Sophie
Duchess of Hohenberg
Spouse(s)	Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Issue Princess Sophie von Hohenberg Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg Prince Ernst von Hohenberg
Full name Sophie Maria Josephine Albina Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin
Detail Titles and styles HH The Duchess of Hohenberg HSH The Princess of Hohenberg Countess Sophia Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin
Noble family	House of Hohenberg
Father	Count Bohuslaw Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin
Mother	Countess Wilhelmine Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau
Born	(1868-03-01)1 March 1868 Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg
Died	28 June 1914(1914-06-28) (aged 46) Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary
Burial	Artstetten Castle, Austria

Chotek coat of arms

Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg (Czech: Žofie Marie Josefína Albína hraběnka Chotková z Chotkova a Vojnína, German: Sophie Maria Josephine Albina Gräfin Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin); 1 March 1868 – 28 June 1914) was a Czech aristocrat, the morganatic wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Their assassination sparked World War I.

Early life[link]

Sophie was born in Stuttgart to a prominent Bohemian aristocratic family. She was the fourth daughter of Count Bohuslaw Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin and his wife, Countess Wilhelmine Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau.^[1][2][3][4]

As a young woman, Sophie became a lady-in-waiting to the Archduchess Isabella, Duchess of Teschen,^[3] wife of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen, head of the Bohemian cadet branch of the reigning dynasty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Courtship with Franz Ferdinand[link]

It is unknown where Sophie first met Archduke Franz Ferdinand, although it may have been at a ball in Prague. Franz Ferdinand, stationed at a military garrison in Prague, paid frequent visits to Halbturn Castle,^[3] the home of Archduke Friedrich, and it was assumed that he had fallen in love with Friedrich's eldest daughter, Archduchess Marie Christine. When the liaison was discovered by Archduchess Isabella, a scandal ensued.

Franz Ferdinand's uncle, the Emperor Franz Joseph, informed him that, as heir presumptive to the throne since the suicide in 1889 of the emperor's only son, Crown Prince Rudolph, he could not marry Sophie, who could not become an empress consort.^[3] To be an eligible consort for any member of the Imperial House of Habsburg-Lorraine, one needed to belong to one of the reigning or formerly reigning dynasties of Europe. Although the Choteks were noble since at least the 14th century and had been made counts of the Holy Roman Empire in 1745, they were not of dynastic rank (although Sophie was a descendant of Elisabeth, sister of King Rudolph I of Germany, Franz Ferdinand's ancestor).^[3]

Franz Ferdinand refused to renounce Sophie to marry a princess and beget an heir to the throne, compounding the scandal surrounding the death and illicit affair of the emperor's previous heir.

Marriage with Franz Ferdinand[link]

The Duchess of Hohenberg and Franz with children Sophie and Maximilian 1904

In 1899, under pressure from family members (especially the Archduchess Maria Theresia, the emperor's formidable sister-in-law and Franz Ferdinand's stepmother) the couple were granted permission to wed.^[3] Franz Ferdinand was allowed to retain his place in the order of succession and a suitable title was promised for his future wife. However, to prevent Franz Ferdinand from attempting to proclaim his wife empress-queen or declaring their future children archdukes and eligible to inherit the crown (especially that of Hungary, where morganatic marriages were unknown to law) once he ascended the throne, he was compelled to appear at the Hofburg Imperial Palace before the gathered archdukes, ministers, and dignitaries of the court, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Vienna and the Primate of Hungary on 28 June 1900 to execute by signature an official instrument^[5] in which he publicly declared that Sophie would be his morganatic wife,^[3] never to bear the titles of empress, queen or archduchess, and acknowledging that their descendants would neither inherit nor be granted dynastic rights or privileges in any of the Habsburg realms.

Sophie and Franz Ferdinand were married 1 July 1900 at Reichstadt (now Zákupy) in Bohemia. The Emperor did not attend the nuptials, nor did any archduke, including Franz Ferdinand's brothers. The only members of the Imperial family who were present were Franz Ferdinand's stepmother, Archduchess Maria Theresia, and her two daughters.^[3]

Upon marriage, Sophie was given the title "Princess of Hohenberg" (Fürstin von Hohenberg) with the style Her Serene Highness (Ihre Durchlaucht). In 1909 she was given the higher title "Duchess of Hohenberg" (Herzogin von Hohenberg) with the style Her Highness (Ihre Hoheit).

Nonetheless, all of the archduchesses, mediatized princesses and countesses of Austria and Hungary took precedence before her. For the 14 years of their marriage, Sophie never shared her husband's rank, title, or precedence. Her position at the Imperial court was humiliating, aggravated by the Imperial Obersthofmeister, the Prince of Montenuovo, whose insecurity about his own morganatic origin is said to have prompted him to rigorously enforce court protocol at Sophie's expense.^[3] Problems of protocol prevented many royal courts from hosting the couple despite Franz Ferdinand's position as heir to the throne. Nonetheless some did so, including King George V and Queen Mary, who welcomed the couple to Windsor Castle from 17–21 November 1913.

The couple had four children:^[4]

• Princess Sophie von Hohenberg (1901–1990), married Count Friedrich von Nostitz-Rieneck (1891–1973)
• Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg (1902–1962), married Countess Elisabeth von Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldsee (1904–1993)
• Prince Ernst von Hohenberg (1904–1954), married Marie-Therese Wood (1910–1985)
• stillborn son (1908)

Assassination[link]

In 1914, General Oskar Potiorek, Governor of the Austrian provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina, invited Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie to watch his troops on maneuvers. Franz Ferdinand knew that the visit would be dangerous.

Sophie was usually not allowed to accompany her husband on official visits, but on this occasion Franz Ferdinand arranged for her to come as an anniversary gift.^{[citation needed]}

At 10:10, when the procession passed the central police station, Nedeljko Čabrinović hurled a hand grenade at the archduke's car. The driver accelerated when he saw the object flying towards the car and the grenade exploded under the wheel of the next car. Two of the occupants, Eric von Merizzi and Count Boos-Waldeck, were seriously wounded. Fourteen spectators were hit by bomb splinters.

After attending the official reception at the City Hall, Franz Ferdinand asked about the members of his party that had been wounded by the bomb. When the archduke was told they were badly injured in hospital, he insisted on being taken to see them. A member of the archduke's staff, Baron Morsey, suggested this might be dangerous, but Oskar Potiorek, who was responsible for the safety of the Imperial party, replied, "Do you think Sarajevo is full of assassins?" However, Potiorek did accept it would be better if Sophie remained behind in the city hall. When Baron Morsey told Sophie about the revised plans, she refused to stay, arguing: "As long as the Archduke shows himself in public today I will not leave him."

In order to avoid the city centre, General Oskar Potiorek decided that the Imperial car should travel straight along the Appel Quay to the Sarajevo Hospital. However, Potiorek forgot to tell the driver, Leopold Loyka,^[6] about this decision. On the way to the hospital, by the Latin Bridge, the driver took a right turn into Franz Joseph Street. One of the conspirators, Gavrilo Princip, was standing on the corner at the time. Oskar Potiorek immediately realized the driver had taken the wrong route and shouted "What is this? This is the wrong way! We're supposed to take the Appel Quay!".

The driver put his foot on the brake, and began to back up. In doing so he moved slowly past the waiting Gavrilo Princip. The assassin stepped forward, drew his pistol, and at a distance of about five feet, fired several times into the car. Franz Ferdinand was hit in the neck and Sophie in the abdomen. Sophie said to her husband, "For God's sake what happened to you", then she fell bleeding. Before losing consciousness, he pleaded "Sophie dear! Sophie dear! Don't die! Stay alive for our children!" They were both dead within an hour.

Sophie and Franz Ferdinand had a joint funeral mass. A final show of their unequal rank, the Habsburgs placed Sophie on a bier that was 18 inches lower than her husband's, and the gloves indicative of her former status as an Imperial lady-in-waiting were placed on her coffin.^{[citation needed]} They were buried in the crypt of their country home, Schloss Artstetten. Today the castle houses a museum in their memory.

Commemorative coin[link]

Duchess Sophie's castle of Artstetten was selected as a main motif for the 10-euro The Castle of Artstetten commemorative coin minted on 13 October 2004. The reverse shows the entrance to the crypt of the Hohenberg family. The portraits to the left showing Sophie and Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Titles[link]

• Countess Sophie Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin
• Her Serene Highness The Princess of Hohenberg
• Her Highness The Duchess of Hohenberg

Ancestry[link]

^[7][8][9]

Through her grandmother's family, the Berchtolds, she is distantly related to former Austro-Hungarian foreign minister Count Leopold Berchtold and to Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt.^[10] Cardinal Christoph Schönborn is a great-grandson of her niece, Marie Chotek.^[11]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Countess Sophie Chotek

• Schloss Artstetten

References[link]

Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke of Austria-Este
Reign	1889–1914
Predecessor	Francis II As Archduke of Austria-Este Also Francis V as Duke of Modena
Successor	Charles
Spouse	Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg
Issue
Princess Sophie von Hohenberg Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg Prince Ernst von Hohenberg
House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria
Mother	Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Born	(1863-12-18)18 December 1863 Graz, Austrian Empire
Died	28 June 1914(1914-06-28) (aged 50) Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary
Signature
Religion	Roman Catholic

Monarchical styles of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este
Reference style	His Imperial and Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Imperial and Royal Highness
Alternative style	Sir

Archduke Franz Ferdinand (right) with his family

Franz Ferdinand (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne.^[1] His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. This caused the Central Powers (including Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the Allies of World War I (countries allied with Serbia) to declare war on each other, starting World War I.^[2][3][4]

He was born in Graz, Austria, the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria (younger brother of Franz Joseph and Maximilian) and of his second wife, Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. When he was only twelve years old, his cousin Duke Francis V of Modena died, naming Franz Ferdinand his heir on condition that he add the name Este to his own. Franz Ferdinand thus became one of the wealthiest men in Austria.

Heir presumptive[link]

In 1889, Franz Ferdinand's life changed dramatically. His cousin Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide at his hunting lodge in Mayerling,^[5] leaving Franz Ferdinand's father, Archduke Karl Ludwig, as first in line to the throne. However, his father died of typhoid fever after the Crown Prince's death.^[6] Henceforth, Franz Ferdinand was groomed to succeed. Despite this burden, he did manage to find time for travel and personal pursuits - for example, the time he spent hunting kangaroos and emus in Australia in 1893,^[7] and the return trip to Austria sailing across the Pacific on the RMS Empress of China from Yokohama to Vancouver.^[8]

Military career[link]

Franz Ferdinand, like most males in the ruling Habsburg line, entered the army from a young age. He was frequently and rapidly promoted, given the rank of lieutenant at age fourteen, captain at twenty-two, colonel at twenty-seven, and major general at thirty-one.^[9] While never receiving formal staff training, he was considered eligible for command and at one point briefly led the primarily Hungarian 9th Hussar Regiment.^[10] In 1898 he was given a commission "at the special disposition of His Majesty" to make inquiries into all aspects of the military services and military agencies were commanded to share their papers with him.^[11]

He exerted influence on the armed forces even when he did not hold a specific command through a military chancery that produced and received documents and papers on military affairs. This was headed by Alexander Brosch von Aarenau and eventually employed a staff of sixteen.^[11].

Franz in 1913, as heir-presumptive to the elderly emperor, had been appointed inspector general of all the armed forces of Austria-Hungary (Generalinspektor der gesamten bewaffneten Macht), a position superior to that previously held by Archduke Albrecht and including presumed command in wartime.^[12]

Marriage and family[link]

In 1894 Franz Ferdinand met Countess Sophie Chotek at a ball in Prague. To be an eligible marriage partner for a member of the Imperial House of Habsburg, one had to be a member of one of the reigning or formerly reigning dynasties of Europe. The Choteks were not one of these families, although they did include among their ancestors, in the female line, princes of Baden, Hohenzollern-Hechingen, and Liechtenstein. One of Sophie's direct ancestors was Albert IV, Count of Habsburg; she was descended from Elisabeth of Habsburg, a sister of King Rudolph I of Germany. Franz Ferdinand was a descendant of King Rudolph I. Sophie was a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella, wife of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen. Franz Ferdinand began to visit Archduke Friedrich's villa in Pressburg (now Bratislava). Sophie wrote to Franz Ferdinand during his convalescence from tuberculosis on the island of Lošinj in the Adriatic. They kept their relationship a secret for more than two years.^{[citation needed]}

Deeply in love, Franz Ferdinand refused to consider marrying anyone else. Pope Leo XIII, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and the German Emperor Wilhelm II all made representations on his behalf to Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, arguing that the disagreement between Franz Joseph and Franz Ferdinand was undermining the stability of the monarchy.^{[citation needed]}

Finally, in 1899, Emperor Franz Joseph agreed to permit Franz Ferdinand to marry Sophie, on condition that the marriage would be morganatic and that their descendants would not have succession rights to the throne.^[5] Sophie would not share her husband's rank, title, precedence, or privileges; as such, she would not normally appear in public beside him. She would not be allowed to ride in the royal carriage or sit in the royal box.^{[citation needed]}

The wedding took place on 1 July 1900, at Reichstadt (now Zákupy) in Bohemia; Franz Joseph did not attend the affair, nor did any archduke including Franz Ferdinand's brothers.^[5] The only members of the imperial family who were present were Franz Ferdinand's stepmother, Princess Maria Theresa of Braganza, and her two daughters. Upon the marriage, Sophie was given the title "Princess of Hohenberg" (Fürstin von Hohenberg) with the style "Her Serene Highness" (Ihre Durchlaucht). In 1909, she was given the more senior title "Duchess of Hohenberg" (Herzogin von Hohenberg) with the style "Her Highness" (Ihre Hoheit). This raised her status considerably, but she still yielded precedence at court to all the archduchesses. Whenever a function required the couple to gather with the other members of royalty, Sophie was forced to stand far down the line of importance, separated from her husband.^{[citation needed]}

Franz Ferdinand's children were:

• Princess Sophie von Hohenberg (1901–1990), married Count Friedrich von Nostitz-Rieneck (1891–1973)
• Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg (1902–1962), married Countess Elisabeth von Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldsee (1904–1993)
• Prince Ernst von Hohenberg (1904–1954), married Marie-Therese Wood (1910–1985)

Character[link]

The German historian Michael Freund described Franz Ferdinand as "a man of uninspired energy, dark in appearance and emotion, who radiated an aura of strangeness and cast a shadow of violence and recklessness ... a true personality amidst the amiable inanity that characterized Austrian society at this time."^[13] As his sometime admirer Karl Kraus put it, "he was not one who would greet you ... he felt no compulsion to reach out for the unexplored region which the Viennese call their heart."^[14] His relations with Emperor Franz Joseph were tense; the emperor's personal servant recalled in his memoirs that "thunder and lightning always raged when they had their discussions."^[15] The commentaries and orders which the heir to the throne wrote as margin notes to the documents of the Imperial central commission for architectural conservation (where he was Protector) reveal what can be described as "choleric conservativism."^[16]

Franz Ferdinand had a fondness for trophy hunting that was excessive even by the standards of European nobility of this time.^[17] In his diaries he kept track of an estimated 300,000 game kills, 5,000 of which were deer. Approximately 100,000 trophies were on exhibit at his Bohemian castle at Konopiště,^[18][19] which he also stuffed with various antiquities, his other great passion.^[20]

Political views[link]

Map of the federalization of Austria-Hungary planned by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the member states with separate governments

Historians have disagreed on how to characterize the political philosophies of Franz Ferdinand, some attributing generally liberal views on the empire's nationalities while others have emphasized his dynastic centralism, Catholic conservatism, and tendency to clash with other leaders.^[9] He advocated granting greater autonomy to ethnic groups within the Empire and addressing their grievances, especially the Czechs in Bohemia and the Yugoslavic peoples in Croatia and Bosnia, who had been left out of the Austro-Hungarian compromise of 1867.^[21] Yet his feelings towards the Hungarians were less generous; he regarded Magyar nationalism as a revolutionary threat to the Habsburg dynasty and reportedly became angry when officers of the 9th Hussars Regiment (which he commanded) spoke Magyar in his presence - despite the fact that it was the official regimental language.^[10] He further regarded the Hungarian branch of the Dual Monarchy's army, the Honvédség, as an unreliable and potentially threatening force within the empire, complaining at the Hungarians' failure to provide funds for the joint army^[22] and opposing the formation of artillery units within the Hungarian forces.^[23]

He also advocated a careful approach towards Serbia - repeatedly locking horns with Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, Vienna's hard-line Chief of the General Staff, warning that harsh treatment of Serbia would bring Austria-Hungary into open conflict with Russia, to the ruin of both Empires.

He was disappointed when Austria-Hungary failed to act as a Great Power, such as during the Boxer Rebellion; in 1900 other nations, including, in his description, "dwarf states like Belgium and Portugal",^[24] sent troops to protect Westerners and punish the Chinese, but Austria-Hungary did not.

Franz Ferdinand was a prominent and influential supporter of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in a time when sea power was not a priority in Austrian foreign policy and the Navy was relatively little known and supported by the public. After his assassination in 1914, the Navy honoured Franz Ferdinand and his wife with a lying in state aboard the SMS Viribus Unitis.

Assassination[link]

The 1911 Gräf & Stift Bois de Boulogne tourer in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were riding at the time of their assassination is now located in Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna

Franz Ferdinand's blood-stained uniform

The Latin Bridge near the assassination site

Austria-Hungary commemorative postage stamp

On Sunday, 28 June 1914, at approximately 10:45 am, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Gavrilo Princip, 19 at the time, a member of Young Bosnia and one of a group of assassins organized by the Black Hand.^[4] The event led to a chain of events that eventually triggered World War I.

The couple had previously been attacked when a grenade was thrown at their car. Ferdinand deflected the grenade and it detonated far behind them. He is known to have shouted in anger to local officials, "So you welcome your guests with bombs?!"^[25]

The royal couple insisted on seeing all those injured at the hospital. After travelling there, Franz and Sophie decided to go to the palace, but their driver took a wrong turn onto a side street, where Princip spotted them.^[25] As the car was backing up, Princip approached and shot Sophie in the abdomen and Franz Ferdinand in the jugular. He was still alive when witnesses arrived to render aid.^[4] His dying words to Sophie were, 'Don't die darling, live for our children.'^[25] Princip had used the Browning .32 ACP cartridge,^[26][27][28] a relatively low-power round, and a pocket-sized FN model 1910 pistol.^[29] The archduke's aides attempted to undo his coat but realized they needed scissors to cut it open. It was too late; he died within minutes. Sophie also died on route to the hospital.^[30]

A detailed account of the shooting can be found in Sarajevo by Joachim Remak:^[31]

One bullet pierced Franz Ferdinand's neck while the other pierced Sophie's abdomen. ... As the car was reversing (to go back to the Governor's residence because the entourage thought the Imperial couple were unhurt) a thin streak of blood shot from the Archduke's mouth onto Count Harrach's right cheek (he was standing on the car's running board). Harrach drew out a handkerchief to still the gushing blood. The Duchess, seeing this, called: "For Heaven's sake! What happened to you?" and sank from her seat, her face falling between her husband's knees.

Harrach and Potoriek ... thought she had fainted ... only her husband seemed to have an instinct for what was happening. Turning to his wife despite the bullet in his neck, Franz Ferdinand pleaded: "Sopherl! Sopherl! Sterbe nicht! Bleibe am Leben für unsere Kinder! - Sophie dear! Don't die! Stay alive for our children!". Having said this, he seemed to sag down himself. His plumed hat ... fell off; many of its green feathers were found all over the car floor. Count Harrach seized the Archduke by the uniform collar to hold him up. He asked "Leiden Eure Kaiserliche Hoheit sehr? - Is Your Imperial Highness suffering very badly?" "Es ist nichts - It is nothing" said the Archduke in a weak but audible voice. He seemed to be losing consciousness during his last few minutes, but, his voice growing steadily weaker, he repeated the phrase perhaps six or seven times more.

A rattle began to issue from his throat, which subsided as the car drew in front of the Konak bersibin (Town Hall). Despite several doctors' efforts, the Archduke died shortly after being carried into the building while his beloved wife was almost certainly dead from internal bleeding before the motorcade reached the Konak.

The assassinations, along with the arms race, nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and the alliance system all contributed to the origins of World War I, which began less than two months after Franz Ferdinand's death, with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia.^[32] The assassination of Ferdinand is considered the most immediate cause of World War I.^[33]

Franz Ferdinand is interred with his wife Sophie in Artstetten Castle, Austria.

Present-day commemorations[link]

Monogram

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his Castle of Artstetten were selected as a main motif for the Austrian 10 euro The Castle of Artstetten commemorative coin, minted on 13 October 2004. The reverse shows the entrance to the crypt of the Hohenberg family. There are two portraits below, showing Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.

See also[link]

• List of heirs to the Austrian throne
• Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

Ancestry[link]

References[link]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este (in Czech language)
• Franz Ferdinand at Findagrave.com
• Video: Franz Ferdinand's Funeral

Franz Joseph I
Emperor Franz Joseph I around age 68, c. 1898
Emperor of Austria; Apostolic King of Hungary; King of Bohemia; King of Croatia; King of Galicia and Lodomeria; Grand Duke of Cracow
Reign	2 December 1848 – 21 November 1916
Predecessor	Ferdinand I
Successor	Charles I
Spouse	Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Issue
Archduchess Sophie Archduchess Gisela Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria Archduchess Marie Valerie
House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Archduke Franz Karl of Austria
Mother	Princess Sophie of Bavaria
Born	(1830-08-18)18 August 1830 Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna
Died	21 November 1916(1916-11-21) (aged 86) Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna
Burial	Imperial Crypt
Signature

Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (German: Franz Joseph I., Hungarian: I. Ferenc József, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916. From 1 May 1850 until 24 August 1866 he was President of the German Confederation.^[1]

In December 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of Ministerpräsident Felix zu Schwarzenberg's plan to end the Revolutions of 1848 in Austria, which allowed Ferdinand's nephew Franz Joseph to ascend to the throne. Largely considered to be a reactionary, Franz Joseph spent his early reign resisting constitutionalism in his domains. The Austrian Empire was forced to cede most of its claim to Lombardy–Venetia to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia following the conclusion of the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859, and the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. Although Franz Joseph ceded no territory to the Kingdom of Prussia after the Austrian defeat in the Austro-Prussian War, the Peace of Prague (23 August 1866) settled the German question in favor of Prussia, which prevented the unification of Germany under the House of Habsburg (Großdeutsche Lösung).^[2]

Franz Joseph was troubled by nationalism during his entire reign. He concluded the Ausgleich of 1867, which granted greater autonomy to Hungary, hence transforming the Austrian Empire into the Austro-Hungarian Empire under his Dual Monarchy. His domains were then ruled peacefully for the next 45 years, although Franz Joseph personally suffered the tragedies of the suicide of his son, the Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889, and the assassination of his wife, the Empress Elisabeth in 1898.

After the Austro-Prussian War, Austria-Hungary turned its attention to the Balkans, which was a hotspot of international tension due to conflicting interests with the Russian Empire. The Bosnian crisis was a result of Franz Joseph's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, which had been occupied by his troops since the Congress of Berlin (1878). On 28 June 1914, the assassination of the heir-presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, resulted in Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against the Kingdom of Serbia, which was Russia's ally. This activated a system of alliances which resulted in World War I.

Franz Joseph died on 21 November 1916, after ruling his domains for almost 68 years. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew Karl.

Early life[link]

Imperial monogram

Franz Joseph was born in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the oldest son of Archduke Franz Karl (the younger son of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II), and his wife Princess Sophie of Bavaria. Because his uncle, from 1835 the Emperor Ferdinand, was weak-minded, and his father unambitious and retiring, the young Archduke "Franzl" was brought up by his mother as a future Emperor with emphasis on devotion, responsibility and diligence. Franzl came to idolise his grandfather, der Gute Kaiser Franz, who had died shortly before the former's fifth birthday, as the ideal monarch. At the age of 13, young Archduke Franz started a career as a colonel in the Austrian army. From that point onward, his fashion was dictated by army style and for the rest of his life he normally wore the uniform of a junior officer.

Franz Joseph was soon joined by three younger brothers: Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian (born 1832, the future Emperor Maximilian of Mexico); Archduke Karl Ludwig (born 1833), and Archduke Ludwig Viktor (born 1842), and a sister, Maria Anna (born 1835), who died at the age of four.

Following the resignation of the Chancellor Prince Metternich during the Revolutions of 1848, the young Archduke, who it was widely expected would soon succeed his uncle on the throne, was appointed Governor of Bohemia on 6 April, but never took up the post. Instead, Franz was sent to the front in Italy, joining Field Marshal Radetzky on campaign on 29 April, receiving his baptism of fire on 5 May at Santa Lucia. By all accounts he handled his first military experience calmly and with dignity. Around the same time, the Imperial Family was fleeing revolutionary Vienna for the calmer setting of Innsbruck, in Tyrol. Soon, the Archduke was called back from Italy, joining the rest of his family at Innsbruck by mid-June. It was at Innsbruck at this time that Franz Joseph first met his cousin Elisabeth, his future bride, then a girl of ten, but apparently the meeting made little impact.

Austrian Royalty House of Habsburg-Lorraine Francis I (Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor) Children include    Archduchess Marie Louise    Ferdinand I    Archduchess Maria Leopoldina    Archduchess Clementina    Archduke Franz Karl Grandchildren include    Franz Joseph I    Archduke Maximilian    Archduke Karl Ludwig    Archduke Ludwig Viktor Great-grandchildren include    Archduke Franz Ferdinand    Archduke Otto Franz Ferdinand I Franz Joseph I Children    Archduchess Sophie    Archduchess Gisela    Crown Prince Rudolf    Archduchess Marie Valerie Grandchildren include    Archduchess Elisabeth Marie Charles I Children include    Crown Prince Otto    Archduke Robert    Archduke Felix    Archduke Karl Ludwig    Archduke Rudolf Grandchildren include    Archduchess Andrea    Archduchess Monika    Archduchess Michaela    Archduchess Gabriela    Archduchess Walburga    Archduke Karl    Archduke Georg    Archduke Lorenz Great-Grandchildren include    Archduke Ferdinand Zvonimir    Archduke Amedeo

Following victory over the Italians at Custoza in late July, the court felt safe to return to Vienna, and Franz Joseph travelled with them. But within a few months Vienna again appeared unsafe, and in September the court left again, this time for Olmütz in Moravia. By now, Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, the influential military commander in Bohemia, was determined to see the young Archduke soon put onto the throne. It was thought that a new ruler would not be bound by the oaths to respect constitutional government to which Ferdinand had been forced to agree, and that it was necessary to find a young, energetic emperor to replace the kindly, but mentally unfit Emperor.

It was thus at Olmütz on 2 December that, by the abdication of his uncle Ferdinand and the renunciation of his father, the mild-mannered Franz Karl, Franz Joseph succeeded as Emperor of Austria. It was at this time that he first became known by his second as well as his first Christian name. The name "Franz Joseph" was chosen deliberately to bring back memories of the new Emperor's great-granduncle, Emperor Joseph II, remembered as a modernising reformer.

Imperial absolutism, 1848–1860[link]

Franz Joseph I. as young man in 1851, Johann Ranzi

Under the guidance of the new prime minister Prince Schwarzenberg, the new emperor at first pursued a cautious course, granting a constitution in early 1849. At the same time, military campaigns were necessary against the Hungarians, who had rebelled against Habsburg central authority under the name of their ancient liberties. Franz Joseph was also almost immediately faced with a renewal of the fighting in Italy, with King Charles Albert of Sardinia taking advantage of setbacks in Hungary to resume the war in March 1849. Soon, though, the military tide began to turn in favor of Franz Joseph and the Austrian whitecoats. Almost immediately, Charles Albert was decisively beaten by Radetzky at Novara, and forced both to sue for peace and to abdicate his throne. In Hungary, the situation was more grave and Austrian defeat was quite possible. Franz Joseph, sensing a need to secure his right to rule sought help from Russia, requesting the intervention of Tsar Nicholas I, in order "to prevent the Hungarian insurrection developing into a European calamity."^[3] Russian troops entered Hungary in support of the Austrians and the revolution was crushed by late summer of 1849. With order now restored throughout the Empire, Franz Joseph felt free to go back on the constitutional concessions he had made, especially as the Austrian parliament, meeting at Kremsier, had behaved, in the young Emperor's view, abominably. The 1849 constitution was suspended, and a policy of absolutist centralism was established, guided by the Minister of the Interior, Alexander Bach.

The next few years saw the seeming recovery of Austria's position on the international scene following the near disasters of 1848–1849. Under Schwarzenberg's guidance, Austria was able to stymie Prussian scheming to create a new German Federation under Prussian leadership, excluding Austria. After Schwarzenberg's premature death in 1852, he could not be replaced by statesmen of equal stature, and the Emperor effectively took over himself as prime minister.

Assassination attempt in 1853[link]

Assassination attempt on the Emperor, 1853

On 18 February 1853, the Emperor survived an assassination attempt by Hungarian nationalist János Libényi. The emperor was taking a stroll with one of his officers, Maximilian Karl Lamoral O'Donnell, on a city-bastion, when Libényi approached him. He immediately struck the emperor from behind with a knife straight at the neck. Franz Joseph almost always wore a uniform, which had a high collar that almost completely enclosed the neck. The collar of the uniforms at that time was made out of very sturdy material exactly to counter this kind of attack. Even though the Emperor was wounded and bleeding, the collar saved his life. Count O'Donnell (descendant of the Irish noble dynasty O'Donnell of Tyrconnell^[4]) struck Libényi down with his sabre.^[5] O'Donnell, hitherto only a Count by virtue of his Irish nobility, was thereafter made a Count of the Habsburg Empire, conferred with the Commander's Cross of the Royal Order of Leopold, and his customary O'Donnell arms were augmented by the initials and shield of the ducal House of Austria, with additionally the double-headed eagle of the Empire. These arms are emblazoned on the portico of no. 2 Mirabel Platz in Salzburg, where O'Donnell built his residence thereafter. Another witness who happened to be nearby, the butcher Joseph Ettenreich, quickly overwhelmed Libényi. For his deed he was later elevated to nobility by the Emperor and became Joseph von Ettenreich. Libényi was subsequently put on trial and condemned to death for attempted regicide. He was executed on the Simmeringer Heide. After this unsuccessful attack, the Emperor's brother Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, later Emperor of Mexico, called upon Europe's royal families for donations to a new church on the site of the attack. The church was to be a votive offering for the survival of the Emperor. It is located on Ringstraße in the district of Alsergrund close to the University of Vienna, and is known as the Votivkirche.

Family life[link]

Franz Joseph I. with his family

It was generally felt in the court that the Emperor should marry and produce heirs as soon as possible. Various potential brides were considered: Princess Elisabeth of Modena, Princess Anna of Prussia and Princess Sidonia of Saxony.^[6] Although in public life the Emperor was the unquestioned director of affairs, in his private life his formidable mother still had a crucial influence. She wanted to strengthen the relationship between the Houses of Habsburg and Wittelsbach, and hoped to match Franz Joseph with her sister Ludovika's eldest daughter, Helene ("Nené"), four years the Emperor's junior. However, the Emperor became besotted with Nené's younger sister, Elisabeth ("Sisi"), a girl of sixteen, and insisted on marrying her instead. Sophie acquiesced, despite some misgivings about Sisi's appropriateness as an imperial consort, and the young couple were married on 24 April 1854 in St. Augustine's Church, Vienna.

Their married life was not happy. Sisi never really adapted herself to the court and always had disagreements with the Imperial Family; their first daughter Sophie died as an infant; and their only son, Crown Prince Rudolf, died by suicide in 1889, in the infamous Mayerling Incident. The Empress was an inveterate traveller, horsewoman, and fashion maven who was rarely seen in Vienna. She was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist in 1898; Franz Joseph never fully recovered from the loss. According to the future Empress-Consort Zita of Bourbon-Parma he usually told his relatives: "You'll never know how important she was to me" or, according to some sources, "You will never know how much I loved this woman." (although there is no definite proof he actually said this).

The 1850s witnessed several failures of Austrian external policy: the Crimean War and break-up with Russia, and defeat in the Second Italian War of Independence. The setbacks continued in the 1860s with defeat in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, which resulted in the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.

Political difficulties in Austria mounted continuously through the late 1800s and into the 20th century. But Franz Joseph remained immensely respected. His patriarchal authority held the Empire together while the politicians squabbled.

Later reign and death[link]

In 1885 Franz Joseph met Katharina Schratt, a leading actress of the Vienna stage, and she became his mistress. This relationship lasted the rest of his life, and was, to a certain degree, tolerated by Sisi. Franz Joseph built Villa Schratt in Bad Ischl for her, and also provided her with a small palace in Vienna.

After the death of Rudolf, the heir to the throne was his nephew Archduke Franz Ferdinand. When Franz Ferdinand decided to marry a mere countess, Franz Joseph opposed the marriage strenuously, and insisted that it must be morganatic; he did not even attend the wedding. After that, the two men disliked and distrusted each other.

Tomb of Franz Joseph I, in the Imperial Crypt, Vienna

In 1903, Franz Joseph's veto of Cardinal Rampolla's election to the papacy was transmitted to the conclave by Cardinal Jan Puzyna. It was the last use of such a veto, because new Pope Pius X provided penalties for such.

In 1914, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, leading to World War I. When he heard the news of the assassination, Franz Joseph said that "in this manner a superior power has restored that order which I unfortunately was unable to maintain."

Franz Joseph died in the Schönbrunn Palace in 1916, aged 86, in the middle of the war. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew Karl. But two years later, after defeat in World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was dissolved.^[7]

His 68-year reign is the third-longest in the recorded history of Europe (after those of Louis XIV of France and Johannes II, Prince of Liechtenstein).

Gallery[link]

• 

  Franz Joseph with his mother Princess Sophie of Bavaria

• 

  The young Franz Joseph by Miklós Barabás

• 

  The young Emperor Franz Joseph in 1855

• 

  Franz Joseph wearing the uniform of an Austrian Field Marshal

• 

  

  Emperor Franz Joseph being greeted, circa 1910

• 

  Emperor Franz Joseph with Karl and Otto of Habsburg-Lorraine in 1915

• 

  Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth as young couple in 1855

• 

  Franz Joseph and his mother Sophie of Bavaria in 1848

• 

  Franz Joseph in 1910

• 

  Emperor Franz Joseph in 1910

Issue[link]

Ancestors[link]

Orders, decorations, and honours[link]

Monarchical styles of Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary
Reference style	His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty
Spoken style	Your Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty
Alternative style	My Lord

Emperor Franz Joseph held the following chivalric orders:

• Order of the Golden Fleece (ex officio as Emperor of Austria)
• Military Order of Maria Theresa (Militär Maria-Theresien-Orden, ex officio as Emperor of Austria)
• Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen (Königlich ungarischer St. Stephan-Orden, ex officio as Emperor of Austria)
• Order of Leopold (Leopold-Orden, ex officio as Emperor of Austria)
• Order of the Iron Crown (Orden der Eisernen Krone, ex officio as Emperor of Austria)
• Order of the Garter, Great Britain, awarded 1867 and expelled 1914
• Order of the Black Eagle (Schwarzer-Adler-Orden), Prussia
• Order of the Red Eagle (Roter-Adler-Orden), First Class, Prussia
• Pour le Mérite (Orden Pour le Mérite, the "Blue Max"), Prussia
• Royal House Order of Hohenzollern (Königlich Hausorden von Hohenzollern), Prussia

Monarchical styles of Franz Joseph I of Austria
Reference style	His Imperial Majesty
Spoken style	Your Imperial Majesty
Alternative style	My Lord

He founded the following orders:

• Order of Franz Joseph (Franz Joseph-Orden), 1849
• Order of Elizabeth (Elizabeth-Orden), 1898

Monarchical styles of Franz Joseph I of Hungary
Reference style	His Royal Apostolic Majesty
Spoken style	Your Royal Apostolic Majesty
Alternative style	My Lord

He held the following honorary appointments:

• Colonel-in-chief, 1st (The King's) Dragoon Guards, British Army, 25 March 1896 – 1914
• Colonel-in-chief, Kexholm Life Guards Grenadier Regiment, Russian Army, until 26 June 1914
• Colonel-in-chief, 12th Belgorod Lancer Regiment, Russian Army, until 26 June 1914
• Colonel-in-chief, 16th (Schleswig-Holstein) Hussars, German Army
• Colonel-in-chief, 122nd (Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, King of Hungary (4th Württemberg) Fusiliers
• Field Marshal, British Army, 1 September 1903 – 1914

Legacy[link]

The archipelago Franz Josef Land in the Russian high Arctic was named in his honor in 1873. Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand's South Island bears his name.

Franz Joseph founded in 1872 the Franz Joseph University (Hungarian: Ferenc József Tudományegyetem, Romanian: Universitatea Francisc Iosif) in the city of Cluj-Napoca (at that time a part of Austria-Hungary under the name of Kolozsvár). The university was moved to Szeged after Cluj became a part of Romania, becoming the University of Szeged.

In certain areas, celebrations are still being held in remembrance of Franz Joseph's birthday. The Mitteleuropean People's Festival takes place every year around August 18th, and is a "spontaneous, traditional and brotherly meeting among peoples of the Central-European Countries^[8]". The event includes ceremonies, meetings, music, songs, dances, wine and food tasting, and traditional costumes and folklore from Mitteleuropa.

Official Grand Title[link]

His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty,

Franz Joseph I, by the Grace of God Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Bohemia, King of Lombardy and Venice, of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia, Lodomeria and Illyria; King of Jerusalem etc., Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow, Duke of Lorraine, of Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and of the Bukovina; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Modena, Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, of Auschwitz, Zator and Teschen, Friuli, Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Zara (Zadar); Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol, of Kyburg, Gorizia and Gradisca; Prince of Trent (Trento) and Brixen; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria; Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg, etc.; Lord of Trieste, of Cattaro (Kotor), and over the Windic march; president of The German Confederation.^[9]

After 1867:

His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty,

Francis Joseph I, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria; Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Illyria; King of Jerusalem, etc.; Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany, Crakow; Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the Bukovina; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of the Upper & Lower Silesia, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla, Oswiecin, Zator, Cieszyn, Friuli, Ragusa, Zara; Princely Count of Habsburg, Tyrol, Kyburg, Gorizia, Gradisca; Prince of Trent, Brixen; Margrave of the Upper & Lower Lusatia, in Istria; Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg, etc.; Lord of Triest, Kotor, the Wendish March; Grand Voivode of the Voivodship of Serbia etc. etc..

Personal motto[link]

• "mit vereinten Kräften" (German) = "Viribus Unitis" (Latin) = "With united forces" (as the Emperor of Austria). A homonymous war ship existed.
• "Bizalmam az Ősi Erényben" (Hungarian) = "Virtutis Confido" (Latin) = "My trust in [the ancient] virtue" (as the Apostolic King of Hungary)

In popular culture[link]

• In the 1974 BBC miniseries Fall of Eagles, he was played by Miles Anderson as a young man and by Laurence Naismith in old age.

See also[link]

• Family tree of the German monarchs – he was related to every other ruler of Germany.
• List of coupled cousins
• Franc Jozeph Island, island in Albania in honor of the Emperor.

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Beller, Steven. Francis Joseph. Profiles in power. London: Longman, 1996.
• Bled, Jean-Paul. Franz Joseph. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.
• Cunliffe-Owen, Marguerite. Keystone of Empire: Francis Joseph of Austria. New York: Harper, 1903.
• Gerö, András. Emperor Francis Joseph: King of the Hungarians. Boulder, Colo.: Social Science Monographs, 2001.
• Palmer, Alan. Twilight of the Habsburgs: The Life and Times of Emperor Francis Joseph. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995.
• Redlich, Joseph. Emperor Francis Joseph Of Austria. New York: Macmillan, 1929.
• Van der Kiste, John. Emperor Francis Joseph: Life, Death and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire. Stroud, England: Sutton, 2005.

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Emperor Franz Joseph I

German Wikisource has original text related to this article: Emperor Franz Joseph I

Media related to Franz Joseph I of Austria at Wikimedia Commons

• Biography at WorldWar1.com
• Details at Regiments.org
• Genealogy
• Mayerling tragedy
• Miklós Horthy reflects on Franz Josef
• Internet museum of Emperor Franz Joseph I, Wilhelm II and First World War