en, Rudolph Francis Charles Joseph
, caption = Rudolf in 1887
, spouse =
, issue =
Elisabeth Marie, Princess Otto of Windisch-Graetz
, house =
Habsburg-Lorraine
The House of Habsburg-Lorraine (german: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen) originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Austria, later successively Queen of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary, Queen of ...
, father =
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until ...
, mother =
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place =
Schloss Laxenburg,
Laxenburg,
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
,
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
, death_date =
, death_place =
Mayerling,
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, burial_date =
, burial_place =
Imperial Crypt
The Imperial Crypt (german: Kaisergruft), 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 Neu ...
,
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, occupation =
, signature =
, religion =
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
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 in Bavaria (Sissi). He was
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
to the imperial throne of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
from birth. In 1889, he died in a
suicide pact
A suicide pact is an agreed plan between two or more individuals to die by suicide. The plan may be to die together, or separately and closely timed.
General considerations
Suicide pacts are an important concept in the study of suicide, and h ...
with his
mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...
Mary Vetsera at the
Mayerling hunting lodge. The ensuing scandal made international headlines.
Background
Rudolf was born at
Schloss Laxenburg,
[
"Crown Prince Rudolf (1858–1889)" (museum notes),
Natural History Museum of Vienna, 2006,
]
NHM-Wien-Rudolfe
a castle near
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, as the son of
Emperor Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until h ...
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
The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Hou ...
. This did not change their relationship and Gisela remained close to him until she left Vienna upon her marriage to
Prince Leopold of Bavaria. Rudolf's initial education under
Leopold Gondrecourt was physically and emotionally abusive, and likely a cause of his later suicide.
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 for Agriculture in 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
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, on 10 May 1881, Rudolf married
Princess Stéphanie of Belgium
Princess Stéphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte of Belgium (21 May 1864 – 23 August 1945) was a Belgian princess who became Crown Princess of Austria through marriage to Crown Prince Rudolf, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hun ...
, a daughter of King
Leopold II of Belgium
* german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor
, house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
, father = Leopold I of Belgium
, mother = Louise of Orléans
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Brussels, Belgium
, death_date = ...
, at
the Augustinian Church in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. 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, and he found solace in drink and other female companionship. Rudolf started having many affairs, and wanted to write to
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...
about the possibility of
annulling his marriage to Stéphanie, but the Emperor forbade it.
In 1886, the spouses were diagnosed with
gonorrhea
Gonorrhea, colloquially known as the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae''. Infection may involve the genitals, mouth, or rectum. Infected men may experience pain or burning with u ...
, which rendered Stéphanie sterile.
Affairs and suicide
In 1886, Rudolf bought
Mayerling, a
hunting lodge.
In late 1888, the 30-year-old Crown Prince met the 17-year-old ''
Freiin'' (
Baroness
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or ...
)
Marie von Vetsera, known by the more fashionable
Anglophile
An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents.
Etymology
The word is derived from the Latin word ''Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "fr ...
name Mary, and began an affair with her. On 30 January 1889, he and the young Baroness were discovered dead in the lodge as a result of an apparent joint
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...
. As suicide would prevent him from being given a church burial, Rudolf was officially declared to have been in a state of "mental unbalance", and he was buried in the
Imperial Crypt
The Imperial Crypt (german: Kaisergruft), 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 Neu ...
(''Kapuzinergruft'') of the
Capuchin Church in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. Vetsera's body was smuggled out of Mayerling in the middle of the night and secretly buried in the village cemetery at
Heiligenkreuz.
The Emperor had Mayerling converted into a penitential convent of
Carmelite
, image =
, caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites
, abbreviation = OCarm
, formation = Late 12th century
, founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel
, founding_location = Mount Ca ...
nuns and endowed a
chantry
A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings:
# a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or
# a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...
so that daily prayers would eternally be said by the nuns for the repose of Rudolf's soul.
Vetsera's private letters were discovered in a
safe deposit box
A safe deposit box, also known as a safety deposit box, is an individually secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions. Safe deposit ...
in an Austrian bank in 2015, and they revealed that she was preparing to commit suicide alongside Rudolf, out of love.
Aftermath of death
Rudolf's death plunged his mother 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. Her daughter Gisela was afraid that she might also commit suicide. Empress Elisabeth was murdered while abroad in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, in 1898 by an Italian anarchist,
Luigi Lucheni.
Politically, Rudolf's death 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
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
F ...
, the new
heir presumptive
An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...
. In 1914, the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range whil ...
precipitated
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. Emperor Franz-Joseph died in November 1916 and was succeeded by his grandnephew,
Charles I of Austria
Charles I or Karl I (german: Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria, hu, Károly Ferenc József Lajos Hubert György Ottó Mária; 17 August 18871 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV, ), King of Croati ...
. The demands of American President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
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.
In popular culture
* ''
Mayerling'', a 1936 film directed by
Anatole Litvak
Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (russian: Анатолий Михайлович Литвак; 21 May 1902 – 15 December 1974), better known as Anatole Litvak, was a Ukrainian-born American filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in vari ...
, with
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...
and
Danielle Darrieux, based on a novel by
Claude Anet.
* ''
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
'' (1940), a film directed
Max Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer (; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls (; ), was a German-French film director who worked in Germany (1931–1933), France (1933–1940 and 1950–1957), and the United States (1947–1950). He made near ...
starts with Rudolf's death.
* The fictionalized musical ''
Marinka'' (1945), with book by George Marion Jr., and Karl Farkas, lyrics by George Marion, Jr., music by
Emmerich Kalman.
* ''
Mayerling'', a 1957 film, starring
Mel Ferrer
Melchor Gastón Ferrer (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ''Scaramouche'', ''Lili'' and ''Knights of the Round ...
as Crown Prince Rudolf,
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen ...
as Baroness Mary Vetsara with
Lorne Greene as Kaiser Franz Josef.
* ''
Mayerling'', a 1968 film, starring
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif ( ar, عمر الشريف ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub , 10 April 193210 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the ...
as Crown Prince Rudolf,
Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress as well as an occasional singer, model, and producer, considered one of the greatest European actresses. She gained recogni ...
as Mary with
James Mason
James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...
as Kaiser Franz Josef and
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...
as Empress Elisabeth.
* Japanese
Takarazuka Revue
The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Jap ...
's "Utakata no Koi"/"Ephemeral Love", based on the 1968 film.
* ''Requiem for a Crown Prince'', one-hour episode of the British documentary/drama series ''
Fall of Eagles'' (1974), directed by James Furman and written by David Turner, tracks in detail the events of 30 January 1889 and the following few days at Mayerling.
*
Miklós Jancsó
Miklós Jancsó (; 27 September 192131 January 2014) was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter.
Jancsó achieved international prominence starting in the mid-1960s with works including '' The Round-Up'' (''Szegénylegények'', 1965), '' ...
's 1975 film ''
Vizi privati, pubbliche virtù'' (Private Vices, Public Virtues), a reinterpretation in which the lovers and their friends are murdered by imperial authorities for treason and immorality.
*
Kenneth MacMillan's 1978 ballet,
''Mayerling''.
* Japanese manga by
Higuri You, "Tenshi no Hitsugi" (Angel's Coffin) (2000).
*
The Crown Prince, a 2006 television film in two parts directed by
Robert Dornhelm
Robert Dornhelm (born 17 December 1947 in Temesvár, Romania) is an Austrian film and television director.
Biography
Dornhelm is of Jewish descent. He has worked on numerous television programmes and has also released such movies as '' Echo ...
.
* Composer
Frank Wildhorn's musical ''
Rudolf – Affaire Mayerling'' (2006), produced in some territories as ''The Last Kiss'' or ''Rudolf – The Last Kiss.''
* The play ''Rudolf'' (2011) by David Logan dramatises the last few weeks of the life of Crown Prince Rudolf.
* A highly fictionalized version of the incident at Mayerling is depicted in the 2006 film
''The Illusionist''. Crown Prince Leopold (played by
Rufus Sewell) is a fictional analog of Rudolf.
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
[ Since 1780 official title used for princes ("''zu Ungarn, Böhmen, Dalmatien, Kroatien, Slawonien, Königlicher Erbprinz''")]
Honours
;Domestic
Hof- und Staats-Handbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie
' (1889), Genealogy pp. 1–2
*
Knight of the Golden Fleece
This article contains a list of knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Knights of the Burgundian Golden Fleece
15th Century
!Year of Induction!!Name!!Born!!Died!!Notes
, -
, rowspan=25, 1430, , Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, , 1396, , ...
, ''1858''
* Grand Cross of the
Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, ''1877''
"A Szent István Rend tagjai"
;Foreign
Ancestors
Gallery
File:Young Crown Prince Rudolf.jpg, Crown Prince Rudolf during his early adulthood, c. 1879.
File:Stefanie en Rudolf.jpg, Official engagement photo of Crown Prince Rudolf and Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, 1881.
File:Görlich - Allegory on the betrothal of Crown Prince Rudolf and Stephanie of Belgium.jpg, Painting "Allegory on the betrothal of Crown Prince Rudolf and Stephanie of Belgium" by Sophia and Marie Görlich, dated 1881.
File:Mayerling 1889.jpg, Mayerling Lodge as it appeared before Crown Prince Rudolf's death there in 1889.
File:Mayerling.final letter.jpg, Crown Prince Rudolf's letter of farewell to his wife.
File:Crown Prince Rudolf 1889.jpg, 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.
File:Wien - Kapuzinergruft, Franz-Joseph-Gruft.JPG, Crown Prince Rudolf's coffin lies to the right of his parents' coffins in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.
File:Miklós Ligeti- Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria.jpg, Statue in memory of Crown Prince Rudolf in the City Park of Budapest.
See also
* Lake Rudolf
* Alma V. Hayne
*Rudolf Island
Prince Rudolf Land, Crown Prince Rudolf Land, Prince Rudolf Island or Rudolf Island (russian: Остров Рудольфа) is the northernmost island of the Franz Josef Archipelago, Russia and is home to the northernmost point in Russia.
Owing t ...
* List of heirs to the Austrian throne
Notes
Further reading
* Barkeley, Richard. ''The Road to Mayerling: Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria''. London: Macmillan, 1958.
* Franzel, Emil. ''Crown Prince Rudolph and the Mayerling Tragedy: Fact and Fiction''. Vienna : V. Herold, 1974.
* Hamann, Brigitte. ''Kronprinz Rudolf: Ein Leben''. Wien: Amalthea, 2005, .
* Listowel, Judith Márffy-Mantuano Hare, Countess of. ''A Habsburg Tragedy: Crown Prince Rudolf''. London: Ascent Books, 1978.
* Lonyay, Károly. ''Rudolph: The Tragedy of Mayerling''. New York: Scribner, 1949.
* Morton, Frederic. ''A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888/1889''. Penguin 1979
* Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria. ''Majestät, ich warne Sie... Geheime und private Schriften''. Edited by Brigitte Hamann
Brigitte Hamann (; 26 July 1940 – 4 October 2016) was a German-Austrian author and historian based in Vienna.
Biography
Born in Essen, Germany, Hamann studied history in Münster and Vienna. She worked as a journalist in her native Essen for ...
. Wien: Amalthea, 1979, (reprinted München: Piper, 1998, ).
* Salvendy, John T. ''Royal Rebel: A Psychological Portrait of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary''. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1988.
External links
*
A profile of Marie Vetsera
IMDB on various Mayerling Films
Crown Prince Rudolfs death
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolf Of Austria, Crown Prince
House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Heirs apparent who never acceded
Austrian Roman Catholics
Suicides by firearm in Austria
Joint suicides
1858 births
1889 deaths
1880s suicides
19th-century Austrian people
People from Laxenburg
Austrian princes
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Burials at the Imperial Crypt
Sons of emperors
Sons of kings
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria
Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary
Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Knights of Malta
2
2
Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania
Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Takovo
Extra Knights Companion of the Garter
Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia)
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class
Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class
Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur
Knights of the Order of Saint Joseph