Joseph Ferdinand of Austria-Tuscany

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Archduke Joseph Ferdinand of Austria-Tuscany

Archduke Archduke Joseph Ferdinand of Austria (* 24. May 1872 in Salzburg ; † 26. August 1942 in Vienna ) from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine , was Colonel General of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy and balloonist. Later he retired into private life and lived as a citizen of Austria. During the time of National Socialism he was temporarily imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp . He was pretender to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1908–1942).

origin

Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, with full name Joseph Ferdinand Salvator Maria Franz Leopold Anton Albert Johann Baptist Karl Ludwig Rupert Maria Auxilatrix of Austria-Tuscany was born as the fourth child and second son of Ferdinand IV , Grand Duke of Tuscany. After the many scandals of his older brother Leopold (1868-1935), as well as his resignation, he was pretender to the throne of Tuscany. He was a great-great-grandson of Emperor Leopold II through his second son Ferdinand III. from Tuscany.

Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, commander of the 14th Corps, 1914

Education and career

Archduke Joseph Ferdinand attended the military high school in Mährisch-Weißenkirchen and later the Maria-Theresia-Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt . After graduating from the academy, he was appointed lieutenant in the Tyrolean Jäger Regiment on August 18, 1892 . After further service in various regiments (Infantry Regiments No. 93, 17, 59 and Tiroler Jäger Regiment No. 4), he became Lieutenant Colonel in Infantry Regiment No. 27 in 1903. From 1895 to 1897 he attended the war school in Vienna. From 1905 he commanded as a Colonel Infantry Regiment No. 93 and on 17 October 1908, he took the lead of the fifth. Infantry - Brigade in Linz.

Archduke Joseph Ferdinand occupied himself with aviation , which at that time was not taken seriously in military circles. He was fascinated by balloons since his earliest youth. In 1909 he arranged a balloon ride from his residence in Linz to Dieppe in France, which lasted 16 hours. In January 1911 the Archduke was given command of the 3rd Infantry Troop Division in Linz and on May 1, 1911 was appointed Lieutenant Field Marshal .

First World War

Archduke Joseph Ferdinand during the First World War (1916)

In August 1914 he took command of the XIV Army Corps from General of the Cavalry Dankl , who took over command of the 1st Army. His corps was part of General Brudermann's 3rd Army . At the beginning of September 1914, after the defeats at the Zlota and the Gnila Lipa, it was severely defeated in the First World War ( Battle of Lemberg ), while the 4th Army under General Auffenberg was also decimated in the “Six-Day Battle” at Rawa-Ruska has been. The Archduke then replaced General Auffenberg on October 1, 1914.

On February 26, 1916, Archduke Joseph Ferdinand was promoted to Colonel General. He kept command of the 4th Army until early June 1916, when the Brusilov offensive began . Due to this devastating defeat of the Austrians, the German High Command (Supreme Army Command, OHL) replaced Archduke Joseph Ferdinand with General Tersztyánszky .

As a result of his connections to Emperor Karl I , Archduke Joseph Ferdinand was appointed General Inspector of the Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops in November 1916 , although the actual management tasks lay with Major General Emil Uzelac .

family

Archduke Joseph Ferdinand married Rosa Kandie Kaltenbrunner on May 2, 1921, a commoner who died in 1928. On January 27, 1929 he married again, this time a noblewoman, but of unequal origin. Gertrude Tomanek von Beyerfels-Mondsee gave birth to two children:

  • Claudia Princess di Firenze (* 1930)
  • Maximilian Count of Habsburg-Lothringen (* 1932)
⚭ 1961 Doris Williams

Both marriages are viewed as morganatic .

time of the nationalsocialism

After the “Anschluss” of Austria in 1938, Archduke Joseph Ferdinand was arrested like many other opponents of the regime . The Gestapo imprisoned him for three months in Dachau concentration camp , which permanently damaged his health. Albert Göring , the younger brother of Hermann Göring and a Nazi opponent, helped him.

At a family celebration at Albert's in May 1938, Albert and his sister Olga (* 1899) asked Hermann for the immediate release of Archduke Joseph Ferdinand; the next day it actually happened.

Archduke Joseph Ferdinand then lived under constant surveillance by the Gestapo in Vienna until his death († August 26, 1942). After his death he was buried in the Capuchin crypt. His metal sarcophagus was initially in the tomb of Tuscany ; In the course of the renovation and expansion work in the Capuchin Crypt around 1960, the sarcophagus was walled up in a niche in the Ferdinand's crypt (niche 100D) and is therefore no longer visible. However, a plaque in Ferdinand's crypt reminds of him.

literature

Web links

Commons : Joseph Ferdinand of Austria-Tuscany  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Austria's aircraft. History of aviation from its beginnings to the end of 1918, by Reinhard Keimel, Herbert Weishaupt Verlag. Graz 1981. ISBN 3-900310-03-3 , pp. 11, 13. [1]
  2. ^ William Hastings Burke: Hermann's brother: Who was Albert Göring? 2009 (engl.); 2012 (German), p. 94.
  3. ↑ P. Eberhard Kusin: The Imperial Crypt at the PP. Capuchins in Vienna , Vienna 1949, p. 77.
  4. ↑ Magdalena Hawlik-van de Water: The Capuchin Crypt. Burial place of the Habsburgs in Vienna , 2nd edition Vienna 1993, p. 346.
personal data
SURNAME Joseph Ferdinand of Austria-Tuscany
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Archduke, Colonel General
DATE OF BIRTH May 24, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Salzburg
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 1942
Place of death Vienna