Karl Salvator of Austria-Tuscany

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Archduke Karl Salvator

Karl Salvator of Austria-Tuscany (born April 30, 1839 in Florence , † January 18, 1892 in Vienna ) was an Archduke of Austria and Prince of Tuscany . Field Marshal lieutenant, weapons technician and designer. He was very scientifically oriented and distinguished himself by inventing weapons as well as being a hydrotechnician and architect.

Life

The Archduke was to the full name Karl Salvator Maria Joseph Johann Baptist Philipp Jakob Januarius Ludwig of Austria-Toscana baptized. He was the second son of Grand Duke Leopold II (Tuscany) and his second wife, Grand Duchess Maria Antonia of Naples-Sicily , daughter of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies , born in Florence on April 30, 1839 . He was a great-grandson of Emperor Leopold II through his second son Ferdinand III. Tuscany. His son was then Karl's father.

Military career

Already in his youth Karl Salvator devoted himself to military and technical studies. At the age of 10 he already received the military rank of Rittmeister in the Kuk Galician Uhlan Regiment "Kaiser Joseph II." No. 6 . In 1857 he was promoted to major . He initially served as an inspector in the Austro-Hungarian artillery . After the outbreak of the Sardinian War in April 1859, the Archduke and his family left Florence . He went to the imperial army in Lombardy , where he took up his post as major in the Kuk Galician Uhlan Regiment "Kaiser Joseph II." No. 6. He took part in the campaign and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1859 . The following year - Tuscany was lost after the Battle of Solferino - he advanced to the position of colonel owner of the Austro-Hungarian Galician Infantry Regiment "Philipp Duke of Württemberg" No. 77 , which from then on bore his name. It fought in the battle of Königgrätz against the infantry regiment "Duke Karl von Mecklenburg-Strelitz" (6th East Prussian) No. 43 and lost the timpani , with which the Königsberg timpani dogs became famous.

Promoted to major general in 1876 and to field marshal lieutenant in 1886 , he was no longer able to perform active military service because of a rheumatic foot condition that prevented him from walking.

Weapons technician and designer

Brothers Johann Salvator , Ludwig Salvator , Ferdinand IV and Karl Salvator of Austria-Tuscany

The archduke was particularly interested in weapon technology, which developed rapidly in the second half of the 19th century , in particular the construction of firearms. His thorough mathematical knowledge was an advantage here. Together with Captain Georg Ritter von Dormus, he constructed a mitrailleuse which, after several modifications by Dormus, was presented to the Imperial and Royal Ministry of War in 1888 as a project . The weapon, known under the abbreviation “ Salvator / Dormus ”, was used as the Mitrailleuse M.93 in the equipment of the monarchy's permanent places . The patent for the “Salvator / Dormus” system was finally purchased and produced by Škoda in Pilsen . The weapon was only replaced by the Schwarzlose machine gun in the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1907 .

Another project (even if not so successful from a contemporary point of view), which arose in cooperation with the Dormus, was the "Repetierpistole System Carl Salvator and Georg Ritter von Dormus" or just "Repetierpistole Dormus" , since the Karl Salvator already in the year of the original died in 1892. It is one of the earliest, possibly even the earliest, self-loading pistol systems. Only 50 of this weapon were produced, including 31 for a troop test which took place in 1897. Among other things, the handling turned out to be “too complicated” for the troops, and there would be repeated “jamming of cartridges” between the hold and the breech block. The system was therefore not introduced into the troops.

Karl Salvator was interested in many technical subjects, including architecture . In keeping with the Habsburg tradition, he was a passionate hunter and owned a large collection of weapons. He also dealt with the construction of target and repeating weapons, such as a repeating shotgun for hunting purposes. It was only relatively late that he turned to the construction of military weapons, which he occupied until his death. He came across Georg Ritter von Dormus as the teacher of his son Leopold Salvator , who was taught artillery at the Imperial and Royal Technical Military Academy in the Viennese collegiate barracks of Dormus. The Archduke sometimes went to work self-critically when designing weapons, which were always carried out in collaboration with Dormus, and once admitted that a weapon he had created was too complicated for military use.

family

Marie Valerie with her husband Franz Salvator

Karl Salvator was a son of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany , Archduke of Austria, and his wife Maria Antonia of Naples-Sicily , Princess of Bourbon-Sicily .

He married his cousin Maria Immaculata of Naples-Sicily , Princess of Bourbon-Sicily, daughter of King Ferdinand II of both Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria on September 19, 1861 in Rome . Maria Immaculata died in Vienna in 1899 at the age of 54 .

Karl Salvator's son Franz Salvator married the youngest daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph and Elisabeth , Archduchess Marie Valerie, in Ischl in 1890 . He was also the author of a major scandal. He had an affair with Princess Stephanie zu Hohenlohe (1891–1972), also known as "Hitler's spy", and with her an illegitimate son, Franz Josef zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (* 1914), whom he recognized during Valeries' lifetime.

Archduke Karl Salvator died of influenza on January 18, 1892 at the age of 52 in Vienna and was buried in Ferdinand's crypt.

progeny

ancestors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Emperor Leopold II (1747–1792)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ferdinand III. Grand Duke of Tuscany (1769-1824)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maria Ludovica of Spain (1745–1792)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Leopold II. Grand Duke of Tuscany (1797–1870)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies (1751–1825)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Luisa Maria of Naples and Sicily (1773–1802)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maria Karolina of Austria (1752–1814)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Karl Salvator of Austria-Tuscany
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies (1751–1825)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies (1777-1830)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maria Karolina of Austria (1752–1814)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily (1814–1898)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Emperor Leopold II (1747–1792)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maria Clementine of Austria (1777–1801)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maria Ludovica of Spain (1745–1792)
 
 
 
 
 
 

Note: This is where inter-family marriages reach a dramatic climax. Emperor Leopold II and his wife as well as Ferdinand I of Sicily and his wife are two-time great-grandparents of Karl Salvator. In addition, Emperor Leopold II and Maria Karoline were siblings of the great-grandparents. Another pair of siblings among the great-grandparents are Empress Maria Ludovica and Ferdinand I of Sicily as children of Charles III. from Spain.

Literary afterlife

Karl Salvator plays an important role as a gun designer and lover of the divorced Countess Elisabeth von Wedel in Felix Lützkendorf's novel "The beautiful Countess Wedel. The novel of a love in Prussia" (Munich 1974) .

literature

Web links

Commons : Karl Salvator of Austria-Tuscany  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jaroslav Lugs: Small arms . Systematic overview of handguns and their history , Volume II, Berlin 1956, s. 200.
  2. ^ Karl Sommeregger:  Karl Salvator . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 51, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1906, p. 56 f.
  3. ^ Christian Ortner: The Austro-Hungarian Artillery from 1867 to 1918. Technology, organization and combat procedures , Vienna 2007, p. 141.
  4. ↑ Josef Mötz / Joschi Schuy: From the origin of the self-loading pistol. Repeater and self-loading pistols in Austria-Hungary from 1884-1918 , Vienna 2007, p. 217.
  5. ↑ Josef Mötz / Joschi Schuy: From the origin of the self-loading pistol. Repeater and self-loading pistols in Austria-Hungary from 1884 to 1918 , Vienna 2007, p. 215.
  6. ↑ Local messages. Distinguished visitor .. In:  Badener Bezirks-Blatt , June 4, 1881, p. 2 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / bbb
personal data
SURNAME Karl Salvator of Austria-Tuscany
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archduke of Austria and Prince of Tuscany
DATE OF BIRTH April 30, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH Florence
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 1892
Place of death Vienna