Ferdinand Karl of Austria (1868–1915)

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Archduke Ferdinand Karl (1908)

Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Joseph Johann Maria (* December 27, 1868 in Vienna ; † March 10, 1915 in Munich ) from the House of Habsburg-Lothringen , was Archduke of Austria until 1911 , after which he called himself "Ferdinand Burg".

Life

Ferdinand Karl Ludwig was a son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria (1833-1896) and Princess Maria Annunziata of Naples-Sicily and a brother of the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand .

He pursued his military training in the imperial army seriously, but felt drawn to the theater from an early age and wanted nothing more than to become director of the Burgtheater . As Archduke, however, this bourgeois profession was out of the question for the man interested in literature and music.

He had good contact with his older brother Franz Ferdinand, but he was against his morganatic marriage with Sophie Chotek, who came from the old nobility, and refused to attend their wedding. Like his brother Ferdinand, he had inherited a lung disease from his mother and therefore had to end his military career in October 1904 for health reasons. His last position as major general was in command of the 18th Infantry Brigade. However, he received 231,000 crowns annually from the emperor, so that he continued to be financially secure.

Military career

Ferdinand Karl held the following ranks during his military career:

marriage

Ferdinand Karl and his wife Berta

In 1902, Ferdinand Karl met Berta Czuber (born December 5, 1879 in Prague ; † July 5, 1979 at Rottenstein Castle near Meran ) at the Vienna Technician Ball and fell in love with her. Her father Emanuel Czuber was a mathematics professor at the Vienna University of Technology and an imperial councilor . When rumors about a steady relationship reached Emperor Franz Joseph , he asked his nephew to part with his lover. In order to gain time, he agreed to all demands, but secretly married his lover on August 15, 1909 near Chur . The newlyweds were constantly on the move, so the marriage remained a secret for the time being and neither family nor friends were suspicious. However, the archduke himself asked for an audience with the emperor two years after the marriage and asked for forgiveness after his confession. Because of the improper marriage to Berta Czuber, the emperor left the House of Habsburg in 1911 , but he continued to support him with 44,000 crowns. At this time the Archduke was already suffering from attacks of fever and weakness and was cared for by his wife. The emperor tried by all means to avoid a scandal about the marriage and had the name Ferdinand Karls deleted from all official documents of the imperial family. He also had to give up all titles in the ore house and in the army.

Since then he has called himself Ferdinand Burg after the travel pseudonym of his father Karl Ludwig and lived on inherited estates in what is now South Tyrol , the residences of Schloss Rosenstein and Rottenstein .

He only entered Vienna once when he was given permission to take part in the funeral services for the murdered heir apparent, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. At this point he was already marked by death.

His wife Berta Burg , nee Czuber, survived him by 64 years; she died in 1979 at the age of 99. The marriage had remained childless. Both are buried in a common crypt in the Untermaiser Maria-Trost-Kirche in Merano .

Awards

Web links and sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Military newspaper No. 38 of October 29, 1904, page 1.
  2. ^ Archduke Ferdinand Karl
  3. ^ The Maria Trost cemetery - a window of the history of corn , website www.meraner.eu ; accessed on July 5, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Ferdinand Karl of Austria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Joseph Johann Maria; Burg, Ferdinand
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archduke of Austria
DATE OF BIRTH December 27, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 1915
Place of death Munich