Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rudolf
Crown Prince of Austria Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia
Rudolf in 1887
Born	(1858-08-21)21 August 1858 Schloss Laxenburg, Laxenburg, Lower Austria, Austrian Empire
Died	30 January 1889(1889-01-30) (aged 30) Mayerling, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary
Burial	Imperial Crypt, Vienna
Spouse	Princess Stéphanie of Belgium ​ (m. 1881)​
Issue	Elisabeth Marie, Princess Otto of Windisch-Graetz
Full name German: Rudolf Franz Karl Josef English: Rudolph Francis Charles Joseph
House	Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Franz Joseph I of Austria
Mother	Elisabeth in Bavaria
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria (Rudolf Franz Karl Josef; 21 August 1858 – 30 January 1889) was the only son and third child of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi). He was heir apparent to the imperial throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from birth.

Background

Wedding medal 1881 by Tautenhayn, obverse

The reverse of this wedding medal showing Hymen the god of marriage

Portrait by Eugen Felix

Garter encircled arms of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria

Rudolf was born at Schloss Laxenburg, a castle near Vienna, as the son of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth. He was named after the first Habsburg King of Germany, Rudolf I, who reigned from 1273 to 1291. Rudolf was raised together with his older sister Gisela and the two were very close. At the age of six, Rudolf was separated from his sister as he began his education to become a future Emperor of Austria. This did not change their relationship and Gisela remained close to him until she left Vienna upon her marriage to Prince Leopold of Bavaria.

Influenced by his tutor Ferdinand von Hochstetter (who later became the first superintendent of the Imperial Natural History Museum), Rudolf became very interested in natural sciences, starting a mineral collection at an early age. After his death, large portions of his mineral collection came into the possession of the University of Agriculture in Vienna, which is now known as the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna

In 1877, the Count of Bombelles was master of the young prince. Bombelles had been the custodian of Rudolf's aunt Empress Charlotte of Mexico.

In contrast with his deeply conservative father, Rudolf held liberal views that were closer to those of his mother. Nevertheless, his relationship with her was at times strained.

Marriage

In Vienna, on 10 May 1881, Rudolf married Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, a daughter of King Leopold II of Belgium, at the Augustinian Church in Vienna. Although their marriage was initially a happy one, by the time their only child, the Archduchess Elisabeth, was born on 2 September 1883, the couple had drifted apart.

In 1886, Rudolf became seriously ill and the couple was directed to the island of Lacroma (present day Croatia) for his treatment. In transit, Stéphanie also became seriously ill and described "suffering terrible pain". The couple's diagnosis of peritonitis was kept secret by order of the Emperor.

By 1889, it was common knowledge at Court that Stéphanie would not have any more children due to the events of 1886, and that Rudolf's health was deteriorating.

Aftermath of death

Rudolf's death plunged his mother, Empress Elisabeth, into despair. She wore black or pearl grey, the colours of mourning, for the rest of her life and spent more and more time away from the imperial court in Vienna. In 1898, while Elisabeth was abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, she was murdered by an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni.

Rudolf's death had left Franz Joseph without a direct male heir. Franz-Joseph's younger brother, Archduke Karl Ludwig, was next in line to the Austro-Hungarian throne, though it was falsely reported that he had renounced his succession rights. In any case, his death in 1896 from typhoid made his eldest son, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the new heir presumptive. However, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 (an event that precipitated World War I), so when Emperor Franz-Joseph died in November 1916, he was succeeded instead by his grandnephew, Charles I of Austria. The demands of the American President, Woodrow Wilson forced Emperor Charles I to renounce involvement in state affairs in Vienna in early November 1918. As a result, the Austro-Hungarian Empire ceased to exist and a republic came into being without revolution. Charles I and his family went into exile in Switzerland after spending a short time at Castle Eckartsau.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

• 21 August 1858 – 30 January 1889: His Imperial and Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia

Honours

Domestic

• Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1858
• Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 1877

Foreign

Gallery

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  Crown Prince Rudolf during his early adulthood, c. 1879.

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  Official engagement photo of Crown Prince Rudolf and Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, 1881.

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  Painting "Allegory on the betrothal of Crown Prince Rudolf and Stephanie of Belgium" by Sophia and Marie Görlich, dated 1881.

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  Mayerling Lodge as it appeared before Crown Prince Rudolf's death there in 1889.

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  Crown Prince Rudolf's letter of farewell to his wife.

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  Crown Prince Rudolf placed in a bed for private viewing by his family at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. His head had to be bandaged in order to cover gunshot wounds. When he later lay-in-state, his skull was reconstructed using wax so that his appearance was normal.

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  Crown Prince Rudolf's coffin lies to the right of his parents' coffins in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.

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  Statue in memory of Crown Prince Rudolf in the City Park of Budapest.

See also

• Lake Rudolf
• Alma V. Hayne
• Rudolf Island
• List of heirs to the Austrian throne