Rudolf of Austria

Rudolf Franz Karl Joseph, Crown Prince of Austria

Named for Rudolf of Habsburg (1218-1291), progenitor of the Habsburg family, and his paternal grandfather Archduke Franz Carl of Austria

Son of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (1830-1916) and his wife Elisabeth Duchess in Bavaria (1837-1898)

Born: Schloss Laxenburg near Vienna 21. Aug 1858

Married: Vienna 10. May 1881 Stéphanie, Princess of Belgium (1864-1945), daughter of Léopold II. King of the Belgians (1835-1909) and his wife Marie Henriette Archduchess of Austria (1836-1902).

Issue:

• Elisabeth Archduchess of Austria (1883-1963) m. 1902 (div. 1948) Otto Prinz zu Windisch-Graetz (1873-1952); m. 1948 Leopold Petznek (1881-1956)

Died: Mayerling, Austria 30. Jan 1889; committed suicide with his lover Baroness Mary Vetsera (1871-1889)

Buried: Imperial Crypt (Kapuzinergruft), Capuchin Church, Vienna

Brigitte Hamann “Die Habsburger. Ein biographisches Lexikon”, Amalthea, Vienna/Munich 2001; Brigitte Hamann “Kronprinz Rudolf”, Amalthea, Vienna 2005