleanor of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1498–1558), wife of King Francis I of France.

Austrian Habsburgs

Elisabeth of Austria (1554–1592), wife of King Charles IX of France

Spanish Habsburgs

Anne of Austria, infanta of Spain, (1601–1666), wife of King Louis XIII

Maria Theresa of Spain (1638–1683), wife of King Louis XIV

Habsburg-Lorraine

Marie Antoinette (1755–1793), wife of King Louis XVI

Marie Louise (1791–1847), second wife of Emperor Napoleon I.

Queens Consort of Portugal

Due to its proximity (geographic, strategic and religious) the Habsburgs always consolidated their alliances with the Portuguese Royal House of Aviz, which gave them this Kingdom in 1580. When the Braganzas expelled the Spanish Habsburgs (1640), new alliances were set-up, this time with the Austrian Habsburgs.

Pre-division Habsburgs

Eleanor of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1498–1558), third wife of King Manuel I of Portugal. When she became a widow, she remarried, this time with King Francis I of France.

Catherine of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1507–1578), wife of King John III of Portugal

Austrian Habsburgs

Marie Anne, Archduchess of Austria (1683–1754), wife of King John V of Portugal

Habsburg-Lorraine

Maria Leopoldina, Archduchess of Austria (1797–1826), first wife of Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil, also known as Pedro IV, King of Portugal. Marie Leopoldina was Marie Louise's younger sister.

Empress Consort of Brazil

Habsburg-Lorraine

Marie Leopoldina, Archduchess of Austria (1797–1826), first wife of Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil, also known as Pedro IV, King of Portugal. Maria Leopoldina was also briefly Queen consort of Portugal, see above. She was politically active and acted as regent of the Empire of Brazil during her husband's absence from the imperial court in Rio de Janeiro. She had direct participation in the Brazilian Independence. Her son Dom Pedro II ruled Brazil as emperor and her daughter Maria II ruled Portugal as Queen.

In popular culture

In the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'' episode "Black Tie" a "Gerhardt Habsburg" is presented as the last living member of the family. Gerhardt is wheelchair-bound and appears to be strongly afflicted with hereditary frailties and multiple medical conditions. In the episode the 25th birthday party for the prince is termed the social event of the year in New York City. Unfortunately the prince is inadvertently served champagne, and having a metabolism that is unable to handle grapes, Gerhardt dies, thus making the house of Habsburg extinct.

See also

A.E.I.O.U.

Austria-Hungary

Austrian Empire

Dukes of Lorraine family tree

Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Habsburg family tree

Habsburg Monarchy

Habsburg Spain

Kings of Germany family tree. The Habsburgs were the 8th dynasty to rule Germany and were related by marriage to all the others.

Line of succession to the Tuscan Throne

List of rulers of Austria

List of rulers of Lorraine

Royal intermarriage

Mandibular prognathism ("Habsburg lip")

Mayerling Incident

Ottoman–Habsburg wars

Thirty Years' War

Notes

Further reading

Brewer-Ward, Daniel A. ''The House of Habsburg: A Genealogy of the Descendants of Empress Maria Theresia''. Clearfield, 1996.

Crankshaw, Edward. ''The Fall of the House of Habsburg''. Sphere Books Limited, London, 1970. (first published by Longmans in 1963)

Evans, Robert J. W. ''The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1550–1700: An Interpretation''. Clarendon Press, 1979.

McGuigan, Dorothy Gies. ''The Habsburgs''. Doubleday, 1966.

Palmer, Alan. ''Napoleón and Marie Louise'' Ariel Mexico, 2003.

Wandruszka, Adam. ''The House of Habsburg: Six Hundred Years of a European Dynasty''. Doubleday, 1964 (Greenwood Press, 1975).

External links

http://habsburg.yolasite.com/ The Habsburg Family Association

"Erzherzog Dr. Otto von Habsburg" (Autorisierte Ehrenseite) in German

Habsburg Biographies

Habsburg History

Habsburg Resource Centre on SurnameWeb

http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Rulers/hapsburg3.html

Genealogical tree of the house of Habsburg (up until Maria Theresia)

''The Hapsburg Monarchy'' (Wickham Steed, 1913)) eLibrary Austria Project full text (ebook)

Genealogy of the Habsburgs from Genealogy.eu

"Inbreeding caused demise of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, new study reveals" (15 April 2009)

Family tree of the Kings of the House of Habsburg

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name	Otto von Habsburg
title	Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia
spouse	Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen
issue	Andrea von HabsburgMonika von HabsburgMichaela von HabsburgGabriela von HabsburgWalburga von HabsburgKarl von HabsburgGeorg von Habsburg
issue-link	#Family
issue-pipe	Detail
full name	Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xavier Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius von Habsburg
house	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
father	Charles I of Austria
mother	Zita of Bourbon-Parma
birth date	November 20, 1912
birth place	Reichenau an der Rax, Austria-Hungary
death date	July 04, 2011
death place	Pöcking, Germany
burial date	16 July 2011 (body); 17 July 2011 (heart)
burial place	Imperial Crypt (body); Pannonhalma Archabbey (heart)
signature	Otto von Habsburg Signature.svg
religion	Roman Catholic

Otto von Habsburg (20 November 1912 4 July 2011), also known by his royal name as Archduke Otto of Austria, was the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the empire in 1918, a realm which comprised modern-day Austria, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and parts of Italy, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. He remained the Crown Prince of Hungary until also the deposition of the Habsburgs in Hungary in 1921. He subsequently became the pretender to the former thrones, Head of the Imperial House of Habsburg, and Sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1922. He resigned as Sovereign of the Golden Fleece in 2000 and as head of the Imperial House in 2007.

The eldest son of Charles I, the last Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, and his wife, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Otto was born as third in line to the thrones, as ''His Imperial and Royal Highness'' Archduke and Prince Imperial Otto of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. With his father's accession to the thrones in 1916, he was himself likely to become the Emperor. As his father never abdicated, Otto was considered by himself, his family and Austro-Hungarian legitimists to be the rightful Emperor-King from 1922. Had the dual monarchy still existed, had his father still died young, and had he still lived to the age of 98, he might have had an 89-year reign, the longest verifiable by date.

Otto was active on the Austrian and European political stage from the 1930s, both by promoting the cause of Habsburg restoration and as an early proponent of European integration—being thoroughly disgusted with nationalism—and a fierce opponent of Nazism and communism. He has been described as one of the leaders of the Austrian anti-Nazi resistance. After the 1938 ''Anschluss'', monarchists were severely persecuted in Austria, and—sentenced to death by the Nazis—Otto fled to the United States, with a visa issued by Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

Otto von Habsburg was Vice President (1957–1973) and President (1973–2004) of the International Paneuropean Union, and served as a Member of the European Parliament for the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) 1979–1999. In 1961, Francisco Franco offered him the crown of Spain, but he declined on account of the Habsburg dynasty's long absence from the Spanish throne, and recommended Juan Carlos. As a newly elected Member of the European Parliament in 1979, Otto had an empty chair set up for the countries on the other side of the Iron Curtain in the European Parliament, and took a strong interest in the countries behind the Iron Curtain during his tenure. Otto von Habsburg played a central role in the revolutions of 1989, as a co-initiator of the Pan-European Picnic. Later he would be a strong supporter of the EU membership of central and eastern European countries. A noted intellectual, he has published several books on historical and political affairs. Otto has been described as one of the "architects of the European idea and of European integration" together with Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer, and Alcide De Gasperi.

Otto was exiled in 1918 and grew up mostly in Spain. His devout Catholic mother raised him according to the old curriculum of Austria-Hungary, preparing him to become a Catholic monarch. During his life in exile, he lived in Switzerland, Madeira, Spain, Belgium, France, the United States, and from 1954 until his death, finally in Bavaria (Germany), in the residence ''Villa Austria''. At the time of his death, he was a citizen of Germany, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, having earlier been stateless ''de jure'' and ''de facto'' and possessed passports of Monaco, the Order of Malta, and Spain.

His funeral took place at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna on 16 July 2011; after a solemn requiem mass at Saint John Cantius in Chicago; he was entombed in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and his heart buried in Pannonhalma Archabbey in Hungary.

Early life

Otto was born at Villa Wartholz in Reichenau an der Rax, Austria-Hungary. He was baptised ''Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xavier Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius'' on 25 November 1912 at Villa Wartholz by the Prince-Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Franz Xaver Nagl. His godfather was the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (represented by Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria); his godmother was his grandmother Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal.

In November 1916, Otto became Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia when his father, Archduke Charles, acceded to the throne. However, in 1918, at the end of the First World War, the monarchies were abolished, the Republics of Austria and Hungary founded instead, and the family was forced into exile in Madeira. Hungary did become a kingdom again, but Charles was never to regain the throne. Instead, Miklós Horthy ruled as regent until 1944, in a kingdom without a king.

He spoke German, Hungarian, Croatian, English, Spanish, French and Latin fluently. In later life, he would write some 40 books in German, Hungarian, French and Spanish. His mother made him learn many languages because she believed he one day might rule over many lands.

Years in exile

Otto's family spent the subsequent years in Switzerland, and on the Portuguese island of Madeira, where Charles died prematurely in 1922, leaving the 9-year-old Otto pretender to the throne. On his father's deathbed, his mother, then-Empress Dowager Zita, told the 9-year-old, "your father is now sleeping the eternal sleep—you are now Emperor and King". The family eventually relocated to the Basque town of Lekeitio, where 40 Spanish grandees bought them a villa. Meanwhile, the Austrian parliament had officially expelled the Habsburg dynasty and confiscated all the official property (Habsburg Law of 3 April 1919).

In 1935, he graduated with a PhD degree in Political and Social Sciences from the University of Louvain in Belgium. From his father's death throughout the remainder of his time in exile, Otto considered himself the rightful emperor of Austria and stated this on many occasions. In 1937 he wrote,

“I know very well that the overwhelming majority of the Austrian population would like me to assume the heritage of the peace emperor, my beloved father, rather earlier than later. (...) The [Austrian] people have never cast a vote in favor of the republic. They have remained silent as long as they were exhausted from the long fight, and taken by surprise by the audacity of the revolutionaries of 1918 and 1919. They shook off their resignation when they realized that the revolution had raped their right to life and freedom. (...) Such trust places a heavy burden on me. I accept it readily. God willing, the hour of reunion between the Duke and the people will arrive soon.”

He continued to enjoy considerable public support in Austria; from 1931 to 1938, 1,603 Austrian municipalities named Otto an honorary citizen.

World War II

Otto strongly opposed the Anschluss of Austria to Nazi Germany. In 1938 he requested Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg to resist the Nazis and supported an international intervention, and offered to return from exile to take over the reins of government in order to repel Hitler. According to Gerald Warner, "Austrian Jews were among the strongest supporters of a Habsburg restoration, since they believed the dynasty would give the nation sufficient resolve to stand up to the Third Reich".

Following the German annexation of Austria, Otto was sentenced to death by the Nazis. As ordered by Adolf Hitler, his personal property and that of the House of Habsburg were confiscated and not given back after the war. The so-called "Habsburg Law", which had previously been repealed, was reintroduced by the fiercely republican and anti-monarchist Nazis. The leaders of the Austrian legitimist movement, i.e. supporters of Otto, were arrested by the Nazis and largely executed (Stefan Zweig's novella ''The Royal Game'' is based on these events). Otto's cousins Max, Duke of Hohenberg, and Prince Ernst of Hohenberg were arrested in Vienna by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau concentration camp where they remained throughout the Nazi rule. Otto was involved in helping around 15,000 Austrians, including thousands of Austrian Jews, flee the country at the beginning of the Second World War.

During his Exile in the USA Otto along with his younger brothers was in direct contact with President Roosevelt and the goverment. Otto tried to found a "Austrian Battallion" in the US Army, which was delayed and never actually happened, as it´s said that the Democratic US government couldnt or wouldn´t help a Monarch regain his throne(since some high ranked US official thought monarchy means despotism). Nevertheless Otto succesfully tried to avoid the Bombardment of Austrian cities especially the Capital Vienna which then were delayed by high ranked Commanding Personal. First bombardments on Vienna began later in the war (1943). Otto tried hard to set symbolic steps for the will of Austria and Austrians tob be free independent and democratic. Also Otto warned the US goverment that past WWII there should be great concearns about Austria becoming a communist sattelite of Soviet rule. Otto was commonly known in the US as "Otto of Austria", also tried to launch some actions to keep Austria and its neighbouring countries in mind of the US people via starting a series of stamps containing the nazi-occupied nations of europe and much more.

Rudolf Hess ordered that Otto was to be executed immediately if caught. After the German invasion of France the family left the French capital and fled to Portugal with a visa issued by Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux. For his own safety, he left the European continent and lived from 1940 to 1944 in Washington, D.C. In his war-time exile in the United States, he worked to stop or limit the bombing campaign against Austria. In the United States, he initiated the Austrian Day and was able to get Austria included in a postage stamp series on "Occupied Nations". He obtained the support of Winston Churchill for a conservative "Danube Federation", in effect a restoration of Austria-Hungary, but Joseph Stalin put an end to these plans. He lobbied for the recognition of an Austrian government-in-exile, for the rights of the German-speaking population of South Tyrol, against the deportation of the German-speaking inhabitants of Bohemia and eastern Europe, and against letting Stalin rule Eastern Europe.

In 1941, Adolf Hitler personally revoked the citizenship of Otto, his mother, and his siblings, and the imperial-royal family found themselves stateless.

After World War II

At the end of the war, Otto returned to Europe and lived for some years in France and Spain.

In 1949, he ennobled several people, granting them Austrian noble titles, although not recognized by the Austrian republic. As he did not possess a passport and was effectively stateless, he was given a passport of the Principality of Monaco, thanks to the intervention of Charles de Gaulle in 1946. As a Knight of Malta, the Order also issued him a diplomatic passport. Later, he was also given a Spanish diplomatic passport.

On 8 May 1956, Otto was recognized as an Austrian citizen by the provincial government of Lower Austria. The Austrian Interior Ministry approved this declaration of Citizenship, but on the condition that he accept the name Dr. Otto Habsburg-Lothringen, on 8 February 1957. But this only entitled him to a passport "valid in every country but Austria". Otto had already submitted a written statement, on 21 February 1958, that he and his family would renounce all privileges formerly entitled a member of the House of Habsburg, but this first declaration did not satisfy the requirements of the Habsburg Law. He officially declared his loyalty to the Republic of Austria on 5 June 1961. His second and formal renunciation of Habsburg privilege, on 31 May 1961, was eventually ruled satistfactory and in compliance with the Habsburg Law in 1963. His wife and he were then issued a Certified Proof of Citizenship on 20 July 1965. The Interior Ministry granted him an Austrian passport on 1 June 1966. The legal proceedings that forbade him entry to the country were now at an end. He traveled to Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria, for the first time since his exile, to visit the grave of Archduke Eugen of Austria, on 31 October 1966. Later, he visited Vienna on 5 July 1967.

Political career

In a declaration dated 31 May 1961, Otto renounced all claims to the Austrian throne and proclaimed himself "a loyal citizen of the republic", a move that he made only after much hesitation and certainly "for purely practical reasons". In a 2007 interview on the occasion of his approaching 95th birthday, Otto stated: :"This was such an infamy, I'd rather never have signed it. They demanded that I abstain from politics. I would not have dreamed of complying. Once you have tasted the opium of politics, you never get rid of it."

The Habsburg Law of 3 April 1919 stated that Charles' descendants could only return to Austria if they renounced their royal claims and accepted the status of private citizens. The Austrian administrative court found on 24 May 1963 that Otto's statement was sufficient to meet this requirement. However, several elements in the country, particularly the Socialists, were ill-disposed to welcoming back the heir of the deposed dynasty. This touched off political infighting and civil unrest that almost precipitated a crisis of state, and later became known as the "Habsburg Crisis." It was only on 1 June 1966, after the People's Party won an outright majority in the national election, that Otto was issued an Austrian passport, and was finally able to visit his home country again on 31 October 1966 for the first time in 48 years.

An early advocate of a unified Europe, Otto was president of the International Paneuropean Union from 1973 to 2004. He served from 1979 until 1999 as a Member of the European Parliament for the conservative Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) party, eventually becoming the senior member of the European Parliament. He was also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society. He was a major supporter of the expansion of the European Union from the beginning and especially of the acceptance of Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. During his time in the European Parliament, he was involved in a fracas initiated by fellow MEP Ian Paisley. In 1988, Pope John Paul II had just begun a speech to the Parliament, and Protestant Paisley shouted at the Pope, "I denounce you as the Antichrist!", holding a poster reading "Pope John Paul II Antichrist". Otto snatched Paisley's banner and, along with other MEPs, helped eject him from the chamber.

He was one of the men instrumental in organising the so called Pan-European Picnic at the Hungary-Austria border on 19 August 1989. This event is considered a milestone in the collapse of Communist dictatorships in Europe.

He was reportedly a patron of the Three Faiths Forum, a group which aims to encourage friendship, goodwill and understanding amongst people of the three monotheistic faiths of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

In December 2006, he observed that, "The catastrophe of 11 September 2001 struck the United States more profoundly than any of us, whence a certain mutual incomprehension. Until then, the United States felt itself secure, persuaded of its power to bombard any enemy, without anyone being able to strike back. That sentiment vanished in an instant. Americans understand viscerally for the first time the risks they face."

On 5 July 2007, Otto von Habsburg received the Freedom of the City of London from the hands of Sir Gavyn Arthur, a former Lord Mayor of London.

He was known as a supporter of the rights of refugees and displaced people in Europe, notably of the ethnic Germans displaced from Bohemia where he was once the Crown Prince. He was a jury member of the Franz Werfel Human Rights Award. He also held Francisco Franco in a high regard and praised him for helping refugees, stating that he was "a dictator of the south American type, not totalitarian like Hitler or Stalin".

In 2002, he was named the first ever honorary member of the European People's Party group.

On the 2008 anniversary of the Anschluss, Otto von Habsburg made a very controversial statement, as part of his "1938 Remembrance Day" address before Parliament that "there is no country in Europe that has a better claim to be a victim of the Nazis than Austria". The context of this statement left little room for the media to interpret it in a better light. Although his speech received an ovation, the Habsburgs were once again distanced from the popular opinion of the Austrian people, as demonstrated in public protest, media criticism and disapproval voiced by Austrian politicians. Social Democratic Party Defence Minister Norbert Darabos was quoted as saying that the remarks were "unacceptable", "a veritable democratic-political scandal" and that he had "insulted the victims of National Socialism". Otto von Habsburg was also quoted as saying that "a discussion as to whether Austria was an accomplice or a victim is an outrage". Austrian People's Party military spokesman Walter Murauer defended Otto's statement at the time Murauer claimed that there was "another reality behind the mass of people who listened to Hitler on the Heldenplatz". Meaning the "thousands in the resistance and thousands in prison waiting to be transported to Dachau" near Munich. Murauer also recalled that Engelbert Dollfuß had been the only head of government in Europe to have been murdered by the Nazis. Murauer advised Darabos "to avoid populist pot-shots against an honourable European of the highest calibre." His son, Karl von Habsburg, also defended his father's words, in a 2011 statement, stating that "there were guilty parties in practically every country".

Death and funeral

After the death of his wife, Regina in 2010, Otto stopped appearing in public. He died at the age of 98 on Monday, 4 July 2011, at his home in Pöcking, Germany. His spokeswoman reported that he died "peacefully and without pain in his sleep". He was survived by his younger brother, Felix, as well as 7 children, 22 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

On 5 July, his body was laid in repose in the Church of St. Ulrich near his home in Pöcking, Bavaria, and a massive 13-day period of mourning started in several countries formerly part of Austria-Hungary. Otto's coffin was draped with the Habsburg flag decorated with the imperial–royal coats of arms of Austria and Hungary in addition to the Habsburg family coat of arms.

In line with the Habsburg family tradition, Otto von Habsburg was buried in the family's crypt in Vienna, while his heart was buried in a monastery in Pannonhalma, Hungary.

Family

He was married to Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen from 1951 until her death in 2010. At the time of his death, he left seven children, 23 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren (as of 2011):

Andrea von Habsburg (born 1953). Married Hereditary Count Karl Eugen von Neipperg. They have three sons, two daughters and two grandchildren.

Monika von Habsburg (born 1954). Married Luis María Gonzaga Gonzaga de Casanova-Cárdenas y Barón, Duke of Santangelo, Marquess of Elche, Count of Lodosa and Grandee of Spain, who is a descendant of Infanta Luisa Teresa of Spain, Duchess of Sessa and sister of Francis, King-Consort of Spain.

Michaela von Habsburg, born on September 13, 1954. Monika's twin sister. Married firstly Eric Alba Teran d'Antin, and secondly Count Hubertus of Kageneck. She has two sons and a daughter from her first marriage. Twice divorced. Gabriela von Habsburg, born on October 14, 1956Married Christian Meister in 1978, divorced in 1997. Walburga von Habsburg, born on October 05, 1958Married Count Archibald Douglas Karl von Habsburg, born on January 11, 1961 - Married Baroness Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, born on June 07, 1958 Georg von Habsburg, born on December 16, 1964Married Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg, born on August 22, 1972

Otto lived in retirement at the ''Villa Austria'' in Pöcking bei Starnberg, Starnberg, near the lake Starnberger See, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany.

Titles and styles

20 November 1912 – 21 November 1916: ''His Imperial and Royal Highness'' Archduke and Prince Imperial Otto of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia

21 November 1916 – 12 November 1918: ''His Imperial and Royal Highness'' The Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia

12 November 1918 – 4 July 2011: ''His Imperial and Royal Highness'' Crown Prince Otto of Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia

Titles of pretence from 1 April 1922 By the Grace of God Emperor of Austria; King of Hungary and Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia and Lodomeria; King of Jerusalem etc.; Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow; Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and Bukowina; Grand Prince of Transylvania, Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Silesia, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla, Auschwitz and Zator, Teschen, Friuli, Dubrovnik and Zadar; Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol, of Kyburg, Gorizia and Gradisca; Prince of Trent and Brixen; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and Istria; Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenburg etc.; Lord of Trieste, Kotor and the Windic March, Grand Voivod of the Voivodeship of Serbia etc. etc.

Official in Austria

20 November 1912 – 21 November 1916: ''His Imperial and Royal Highness'' Archduke and Prince Imperial Otto of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia

21 November 1916 – 12 November 1918: ''His Imperial and Royal Highness'' The Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia

12 November 1918–1919: Otto Kaiserlicher Prinz, Erzherzog von Österreich, Königlicher Prinz von Ungarn

1919–1941 (citizenship revoked by Adolf Hitler in 1941): ''Herr'' Otto Habsburg-Lothringen

(1941–1965 Otto did not have citizenship in any country, but he had a passport of Monaco from 1946 as ''His Imperial and Royal Highness Otto von Habsburg'', plus a passport of the Order of Malta and a diplomatic passport of Spain under the same name)

1965–4 July 2011: ''Doktor'' Otto Habsburg-Lothringen

Official in Germany

12 November 1918 – 4 July 2011: Otto Kaiserlicher Prinz Erzherzog von Österreich Königlicher Prinz von Ungarn

Ancestry

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Honours and awards

Habsburg/Austrian orders and awards

Order of the Golden Fleece (Austrian Branch)

*Sovereign (1922–2000)

*Knight (1916)

Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen

Grand Cross of the Imperial Austrian Order of Leopold

Badge of the Tyrolean Nobility Register

Other dynastic orders

House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies: Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Januarius House of Braganza: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa House of Savoy: Knight of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation House of Wittelsbach: Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Hubert

Governmental orders and awards

: Bearer of the Bavarian Order of Merit (1978) : Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir (1996) : 1st Class of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (1996) : Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (2009) : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1987) : Grand Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (1980) : Grand Cross of the Order of St. Sylvester : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary (1999) : Golden Medal of Liberty : Commander of the Order of Three Stars : Commander of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas : Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau : Order of Merit : Commander with Star of the Order of Hilal Quaid Azam (1993) : Grand-Commander of the Legion of Honour : Grand Cross of the Order of St. Agatha (2002) : Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III (1951) : Grand Cross of the Order of Africa : Recipient of the Grand Order of Merit

Non-governmental awards

: Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (1959) Teutonic Knights: Honorary Knight of the Teutonic Order : Cross of Honour in Gold of the Chapter of Lilienfeld Paneuropean Union: Special Rank of the European Medal of the Paneuropean Union Germany Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft: European Charles Price of the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft Palmetto Guard: Posthumously elected to membership in the Palmetto Guard.

Academic awards

Medal of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, Institut de France, Paris, France

Medal of the Academia Mexicana de Derecho Internacional, Mexico

Medal of the Royal Moroccan Academy, Morocco

Medal of the Academia da Cultura Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal

Medal of the Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas, Madrid, Spain

Honorary Professor of the University of Bogota, Colombia

Honorary Fellow of the University of Jerusalem, Israel

Honorary Member of the Instituto de Estudios da Marinha, Portugal

Honorary Senator of the University of Maribor, Slovenia

Honorary Doctor of the University of Osijek, Croatia

Honorary Doctor of the University of Nancy, Lorraine, France

Honorary Doctor of the University of Turku, Finland)

Honorary Doctor of the University of Budapest, Hungary

Honorary Doctor of the University of Pécs, Hungary

Honorary Doctor of the University of Veszprém, Hungary

Honorary Doctor of the University of Jerusalem, Israel

Honorary Doctor of the University of Ferrara, Italy

Honorary Doctor of the University of Skopje, Macedonia

Honorary Doctor of the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Honorary Doctor of the University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Honorary Doctor of the University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida, USA

Honorary Doctor of the Chernivtsi University, Ukraine

Honorary Master in Law and Economics of the IMADEC University, Vienna, Austria

Footnotes

Bibliography

Gordon Brook-Shepherd, ''Uncrowned Emperor – The Life and Times of Otto von Habsburg'', Hambledon Continuum, London 2003. ISBN 1-85285-549-5.

Flavia Foradini, "Otto d'Asburgo. L'ultimo atto di una dinastia", mgs press, Trieste, 2004. ISBN 88-89219-04-1

External links

Otto von Habsburg Obituary - The Independent (London, UK) 2011 By Martin Childs

Erzherzog Dr. Otto von Habsburg (Autorisierte Ehrenseite)

An essay on Republicanism vs Monarchism by Otto

Video interview of Otto von Habsbourg (French) European Navigator

The Black & Yellow Alliance

The Mises I Knew Audio of Otto von Habsburg's English-language talk at Ludwig von Mises Institute's "Manifesto of Liberty" Summit, February 1999.

Uncrowned emperor: the life and times of Otto von Habsburg By Gordon Brook-Shepherd

Archduke Otto Von Habsburg and American Hungarian Emigres during and after World War II, by Steven Bela Vardy

Archduchess Regina von Habsburg – Daily Telegraph obituary

http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00014657&tree;=LEO

Obituary of Archduke Otto * Otto von Habsburg, The Daily Telegraph, 4 July 2011

Official website covering the death and funeral of Otto von Habsburg

Otto von Habsburg (The Economist) ) {{s-tul| title = Emperor of Austria | years = 1 April 1922 – 4 July 2011|reason=Austro-Hungarian Empire abolished in 1918 }} {{s-tul| title = King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia | years = 1 April 1922 – 4 July 2011|reason=Austro-Hungarian Empire abolished in 1918, the Habsburgs deposed in Hungary in 1921}}

Category:1912 births Category:2011 deaths Category:20th-century Austrian people Otto Category:Austrian anti-communists Category:Pretenders to the Austrian throne Category:Pretenders to the Hungarian throne Otto Category:Heirs apparent who never acceded Category:Austrian Roman Catholics Category:German Roman Catholics Category:Alumni of the Catholic University of Leuven before 1968 Category:Christian Social Union of Bavaria politicians Otto Otto Otto Category:Mont Pelerin Society members Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece Category:Knights of Malta Otto Otto Category:Grand Masters of the Order of the Golden Fleece Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa Category:Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Charles III Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great Category:Knights of the Order of Saint Hubert Category:Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir recipients Category:Knights of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation Category:Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit (Hungary) Category:Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Category:Recipients of the Order of the Three Stars Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:Members of the Bavarian Order of Merit Category:People educated at the Benedictine High School of Pannonhalma Category:Christian Social Union of Bavaria MEPs Category:MEPs for Germany 1979–1984 Category:MEPs for Germany 1984–1989 Category:MEPs for Germany 1989–1994 Category:MEPs for Germany 1994–1999 Category:People from Neunkirchen District, Austria Category:Knights of St. Sylvester Category:Claimant Kings of Jerusalem

az:Otto Habsburq Lotringen zh-min-nan:Otto von Habsburg be:Ота фон Габсбург be-x-old:Отта фон Габсбург bg:Ото фон Хабсбург bs:Otto von Habsburg ca:Otó d'Habsburg-Lorena cs:Otto von Habsburg cy:Otto von Habsburg da:Otto von Habsburg de:Otto von Habsburg et:Otto von Habsburg el:Όθων των Αψβούργων es:Otón de Habsburgo-Lorena eo:Otto von Habsburg fr:Otto de Habsbourg-Lorraine ga:Otto von Habsburg ko:오스트리아 황태자 오토 hr:Otto von Habsburg id:Otto von Habsburg it:Ottone d'Asburgo-Lorena jv:Otto von Habsburg la:Otto de Habsburgo lb:Otto von Habsburg lmo:Otto d'Asburgh-Lorena hu:Habsburg Ottó nl:Otto van Habsburg-Lotharingen ja:オットー・フォン・ハプスブルク no:Otto von Habsburg nn:Otto av Habsburg pl:Otto von Habsburg pt:Otto de Habsburgo ro:Otto von Habsburg ru:Габсбург, Отто фон sq:Otto von Habsburg simple:Otto von Habsburg sk:Otto von Habsburg sl:Otto von Habsburg sh:Otto von Habsburg fi:Otto von Habsburg sv:Otto von Habsburg th:ออทโท ฟอน ฮับส์บูร์ก tr:Otto von Habsburg uk:Отто фон Габсбург vi:Otto von Habsburg zh:奧托·馮·哈布斯堡

Johann Strauss II (October 25, 1825 – June 3, 1899), also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son (), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and a ballet. In his lifetime, he was known as "The Waltz King", and was largely then responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century.

Strauss was born in St. Ulrich (now a part of Neubau), the son of Johann Strauss I, another composer of dance music. His father did not wish him to become a composer, but rather a banker; however, the son defied his father's wishes, and went on to study music with the composer Joseph Drechsler and the violin with Anton Kollmann, the ballet répétiteur of the Vienna Court Opera. Strauss had two younger brothers, Josef and Eduard Strauss, who became composers of light music as well, although they were never as well known as their elder brother.

Some of Johann Strauss's most famous works include ''The Blue Danube'', ''Kaiser-Walzer'', ''Tales from the Vienna Woods'', the ''Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka'', and the ''Pizzicato Polka''. Among his operettas, ''Die Fledermaus'' and ''Der Zigeunerbaron'' are the most well-known.

Early life

Strauss was born in St. Ulrich near Vienna (now a part of Neubau), Austria, on October 25, 1825, to the famous composer Johann Strauss I. His father did not want him to become a musician but rather a banker. Nevertheless, Strauss Junior studied the violin secretly as a child with the first violinist of his father's orchestra, Franz Amon. When his father discovered his son secretly practising on a violin one day, he gave him a severe whipping, saying that he was going to beat the music out of the boy. It seems that rather than trying to avoid a Strauss rivalry, the elder Strauss only wanted his son to escape the rigours of a musician's life. It was only when the father abandoned his family for a mistress, Emilie Trampusch, that the son was able to concentrate fully on a career as a composer with the support of his mother.

Strauss studied counterpoint and harmony with theorist Professor Joachim Hoffmann, who owned a private music school. His talents were also recognized by composer Joseph Drechsler, who taught him exercises in harmony. His other violin teacher, Anton Kollmann, who was the ballet répétiteur of the Vienna Court Opera, also wrote excellent testimonials for him. Armed with these, he approached the Viennese authorities to apply for a license to perform. He initially formed his small orchestra where he recruited his members at the ''Zur Stadt Belgrad'' tavern, where musicians seeking work could be hired easily.

Debut as a composer

Johann Strauss I's influence over the local entertainment establishments meant that many of them were wary of offering the younger Strauss a contract for fear of angering the father. Strauss Jr. was able to persuade the Dommayer's Casino in Hietzing, a suburb of Vienna, to allow him to perform. The elder Strauss, in anger at his son's disobedience, and at that of the proprietor, refused to ever play at the Dommayer's Casino again, which had been the site of many of his earlier triumphs.

Strauss made his debut at Dommayer's in October 1844, where he performed some of his first works, such as the waltzes "Sinngedichte", Op. 1 and "Gunstwerber", Op. 4 and the polka "Herzenslust", Op. 3. Critics and the press were unanimous in their praise for Strauss's music. A critic for ''Der Wanderer'' commented that "Strauss’s name will be worthily continued in his son; children and children’s children can look forward to the future, and three-quarter time will find a strong footing in him."

Despite the initial fanfare, Strauss found his early years as a composer difficult, but he soon won over audiences after accepting commissions to perform away from home. The first major appointment for the young composer was his award of the honorary position of "Kapellmeister of the 2nd Vienna Citizen's Regiment", which had been left vacant following Joseph Lanner's death two years before.

Vienna was wracked by a bourgeois revolution on February 24, 1848, and the intense rivalry between father and son became much more apparent. Johann Jr. decided to side with the revolutionaries. It was a decision that was professionally disadvantageous, as the Austrian royalty twice denied him the much coveted 'KK Hofballmusikdirektor' position, which was first designated especially for Johann I in recognition of his musical contributions. Further, the younger Strauss was also arrested by the Viennese authorities for publicly playing "La Marseillaise", but was later acquitted. The elder Strauss remained loyal to the monarchy, and composed his "Radetzky March", Op. 228 (dedicated to the Habsburg field marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz), which would become one of his best-known compositions.

When the elder Strauss died from scarlet fever in Vienna in 1849, the younger Strauss merged both their orchestras and engaged in further tours. Later, he also composed a number of patriotic marches dedicated to the Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef I, such as the "Kaiser Franz-Josef Marsch" Op. 67 and the "Kaiser Franz Josef Rettungs Jubel-Marsch" Op. 126, probably to ingratiate himself in the eyes of the new monarch, who ascended to the Austrian throne after the 1848 revolution.

Career advancements

Strauss Jr. eventually surpassed his father's fame, and became one of the most popular waltz composers of the era, extensively touring Austria–Hungary, Poland, and Germany with his orchestra. He applied for the KK Hofballmusikdirektor ''Music Director of the Royal Court Balls'' position, which he eventually attained in 1863, after being denied several times before for his frequent brushes with the local authorities.

In 1853, due to constant mental and physical demands, Strauss suffered a nervous breakdown. He took a seven-week vacation in the countryside in the summer of that year, on the advice of doctors. Johann's younger brother Josef was persuaded by his family to abandon his career as an engineer and take command of Johann's orchestra in the interim.

In 1855, Strauss accepted commissions from the management of the Tsarskoye-Selo Railway Company of Saint Petersburg to play in Russia for the Vauxhall Pavilion at Pavlovsk in 1856. He would return to perform in Russia every year until 1865.

Later, in the 1870s, Strauss and his orchestra toured the United States, where he took part in the Boston Festival at the invitation of bandmaster Patrick Gilmore and was the lead conductor in a 'Monster Concert' of over 1000 performers, performing his "Blue Danube" waltz, amongst other pieces, to great acclaim.

Marriages

Strauss married the singer Jetty Treffz in 1862, and they remained together until Jetty's death in 1878. Six weeks after her death, Strauss married the actress Angelika Dittrich. Angelika was not a fervent supporter of his music, and their differences in status and opinion, and especially her indiscretion, led him to seek a divorce.

Strauss was not granted a divorce by the Roman Catholic Church, and therefore changed religion and nationality, and became a citizen of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in January 1887. Strauss sought solace in his third wife Adele Deutsch, whom he married in August 1882. She encouraged his creative talent to flow once more in his later years, resulting in many famous compositions, such as the operettas ''Der Zigeunerbaron'' and ''Waldmeister'', and the waltzes "Kaiser-Walzer" Op. 437, "Kaiser Jubiläum" Op. 434, and "Klug Gretelein" Op. 462.

Musical rivals and admirers

Although Strauss was the most sought-after composer of dance music in the latter half of the 19th century, stiff competition was present in the form of Karl Michael Ziehrer and Émile Waldteufel; the latter held a commanding position in Paris. Phillip Fahrbach also denied the younger Strauss the commanding position of the ''KK Hofballmusikdirektor'' when the latter first applied for the post. The German operetta composer Jacques Offenbach, who made his name in Paris, also posed a challenge to Strauss in the operetta field.

Strauss was admired by other prominent composers: Richard Wagner once admitted that he liked the waltz "Wein, Weib und Gesang" Op. 333. Richard Strauss (unrelated to the Strauss family), when writing his ''Rosenkavalier'' waltzes, said in reference to Johann Strauss, "How could I forget the laughing genius of Vienna?"

Johannes Brahms was a personal friend of Strauss; the latter dedicated his waltz "Seid umschlungen, Millionen!" ("Be Embraced, You Millions!"), Op. 443, to him. A story is told in biographies of both men that Strauss's wife Adele approached Brahms with a customary request that he autograph her fan. It was usual for the composer to inscribe a few measures of his best-known music, and then sign his name. Brahms, however, inscribed a few measures from the "Blue Danube", and then wrote beneath it: "Unfortunately, NOT by Johannes Brahms."

Stage works

The most famous of Strauss' operettas are ''Die Fledermaus'', ''Eine Nacht in Venedig'', and ''Der Zigeunerbaron''. Notwithstanding their general lack of modern popularity, there are many dance pieces drawn from themes of his operettas, such as "Cagliostro-Walzer" Op. 370 (from ''Cagliostro in Wien''), "O Schöner Mai" Walzer Op. 375 (from ''Prinz Methusalem''), "Rosen aus dem Süden" Walzer Op. 388 (from ''Das Spitzentuch der Königin''), and "Kuss-Walzer" op. 400 (from ''Der lustige Krieg''), that have survived obscurity and become well-known. Strauss also wrote an opera, ''Ritter Pázmán'', and was in the middle of composing a ballet, ''Aschenbrödel'', when he died in 1899.

Death and legacy

Strauss was diagnosed with pleural pneumonia in the spring of 1899, and died in Vienna, at the age of 73. He was buried in the Zentralfriedhof. At the time of his death, he was still composing his ballet ''Aschenbrödel''.

Strauss's music is now regularly performed at the annual ''Neujahrskonzert'' of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, as a result of the efforts by Clemens Krauss who performed a special all-Strauss programme in 1929 with the Viennese orchestra. Many distinguished Strauss interpreters include Willi Boskovsky, who carried on the "Vorgeiger" tradition of conducting with violin in hand, as is the Strauss family custom, as well as Herbert von Karajan and the opera conductor Riccardo Muti. In addition, the Wiener Johann Strauss Orchester, which was formed in 1966, pays tribute to the touring orchestras which once made the Strauss family so famous.

Most of the Strauss works that are performed today may once have existed in a slightly different form, as Eduard Strauss destroyed much of the original Strauss orchestral archives in a furnace factory in Vienna's Mariahilf district in 1907. Eduard, then the only surviving brother of the three, took this drastic precaution after agreeing to a pact between himself and brother Josef that whoever outlived the other was to destroy their works. The measure was intended to prevent the Strauss family's works from being claimed by another composer. This may also have been fueled by Strauss's rivalry with another of Vienna's popular waltz and march composers, Karl Michael Ziehrer.

Portrayals in the media

The lives of the Strauss dynasty members and their world-renowned craft of composing Viennese waltzes are also briefly documented in several television adaptations, such as ''The Strauss Family'' (1972), ''The Strauss Dynasty'' (1991) and ''Strauss, the King of 3/4 Time'' (1995). Many other films used his works and melodies, and several films have been based upon the life of the musician, the most famous of which is called ''The Great Waltz'' (1938).

Alfred Hitchcock made a low-budget biographical film of Strauss in 1933 called ''Waltzes from Vienna''. After a trip to Vienna, Walt Disney was inspired to create four feature films. One of those was ''The Waltz King'', a loosely adapted biopic of Johann Strauss, which aired as part of the Wonderful World of Disney in the U.S. in 1963. In Mikhail Bulgakov's 1940 (published 1967) novel, ''The Master and Margarita'', Johann Strauss conducts the orchestra during Satan's Great Ball at the invitation of Behemoth.

''A Corny Concerto'' (1943), a Warner Bros cartoon, directed by Bob Clampett with animation by Robert McKimson, features music that was composed by Johann Strauss, and is a parody of Walt Disney's 1940 ''Fantasia''. The cartoon is narrated by Elmer Fudd, parodying Deems Taylor's appearance in ''Fantasia.''

The 1953 animated short "Johann Mouse" from the series ''Tom and Jerry'' features a mouse mesmerised by the playing of several Strauss waltzes by the cat.

Works

See List of operettas by Johann Strauss II and List of compositions by Johann Strauss II.

Notes

References

Gänzl, Kurt. ''The Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre'' (3 Volumes). New York: Schirmer Books, 2001.

Traubner, Richard. ''Operetta: A Theatrical History''. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1983.

Jacob, H. E. ''Johann Strauss, Father and Son: A Century of Light Music''. The Greystone Press, 1940.

External links

A complete list of Strauss's compositions

A complete list of compositions by Johann Strauss II compiled by the Johann Strauss Society of New York

European Archive Copyright free LP recording of several (abridged) works by Johann Strauss II, at the European Archive (for non-American viewers only).

Johann Strauss Gallery

List of Strauss's stage works with date, theatre information and links

www.kreusch-sheet-music.net Free Scores by Strauss

Category:19th-century Austrian people Category:Opera composers Category:Romantic composers Category:Viennese composers Category:Ballet composers Category:People from Neubau Category:Burials at the Zentralfriedhof Category:1825 births Category:1899 deaths

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Johann Strauss III (February 16, 1866January 9, 1939; ; also known as Johann Eduard Strauss) was an Austrian composer whose father was Eduard Strauss, whose uncles were Johann Strauss II & Josef Strauss, and whose grandfather was Johann Strauss I. He was unofficially entrusted with the task of upholding his family's tradition after the disbandment of the Strauss Orchestra by his father in 1901. His talents were not fully realised during his lifetime as musical tastes had changed in the Silver Age with more popular composers such as Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus dominating the Viennese musical scene with their operettas, although his uncle, Johann Strauss II, supervised his development as a musician, a fact disputed by Eduard Strauss.

Despite his keen interest in composing, he was better remembered as a conductor. His only stage work, the three-act operetta Katze und Maus, composed in 1898, premiered in Vienna on 23 December 1898, at the Theater an der Wien. Its public reaction bordered on utter dislike, and music critics called for the distraught composer to reassess himself and to appear under a pseudonym, in order not to tarnish the name of his famous relatives. He salvaged the music score and produced independent pieces of which the waltzes ''Sylvianen'' Op. 1 and ''Leonie'' Op. 2 survived obscurity.

He also conducted from the violin in the style of the ''Vorgeiger'' and of his family. In 1903, he elevated the Strauss family to a new age of development when the Deutsche Grammophon AG of Germany recorded his conducting of the Johann Strauss Orchestra on eight single-sided records of works by his family. Principally, he was the first conductor in the Strauss family to actively conduct works to be recorded by prominent recording companies. His later works, such as Dem Muthigen gehört die Welt (''The World Belongs to the Brave''), Op. 25, and Krönungs-Walzer (''Coronation Waltz''), Op. 40, (the latter celebrating the coronation of King Edward VII) were also considerably more popular than his earlier efforts.

Johann Strauss III died in Berlin on 9 January 1939, aged 72.

References

External links

Johann 3 Category:Viennese composers Category:Austrian composers Category:Opera composers Category:1866 births Category:1939 deaths Category:Austrian conductors (music) Category:Austrian classical violinists

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