The House of Habsburg, also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most prominent and important dynasties in European history.
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg was the wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Their assassination in Sarajevo sparked a series of events that led, four weeks later, to World War I.
The emperor of Austria was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The hereditary imperial title and office was proclaimed in 1804 by Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and continually held by him and his heirs until Charles I relinquished power in 1918.
The Imperial Crypt, also called the Capuchin Crypt (Kapuzinergruft), is a burial chamber beneath the Capuchin Church and monastery in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1618 and dedicated in 1632, and located on the Neuer Markt square of the Innere Stadt, near the Hofburg Palace. Since 1633, the Imperial Crypt serves as the principal place of entombment for the members of the House of Habsburg. The bones of 145 Habsburg royalty, plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are here, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses. The visible 107 metal sarcophagi and five heart urns range in style from puritan plain to exuberant rococo. Some of the dozen resident Capuchin friars continue their customary role as the guardians and caretakers of the crypt, along with their other pastoral work in Vienna. The most recent entombment was in 2023.
The House of Lorraine originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Francis of Lorraine to Maria Theresa of Austria in 1736, and with the success in the ensuing War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), the House of Lorraine was joined to the House of Habsburg and became known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Francis, his sons Joseph II and Leopold II, and his grandson Francis II were the last four Holy Roman emperors from 1745 until the dissolution of the empire in 1806. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine inherited the Habsburg Empire, ruling the Austrian Empire and then Austria-Hungary until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1918.
The House of Habsburg-Este, also known as the House of Austria-Este and holder of the title of Archduke of Austria-Este, is a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and also descends from the House of Este in the cognatic line. It was created in 1771 with the marriage between Ferdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine and Maria Beatrice d'Este, only daughter of the Duke of Modena, Ercole III d'Este. After the death of Ercole III in 1803, the Modena ruling branch of the Este family's male line ended, and the Habsburg-Este line subsequently inherited his possessions in what is now Italy.
Archduke Leopold Maria of Austria, Prince of Tuscany was the second son of Archduke Leopold Salvator, Prince of Tuscany and Infanta Blanca of Spain. At the fall of Habsburg monarchy he remained in Austria and recognized the new republic in order to marry Dagmar, Baroness von Nicolics-Podrinska. The couple had one daughter. After divorcing his wife in 1931, Leopold eventually emigrated to the United States where he became a naturalized American citizen under the name Leopold Lorraine, and where he remarried. He died in 1958 in Connecticut.
Archduke Karl Albrecht of Austria-Teschen was an Austrian military officer, a member of the Teschen line of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
The House of Hohenberg is an Austrian and Czech noble family that descends from Countess Sophie Chotek (1868–1914), who in 1900 married Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Este (1863–1914), the heir presumptive to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As their marriage was a morganatic one, none of their children were in the line of succession to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Nevertheless, they represent the senior agnatic line of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
The Order of Saint Stephen is an order of chivalry founded in 1764 by Maria Theresa. In 1938, Miklós Horthy took the rights and activities of Grand Master as Regent of Hungary. The name of the Order changed to the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen. The Order was terminated at the time of the proclamation of the Second Hungarian Republic in 1946. It was recreated in 2011 as the Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen, and to this day remains the highest order in Hungary.
Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria, was a member of the Tuscan branch of the House of Habsburg.
Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria was the son of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria and Princess Maria Immacolata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He married Archduchess Marie Valerie in 1890, though, due to Marie Valerie's death in 1924, remarried in 1934 to Baroness Melanie von Riesenfels.
Franz Ludwig Johann Baptist Count von Meran, Baron von Brandhofen was an Austrian nobleman and courtier.
Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria was a member of the House of Habsburg-Tuscany and Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Tuscany by birth. Maria Theresia was the eldest child and eldest daughter of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria and his wife, Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
Archduke Leopold Salvator, Prince of Tuscany, was the son of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria and Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
The Imperial Order of the Iron Crown was one of the highest orders of merit in the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary until 1918. It was founded in 1815 by Emperor Franz I of Austria as a re-establishment of the original Order of the Iron Crown, which previously had been an order of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy.
Archduke Rainer of Austria was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, a member of the Tuscan branch of the Imperial House of Habsburg, an Archduke of Austria and Prince of Tuscany by birth. He was the eldest son Archduke Leopold Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany. He served as officer in the Austrian army during World War I. At the fall of the Habsburg dynasty, he remained in Vienna and worked for a time as taxi driver. He died unmarried at the age of 34 from blood-poisoning.
Archduke Franz Josef of Austria–Tuscany was the fourth son of Archduke Leopold Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany and Infanta Blanca of Spain. At the fall of Habsburg monarchy he moved to Barcelona, where he became a naturalized Spanish citizen. He married morganatically twice and had a daughter from his second marriage. During World War II he lived in the United States, working in the forestry industry. In 1955 he returned to Austria. He inherited the Carlist pretensions to the Spanish throne of his brother Archduke Karl Pius and called himself Duke of Madrid. He died in 1975.
The grand title of the emperor of Austria was the official list of the crowns, titles, and dignities which the emperors of Austria carried from the foundation of the empire in 1804 until the end of the monarchy in 1918.
Archduke Franz Karl Salvator of Austria was a member of the Tuscan line of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and Archduke of Austria, Prince of Tuscany by birth. He died of the Spanish flu.
