Archduke Maximilian Eugen of Austria

Archduke Maximilian
Archduke Maximilian in 1917
Born (1895-04-13)13 April 1895
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died 19 January 1952(1952-01-19) (aged 56)
Nice, France
Spouse
Issue Archduke Ferdinand of Austria
Archduke Heinrich of Austria
Full name
Maximilian Eugen Ludwig Friedrich Philipp Ignatius Joseph
House Habsburg
Father Archduke Otto of Austria
Mother Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony

Archduke Maximilian of Austria (Maximilian Eugen Ludwig Friedrich Philipp Ignatius Joseph Maria; 13 April 1895 in Vienna – 19 January 1952 in Nice) was a member of the House of Habsburg and the younger brother of the Emperor Charles I of Austria. From April 10, 1919 according to republican Austrian law his name was Maximilian Eugen Habsburg-Lothringen.

Life

Maximilian was the second son of Archduke Otto of Austria and Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony.[1]

In 1915 Maximilian was made a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, the special order of the dynasty, by his great-uncle Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.

During World War I Maximilian served as a major in the Austro-Hungarian Army. He also had the rank of corvette captain in the Austro-Hungarian Navy.[2]

In February 1917 Maximilian was sent to Berlin to formally notify the German Emperor Wilhelm II of the accession of Maximilian's brother Charles as Emperor of Austria.[3] In 1917 / 1918, with consent of Charles I, Maximilian established his household at Belvedere Palace in Vienna, held to the disposition of the imperial family by the government of Austria.

In June 1918 Maximilian led the Austrian assault on the Dosso Alto. The air pressure of a shell which landed near him broke his ear-drum and caused a certain deafness.[4] Maximilian was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold (with the war decoration and swords) for the Austrian victory.[5][6] However, in August the Italians re-captured the Dosso Alto.[7]

After the end of World War I, in December 1918 some monarchists suggested that he succeed his brother as emperor.[6][8] As Charles I, not anymore participating in state affairs since November 12, 1918, still considered himself emperor, this suggestion did not conform to the family rules of the dynasty.

Meanwhile, on November 12, 1918, the Provisional National Assembly of German Austria declared the country a republic. On April 3, 1919 the Constitutional National Assembly elected in February passed the Hapsburg Law which stipulated members of the former ruling family could only live in Austria if they cancelled their membership to the Habsburg Dynasty with its monarchial aspirations and if they declared themselves loyal citizens of the republic. Maximilian obviously preferred to live outside of Austria, following the example of the last imperial couple.

Maximilian Eugen Habsburg-Lothringen and his family in 1919 were given permission to live in Switzerland on condition that he did not engage in political activity.[6] (The same permission was given to Charles I, Zita and their children, who had moved there in March 1919.) Maximilian's family then moved to Bavaria, where they lived in Munich and along Lake Starnberg. Later they moved to France.

In exile Maximilian sometimes used the aliases Count Wernberg and Count von Kyburg.[6] He graduated from law school and earned the degree Doctor of Laws.[2]

In April 1922 Maximilian attended the funeral of his brother Charles in Funchal, Madeira,[9] after which Zita and her children returned to mainland Europe. In June 1923 Maximilian sued his late brother's secretary Baron von Steiner for fraud in the sale of some family jewels.[10]

In November 1930 Maximilian attended the ceremony in Ham, Belgium commemorating the coming-of-age of his nephew Otto, from then onwards until January 1, 2007 chief of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.[11]

In November 1933 the government of the Republic of Austria under chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, who earlier this year had declared the parliament to have dissolved itself and did not undertake any action to hold elections, gave permission for Maximilian to reside in Austria.[12] Per April 27, 1945, the second Republic of Austria returned to the republican laws valid before dictatorial rule.

Maximilian died in 1952 of a heart attack in a hotel in Nice; he was 56.[6] His remains lie in a sarcophagus in the crypt of the schloss church in Altshausen (the burial place of the dukes of Württemberg).[13]

Marriage and children

Maximilian married on November 29, 1917 in Schloss Laxenburg (near Vienna), Princess Franziska zu Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, daughter of Prince Konrad of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst and Countess Franziska von Schönborn-Buchheim.[1]

Maximilian and Franziska had two children, seven grandchildren and thirteen grandchildren:

  • Archduke Ferdinand Karl Max Franz Otto Konrad Maria Joseph Ignatius Nikolaus of Austria, Count of Kyburg (6 December 1918 in Vienna – 6 August 2004 in Ulm), married on 6 April 1956 in at Seefeld Castle, Munich, Countess Helene Marina Elisabeth zu Törring-Jettenbach (born 20 May 1937 in Winhöring), daughter of Count Carl Theodor zu Törring-Jettenbach and Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark. They had three children and six grandchildren:
    • Archduchess Elisabeth Caecilia Helen Antonia of Austria (15 March 1957 in Essen - 18 May 1983 in Myalla, Cooma), married on 9 October 1982 in Salzburg, James Litchfield (born 15 November 1956 in Sydney), without issue
    • Archduchess Sophie Franziska Maria Germaine of Austria (born 19 January 1959 in Boulogne-Billancourt), married on 31 January 1990 in Salzburg, Prince Mariano Hugo of Windisch-Graetz (born 27 July 1955 in Trieste), son of Prince Maximilian Antonius of Windisch-Graetz and Maria Luisa Serra. They have three children:
      • Prince Maximilian Hugo of Windisch-Grätz (born 4 August 1990 in Salzburg)
      • Prince Alexis Ferdinando of Windisch-Grätz (10 December 1991 in Rome – 9 February 2010 in Sant'Angelo d'Alife), died in an car accident
      • Princess Larissa Maria Luisa of Windisch-Grätz (born 11 December 1996 in Rome)
    • Archduke Maximilian Heinrich Ferdinand of Austria (born 9 February 1961 in Boulogne-Billancourt), married first on 13 April 1987, Countess Lydia of Abensberg-Traun (born 3 June 1964 in Cologne), daughter of Count Ernst Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun and Felicia Guépin, divorced in 1991, without issue; married second on 2 July 2005 in Rome, Sara Maya al-Askari (born 6 November 1977 in London), daughter of Mamoun al-Askari. They have three children:
      • Archduke Nikolaus Heinrich of Austria (born 6 December 2005 in Madrid)
      • Archduke Constantin of Austria (born 4 June 2007 in Madrid)
      • Archduchess Katharina of Austria (born 8 November 2010 in Madrid)
  • Archduke Heinrich Karl Maria of Austria, Count of Kyburg (7 January 1925 in Munich – 20 March 2014 in Zürich), married on 23 September 1961 in Beckum, Countess Ludmila of Galen (born 20 June 1939 in Lippetal), daughter of Count Christoph-Bernhard of Galen and Countess Marie Sophie Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau. They had four children and seven grandchildren:
    • Archduke Philipp Joachim Franz Max Clemens Gallus of Austria (born 16 October 1962 in Zürich), married on 11 February 2006 in Salzburg, Mayasuni Heath (born 28 April 1978 in Lima), daughter of Lord John William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerck and Caroline Anne Heath. They have one daughter:
      • Archduchess Amaya Anna Maria of Habsburg-Lotheringen (born 27 March 2011 in London)
    • Archduchess Marie-Christine Franziska Sophie of Austria (born 14 March 1964 in Zürich), married on 10 February 1996 in Salzburg, Clemens Guido Tassilo Guggenberg von Riedhofen (born 19 May 1962 in Innsbruck), son of Paul Guggenberg von Riedhofen and Maria Benedicta von Liphart. They have two daughters:
      • Annaliva "Livia" Guggenberg von Riedhofen (born 6 February 1997 in Frankfurt)
      • Sofia Guggenberg von Riedhofen (born 24 December 2001 in Munich)
    • Archduke Ferdinand Karl Augustinus Maria of Austria (born 28 May 1965 in Zürich), married on 22 May 1999 in Potsdam, Countess Katharina of Hardenberg (born 21 April 1968 in Hamburg), daughter of Count Andreas Albert von Hardenberg and Isa von Hahn. They have three children:
      • Archduke Jakob-Maximilian of Austria (born 22 January 2002)
      • Archduchess Pauline of Austria (born 14 January 2004 in Berlin)
      • Archduchess Lara of Austria (born 9 October 2007 in Berlin)
    • Archduke Konrad Erwein Felix Regula Maria of Austria (born 11 September 1971 in Zürich), married on 11 December 2005 in Anif, Ashmita Goswami (born 12 August 1972). They have one daughter:
      • Archduchess Leonie of Austria (born in 2011)

(As far as Austrian citizens are concerned, the titles Archduchess and Archduke had to be omitted from April 10, 1919 onwards.)

Title

Maximilian's official title in German until April 10, 1919 was Seine Kaiserliche und Königliche Hoheit Erzherzog Maximilian Eugen Ludwig Friedrich Philipp Ignatius Joseph, Königlicher Prinz von Ungarn und Böhmen.

Ancestors

Notes

  1. 1 2 Daniel Willis, The Descendants of Louis XIII, Chapter 6: The Imperial Family of Austria (Clearfield, 1999): 508–509.
  2. 1 2 Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser Band I (Glücksburg: C.A. Starke, 1951): 92.
  3. ↑ "Imperial and Foreign News Items", The Times (February 3, 1917): 7.
  4. ↑ "Emperor's Brother Injured", The Times (June 24, 1918): 9.
  5. ↑ "Charles Decorates His Brother", New York Times (June 24, 1918): 2.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 ""Maximilian Is Dead on French Riviera", New York Times (January 9, 1952): 15.
  7. ↑ "The Austrian Reverse by Lake Garda", The Times (August 6, 1918): 3.
  8. ↑ "Vienna Royalists Active", New York Times (December 18, 1918): 2.
  9. ↑ Gordon Brook-Shepherd, Uncrowned Emperor: The Life and Times of Otto von Habsburg (London: Hambledon and London, 2003), 72.
  10. ↑ "Sues Habsburg Secretary", New York Times (June 6, 1923): 20.
  11. ↑ Brook-Shepherd, 77.
  12. ↑ "Telegrams in Brief", The Times (November 3, 1933): 13.
  13. ↑ Royalty Travel Guide: Altshausen Schlosskirche.
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