CHILDREN OF THE SISSIANS (2023)

On August 21, 1858, the birth of Rudolf.... a little love for this son

If you want to read the books of heir to the throne Rudolf in their entirety, go to this link, the text is in English:

https://archive.org/stream/notesonsportorni00rudo#page/n13/mode/2up

Crown Prince Rudolf's passion for onitology

Influenced by the outstanding team of academics assembled to teach him the crown
the prince early began to show great interest in the natural sciences. Rudolph's passionate enthusiasm
for birds is visible in his early childhood drawings and in his compositions. He wrote his first
a long essay entitled Adlerjagden [Hunting Eagles] at only twelve years of age. The heir to the throne
eventually he published a total of 40 ornithological works that were praised by leading experts
in the area. His most intensive scientific correspondence was with the zoologist Alfred Brehm.
Rudolf constantly combined watching birds in their natural habitat with pleasure
hunt. The specimens thus obtained served him in the research of European species
birds of prey and chickens, that was his special field. These copies are then
exhibited in the ornithological museum he set up in his private apartments in Vienna
Hofburg.
In addition to his passion for ornithology, the heir to the throne was also interested in minerals and rocks
formations. He left his ornithological specimens and mineralogical collections to Natural History
Museum and University of Natural Resources and Biological Sciences.

On March 22, 1876, the Vienna Ornithological Society was founded
not long after, with the publication of the first issue of the association's newsletter. in
In the same year, the heir to the throne became the patron of the association. Rudolf published a total of 18
ornithological essays in the society's newsletter. Like all his anonymously published copies
articles, this essay is marked with an asterisk in the first line of the text.

Crown Prince Rudolf
he was one of the pioneers of bird protection. In recognition of his efforts, he has
The German Bird Protection Association awarded him an honorary diploma on the 6th
December 1882

Marie Valerie of Austria (1868 - 1924) - Photos with personal dedication

Dedication in the shower "In true love - your Valeria." In a gold metallic copper frame of 20 x 17.5 cm. Photos very rare in 20 years of the favorite daughter of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

Rudolf of Habsburg - a fascinating mystery

When we want to talk about Rudolf of Habsburg, we always start there: Mayerling, January 30, 1889, the day when the life of not only one family but of all Europe suddenly changed. Exactly 125 years have passed since the deaths of her only son, Emperor Francis Joseph and Elizabeth, so much so that strange rumors even circulated about an alleged conspiracy against the heir to the throne.

But who was the progeny of the Habsburgs and why was he so dangerous in the eyes of his contemporaries?

Intelligent, refined and insightful as Rudolph appears from early childhood, with traits that come from the Habsburgs yes, but most of them belong to his mother's Wittelsbach branch. The heir to the throne has been assigned an abnormal childhood curriculum that will undermine his physical and even fragile psychological balance.

A profound knowledge of foreign languages, with which he will stand out in his many travels within the realm, but he will increasingly concentrate on the study of natural sciences, especially ornithology, studies which he will never delve into as his father in college will have them lead to a military career. However, life as a "soldier" will not prevent Rudolph from pursuing his passion and preparing some works (the most famous of which is "Fifteen Days on the Danube") that deal in depth with this topic.

Military life, feverish activity as a scholar, as well as "lighter" interests, but they stay away from Rudolph Hofburg's politics, but not intentionally, so as not to lead him to the "control room", only Franz Joseph. He fears and does not trust his son, whom he calls "talkative", he dislikes the circle of friends he surrounds himself with (especially Jews and Freemasons) and criticizes the child's liberal ideas, especially in relation to international and domestic issues. institutional alliances. structure.

Rodolfo, bearing this pain and feeling the great clouds gathering over the Danube monarchy, began to write articles under the pseudonym "Julius Felix" in the newspaper "Wiener Tagsblatt" of his friend Moritz Sepz. Over the years, Rudolph will come under increasing scrutiny from the Taafe police, the prime minister and Viennese police chief Kraus, on suspicion of plotting against the empire itself.

The likeness of the heir to the throne comes faster and faster at the end of the race. At the age of 23 he married the Belgian princess Stephanie, and after the first years of double peace, which culminated in the birth of their only daughter, Elizabeth, he would lead a rather strenuous life and, due to depression, return to his old vices: alcohol and women. After an affair with a gypsy dancer, he contracted gonorrhea and subsequently infected his wife, with the unfortunate result that he could no longer have children.

All this pushes Rudolph more and more into the abyss, and the participants of the disease begin to use morphine. 1888 will be a disastrous year, because despite the sympathy he still enjoys among the subjects of the Empire, Rodolfo will do everything not to despise the Imperial Family, even going so far as to shoot his father while hunting in Murztega. Luckily, shot in the arm, he was a zealous bat contestant, covering his emperor and avoiding that episode's tragic end.

As a result of this incident, Rodolfo will keep a safe distance from his father, who will stop trusting him, and this will further affect his vulnerable personality. So he proposes a suicide pact to the girl once (whore Mitzi Caspar), she flatly refuses and instead contacts the latest lover, Mary Vetsera, he is 30 and she is only 17.

Many "legends" circulate about this case: who speaks of an internal conspiracy (forged by Taafe and conservatives), who follows an international one (German and French), who even absurd family plots (thus the work of Francis Joseph), who think about integrity issues (think of the Baltazzi brothers, the uncles of Maria Vetsera). Even Zita of Bourbon - Parma, the wife of the last emperor Charles I, promised to reveal the truth about the Mayerling affair, but in her many centuries of existence she has not revealed anything.

The truth is ultimately the saddest and most banal. Rodolfo always had a weak character compared to his father, a political vision premature compared to his time and a tendency to depression that was characteristic of his mother's line. Surely temperament and greater consistency, combined with patient waiting, would have prevented the fall of this promising psychological imperial offshoot, and perhaps the course of future events would have been of a different value. But here we (unfortunately) stay in the "maybe" field.

From the site: http://www.quivienna.com/storia-dellaustria/rodolfo-dasburgo-un-affascinante-mistero/

Sissi Empress sad unhappy mother

van Mariateresa Truncellito..

It seems from a fairy tale: the princess is 24 years old and wears a white dress, like a fluffy cloud. Bare back, porcelain hair and an intricate quilt of diamond stars. Tral hand, fan. Look at the amused observer, aware of the suastraordinario of beauty. It is the most famous portrait of Elizabeth of Austria, known to all as Sisi or Sissi in her kingdom. But in the quadropferito of her husband, Emperor Francis Joseph, melancholy appears, dressed in a nightgown and long hair, unusually annodatisul chest, completely unadorned. Who is the real Sissi? The protagonist of the last dellefiaba, how did we describe the three famous RomySchneider films? Or an unhappy and tortured woman, as revealed in the psychobiography of Gabriel Praschl-Bichler (Empress Elizabeth, Thea)? Un'anticonformista, a stiff and ceremonial mother-in-law victim or a proud and moody lady, separated from her children and maritoperché too busy with herself? In search of confirmation or denial, dozens of distortions have spent their lives under a ruthless microscope. Fate approaches her very fast, when she escapes from the games of her childhood. It is the summer of 1853. Sissi is only 15 years old: the girl is very attached to her father, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, Colquale shares his passion for the ancient world, the harp and the circus. Suamadre, Ludovica and his aunt, Archduchess Sofia, mother of the Austrian heir to the throne Franz Joseph, came up with the perfect plan: to meet in Bad Ischl, a charming spa town not far from Salzburg, for the engagement of their favorite sons. However, the choice does not lie with Sissi, but with Lasorella Elena Nene, who has long been preparing for the role of diimperatrice: she is calm, obedient and clearly educatissima. In order not to arouse too much suspicion, Ludovica even takes little Sissy along as a companion. However, the meeting of the two young men is wrong: Nene èagitatissima and "Franzi" think her features are too harsh. Ditutt'altro spirit is the youngest sister, an alien conspiracy. Suaallegria and her confidence struck a chord with the cousin who fell in love with Primavista. Although afraid of the possibility of becoming an empress, fake pure Sissi remains indifferent to Francis Joseph's charm. She is beautiful, young (25 years old) and the most wanted bachelor in Europe. Sissi sadell'amore What he learned from romantic reading: if he would go silascerà in dreams and fantasies for life, let alone 15 years. Almenoall'inizio sincerely reciprocated Franzi's feelings. But Deglianni would make him an impatient husband. And he said: "Pointless institution of marriage. If you sell a fifteen-year-old child, and ungiuramento, you do not understand and cannot get rid of it. " Before the wedding, Sissi was subjected to a complicated ceremonial rigidoprendistato Spanish court Asburgica Dopotutto is "only" a daughter-duke, not a descendant of the Usovereign. He is very handsome, yes, but he has yellow teeth: so you must learn to recognize his smile. His mood deteriorates and he always feels piùmalinconica. On April 24, 1854, the Church of the Augustinians in Dirosso was decorated and lit with 15,000 candles. Sissi wears a white dress, constrascico, stitched in gold and silver. On his head is a crown, donodell'arciduchesa Sofia, and on his chest is a bouquet of white roses. She is pale and tries not to look back. "Yes" is just a whisper. The next morning a nasty surprise awaits: breakfast on the table is not only romantically prepared for two. Mother-in-law is also among those present. Years later, Sissi would be remembered as a "terrible experience". We know from the stories of Franzi's mother that the marriage was only consummated on the third night. Elisabettaè very modest. Long festivities require hearings, presentations and dinners. Wherever she is received with much love and enthusiasm. But she felt uneasy, watched by a thousand curious eyes. The court does not like life. She misses the family inspection, the letter contact that will last forever. Francis Joseph is semperoccupato to rule the realm. And it all belongs to Archduchess Sophie, who only criticizes nonfa. If only you could gallop with the horses you love... But you can't for safety reasons: Sissi devemuoversi always with the ladies of the society she has chosen as her mother-in-law. Percontrastare boredom, is dedicated to the study of language and literature and poetry. From time to time, the Court invites you into his family: like SorellinaMaria, with whom he secretly lies barefoot at night on the carpet of the Hofburg afumara. The conflict with the mother-in-law worsens with the birth of the dellaprimogenita. Sofia's grandmother thinks that the seventeen-year-old daughter is not ready to deal with her daughter's upbringing. Thus, he takes the newborn and his apartments with him. The same will happen next year, with the born diGisella, and later with the heir to the throne, Rudolf. However, all biographers agree on DiSissi's maternal instinct: according to some, it only bothers the oderedei babies, while in her memoirs, Empress Mariariferi's niece makes this statement: "Children are mothers because they destroy their beauty, when this is the only and unrepeatable gift that God gives us." In 1857, when little Sophia was seriously ill, Sissi decided to accompany her husband on a trip to Hungary, which they loved very much. They return at the end of the planned tour, only to help at the death of the child. Perhaps even later. In 1860, the first independent flight took place: Sissi is upset, iconflitti mother-in-law more and more often. Weakened by the three parts of the inquattro year, it would spend the winter in the warm part of the Mediterranean voltadel: Madeira, Cadiz, Seville, Gibraltar, Majorca, Malta and Corfù Salvo a quick return, it will be almost two years later returned to Vienna In her writings, Sissi accuses her mother-in-law of averlesottratto children. But will she rock Europe, let alone months? Only in the face of primary education, Chegli Rudolph Habsburg, who is not yet 6 years old, communicates with Elisabettaannuncia who wants to occupy him personally. But after a few weeks, Edi is back on the road. Much to the chagrin of the child. Besides travelling, poetry and the occult (the empress claimed to have contact with mediums such as Heinrich Heine colpoeta), Sissi seeks refuge in the misery within herself. Especially in the obsessive care of her legendary beauty. You are five feet tall, weigh 48 pounds, and have a waist size of only 22 inches. Perottenerla sleeps at night with a wet towel wrapped around her waist and wears a digiorno bust that requires an hour of hard work to make up for a tight alpunto. To emphasize the silhouette, do not just sew clothes addosso.Ma: it is intended for strenuous rides and long walks. Practice fencing and a few hours a day. Treora's dedication to long golden brown hair, under the care of Franziska Feifalik, the hairdresser has become such an intimate opportunity to replace the official one that can only be seen from afar. Sissi eats very little, sometimes nothing. But he likes lacioccolata, cream cakes, ice cream and champagne. Allagolosità when you get out you can enjoy the company of brothers. But in the preparation of aquesti gatherings, every diet is experienced for weight loss: cold milk, raw eggs, tokaj wine, vegetable soup, raw beef. Mark on undiario measures vital, take several times a day, and every gram of pesoperso. The legend even eats while sitting on a scale. Apply a horsemeat and strawberry mask to the pierced skin and take warm baths in olive oil. When driving, wear three pairs of overlapping gloves to avoid damaging your hands. Court Sissi is not very popular: she shows little, avoids iricevimente, speaks only in Hungarian, because she replaced all ladies with Austrian dicompagni titled Noblewomen eat or not. Like Ida von Ferenczy and Countess Maria von Festetics and niece Maria Larisch-Wallersee, daughter of his brother Luigi, an actress, so the rank of "inferior". He often goes shopping with them incognito, Maanche swims in the sea, against every principle of decency. Questaemicizie women, together with the custom of collecting portraits and photographs of dibelle women of different nationalities, would cast more than doubt that the biographer Sissi was a lesbian. Rather, it is a fact that these relationships never cross the boundaries of friendship. As beautiful as she is, Elizabeth likes to play with the feelings of countless suitors. Among other things, he receives the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, one evening in his lace dressing gown. But when he goes to the Piùardite advances, the Empress, who was the first to agree to the joke, loudly calls his niece Maria. You just wrote: "Erainnamorata love. He enjoyed the adoration of men in tribute to his beauty. But his enthusiasm never lasted long: suasensibilità was too contrived to captivate the senses." Digrande's importance, however, is its link with Count Gyula Andrássy, who follow the Hungarian thing lacoin. Beautiful, attractive, with a remarkable temperament, she falls in love with the Empress. During their stay in Hungary, the two spent a lot of time together, although historians believe that the larelazione never crossed the line of decency. Franjo Josip (although known to not hesitate in aimbar adventures) grants every whim. In his numerous letters, Nonfa repeated his love and begged her to return to Vienna. Nell'estate 1866, during the battle of Sadowa, where the Imperial troops were defeated by the Prussians, calls for his presence. Sissi agrees, but the meeting is unsuccessful. He writes: "Come back soon, because although stataparecchio is bad and boring this time, I love you infinitely so that I cannot survive without you." Only through the mediation of his wife, Francis of Hungary Giuseppefinisce to satisfy the pursuit of equal dignity with Austria, did he and Sissy also become King and Queen of Hungary in 1867. For some biographers, the Empress' subsequent pregnancy was a "reward" for the Emperor. However, it is rumored that Count Andrassy will get paternity. Sissy decides to give birth to their Maria Valerija in Hungary in 1868. The youngest will be figliaprediletta, the only one to take Sissi on her travels. In the mid-1980s, Sissi poesiel'esaurirsi denounced her love for the emperor. But she mostly wanted to be left alone. The servant Franz Joseph Eugen Ketterl said: "If the Emperor was without the Empress's preavvisonelle chamber, the staff explained that she was still asleep. Instead, the famous lady was not infrequently already in the mountains, the daiquali only fell in the to put away." In the evening: and tired, he was less than ever ready to treat himself with the emperor. It often happened that he tried in vain to stay ten days later.' At some point, Sissi, perhaps overcome with remorse, decides to leave pleasant company to the Emperor and arranges a meeting with actress Katharine Schratt. Their loving friendship lasted through Lavita. In 1873 daughter Gisella gives birth to a child: anniSissi becomes a grandmother at the age of 37. The age of terrorrizz: in public she starts a nascondereil face with veils or blue with a fan. Deep wrinkles are unusual for the family: he discovers the photos taken at the Sorellee mother. And Count Alfons Clary-Aldringen, who said to Sissi as a child: "Since there was no adult around, the Empress did not open her fan. We smiled ... due to a cold shower for me: what I saw was the face that seemed vecchissimoe full of wrinkles." No one caught the rumble, the tragedy: in 1889, in Mayerling, the heir to the throne Rudolf Maria Vetsera kills her lover and commits suicide. Although mentally unstable from childhood, the dittoall'alcohol and morphine for Sissi - echoing the ignorant appellidella daughter, Princess Stephanie - mature and responsible, Soloun was a bit "rebel". Like you. The Empress falls victim to remorse and deep depression: she stops writing poetry and searches for anything but black, meets the Empress only briefly, between outings and more. Until he was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist on September 10, 1898 while walking along Lake Geneva. "He only lived for his dreams," Elizabeth of Austria said she loved Achilles, the mythical Greek hero protagonistdella of her musings. But these words also apply to her.

From the site: http://www.truncellito.com/2001/sissi-grace-kelly

Parents Augustus from the impressions of the "favorite daughter" Sissi: Maria Valerija.

CONFESSIONS The diaries of "Archduchess Marie Valerie, the favorite daughter of Elizabeth and Francis Joseph, reveal" the intimacy of the tortured and tragic Imperial couple "May God forgive my mother Sissi". Private document, but also the portrait of the naked mother "wears death tirelessly." "My father Franjo Joseph hugged me and cried"
CONFESSIONS The diaries of "Archduchess Marie Valerie, favorite daughter of Elisabeth and Franz Joseph, reveal" the intimacy of the Imperial couple, tortured and tragic HABSBURG, God forgive my mother Sissi Franz Joseph and Elisabeth d'Austria close to them. Rather up close: captured in 'an intimate imperial still life as in a daguerreotype' in moments of 'joy or despair'. The early diary of their beloved daughter Marija Valerija, the fourth child, at first glance reminds the audience of the unforgettable sigh that beckoned the young ladies of a good family. Only, instead of dried flowers or old theater tickets, you find notes like: "Mom is always more oppressed. His fate is harder to bear when she is with Papa. The sacrifice of their union loses more and more meaning." , about the poem of the 'famous father': 'When you put on the sheet, his eyes were full of tears. Then I jumped up and kissed his hand, but he pulled it violently towards him. I took courage and grabbed his head and kissed it as many times as I wanted, but I never dared. I was ashamed of the 'shame of novelty, but I think he did a good job...' There are itchy revelations, unpublished scandals or embarrassing vices in the anthology 'Archduchess Maria Valeria today sees the light in Italian (La favorite , the diary of his daughter Sissi (Mgs Press) It has quite a taste of everyday life, if only two icons of "imaginary Central Europe" on "the prefabricated altar of piety (or" the opposite of contempt ') are taken away. He, Franz Joseph, appears as a kindly grandfather and deranged father, ready to roll on the ground and be dragged by famous pets, just to entertain his granddaughter, but he is unable to communicate with Maria Valeria as soon as it emerges from the "full" and mature feminine personality of the child.It is as if the same instinctive amazement that paralyzes him in the face of his wife's enigmatic personality prevents him from confiding in his former favorite girl: so that she feels depressed every time she meets and finds time to let him go, except that you keep hoping for a future spiritual communion with him. Like Sissi, the special relationship with her favorite daughter is the real leitmotif of the latter diary, but also serves as the background for the dark and tragic portrait of the Empress: obsessed with the need to travel to escape her duties at court . and hated those incomprehensible metaphysical matrimonials haunted by ghosts and conjectures of "the existence of an evil persecution god, hostile to all human happiness; sensitive to poetry and partly to much of the Byron myth that a ghost dreams of him at night and builds a torso villa in Corfu; ruthlessly drawn to death, consciously fed on rides and countless sea crossings, touched at the time of the suicide of his son Rudolf in Mayerling, and finally reached the shores of Lake Geneva, in the hands of terrorists. Faced with the thickness of the two legendary protagonists, the diarist can only aspire to the role of appearance: a simple and naive girl in the years 1878-83, she has undergone several changes into a sturdy, young, restless, passionate girl and a teenager. finally, the devoted wife of Francesco Salvatore, the Grand Duke of Tuscany; it therefore develops without a real understanding of the political significance of what is happening around it. Grasp, on the other hand, with increasing clairvoyance, that "accumulation of unspoken feelings and unresolved personal relations with the intent to destroy the parents' marriage and to result in the long run in tragedy not only for the Habsburgs, but also for their survival. as a multinational Austria-Hungary. It is almost as if the harbinger of all that dark world is reflected in the microcosm of Maria Valerija. So the two magnificent parents were seen up close, perhaps too much so that their resulting contours distorted the eccentricity of the perspective. Breakthrough emotional, diary, coincides with the year 1889, one of Rudolf's mysterious suicides in Mayerling: from then on, in Valeria's eyes, the misunderstandings between Franz Joseph and Sissi are deep, irreparable, while the girl begins to understand that even the De Imperial Princess has the power to turn back time, and that the "family harmony we imagined in our childhood will never be achieved." Instead before his eyes the indecipherable mental and physical illness of the mother develops, increasingly convinced of the "wrongs of birth, subject to a distant and cruel god whom she continually calls Jehovah, unable to explain give for the physical suffering'. that is the torment and misery of her own fate. The diary of 12 May 1898 records Sissi's bitter thoughts: "Oh yes, I believe in God - so much misfortune and suffering cannot be the result of chance. He is powerful, frighteningly powerful and cruel - but I am not." complain more." And a month later, on June 17: "I am not afraid to die, because I do not want to believe that there exists an 'entity so cruel that it does not accept the suffering of life and also the soul 'tears' from the body, to continue torturing.” But Maria Valerije also sees happy moments in the memories, such as when the “Emperor of August”, “a former employee of “Austro-Hungary”, works tirelessly at his desk and his lover permits daughter to share with him these moments of quiet devotion to duty, or when he agrees to play with her grandson Ella and bring her into the room, except to leave her horrified on the day when he appears at the imperial coin, a dragon's head. Other pages of the diary, such as those detailing the deaths of his brother Rodolfo and his mother, are the ones that remain in memory. The notes of "Archduchess Valeria, a fragile girl destined to survive the catastrophe for six years" of Austria-Hungary, two symbolic characters return to their very different humanity. Timeless in his archaic, feudal sense of duty, the inimitable Sissi Emperor Francis Joseph, distinctly modern in his neuroses, idiosyncrasies and foibles. Yet, in opposing ways, both seem to speak more than other sensibilities, even the imagination of generations, about the concept of the Central European home for orphans MURDER NEWS "My father Franjo Josip hugged me and cried" publish an excerpt from "Miljenik, the diary of his daughter Sissi" by the Habsburg Maria Valerija, published by Mgs Press (Tel 040.44968, pages 304, £32,000) on September 10, 1898. At 6:30 in the evening we returned from the trip with Mary to our poor . .. supper ... then I went with the big three to pray in the chapel. Mary came with us "She wasn't paying attention, I didn't notice her expression was upset. I was more intimate than usual... Maria invited me into his office, he had to tell me something. I was still thinking to a little domestic problem, but when I looked my heart stopped." Archduke?" "No - His Majesty." I don't know if there were any more questions or if all I could say was the word "Death" to me in the corridor or already in the room: "He was killed by an Italian anarchist - died in a hotel in Geneva. I don't know. My hand still trembles when I think of that time... Regret that he never has returned to his great love and because of everything... growing stronger and stronger 'unspeakable passion for him, poor old father, bent with grief and sorrow... Papa is stood at the foot of the grand staircase of Schönbrunn and we held hands And he could cry for the first time, he told me later, but even then he was still shocked. And soon after, Rodolfo's death vanished again, just like then. We went to Sunday mass together, and after that I was able to spend this day with him almost constantly, sitting at his desk, working as usual... It seems that father immediately thought of the attack, even if it was repeated several times . time. : "How can you kill a woman who has never hurt anyone?" Fertilio Dario Page 33 (April 26, 2001) - CNN

From the page http://archiviistorico.corriere.it/2001/aprile/26/ASBURGO_Dio_perdoni_mia_madre_co_0_010426361.shtml

Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria

Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria (22 April 1868 – 6 September 1924) was the fourth and last child of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and Elizabeth of Bavaria ("Sisi"). Her name was Marie Valerie Mathilde Amalie, but she was usually called Valerie.

Early life

Princess Marie Valerie was born in Ofen (Budapest), Hungary. The Empress Elizabeth was especially fond of Valeria, who was born ten years after the Imperial couple's third child and was allowed to raise alone, unlike her first three children who were taken from her at a young age and raised by the Emperor's mother . Archduchess Sophia. Sophie herself wrote to Elisabeth's mother Ludovica: "Sisi is completely absorbed in her love and care for this irresistible little angel."

She was by far Elisabeth's favorite child, and some courtiers harshly referred to her as "Die Einzige" ("The Only Child") because Elisabeth paid much more attention to her than to her siblings. Valerie loved her mother, but according to her diaries, she often felt embarrassed and overwhelmed by Elisabeth's attention to her, especially as she herself was modest and practical in nature.

Another nickname of Valeria was the "Hungarian Child," because her birth was a concession from Elizabeth, who disliked physical intimacy and pregnancy, in exchange for Francis Joseph's reconciliation with Hungary, her most beloved part of the empire. This process culminated in their joint coronation in Budapest on 8 June 1867 as King and Queen of Hungary. Just over nine months later, Valerie was born.

Elisabeth deliberately chose Hungary as the birthplace of her child; For centuries no royal child was born in Hungary. If Valerie had been a boy, she would have been named Stephan after the canonized Hungarian king and patron saint. According to historian Brigitte Hamann, the Hungarian queen's boy in Budapest castle is said to hint at the possibility that he might one day become her king, separating Hungary from the Austrian Empire, and there was general relief at the Viennese court that Valerie a girl.

Malicious rumors suggested that Valerie was actually the daughter of Elisabeth's friend and admirer Gyula Andrassy, ​​the Hungarian Prime Minister. This stuck in Valerie's childhood and hurt her deeply. Physically, however, she was more like Francis Joseph than any of her siblings, especially as she got older, and eventually the rumors stopped. However, due to the atmosphere they created, Valerie developed a lifelong antipathy to anything related to Hungary, exacerbated by Elisabeth's insistence that she only speak Hungarian to her. She was happy when she was allowed to speak German with her father, whom she adored. In addition, she spoke fluent English, French and Italian, loved to write plays and poems, and was a talented amateur artist who was especially fond of painting flowers. She was a strong supporter of Vienna's Burgtheater and attended its productions as often as possible.

Lack
Franz Salvator and Marie Valerie In Ischl, Valerie married her first cousin, Archduke Franz Salvator, on July 31, 1890. They met at a ball in 1886, but Valerie waited several years to make sure her feelings for Franz Salvatore were strong enough for a successful marriage. Many at court hoped that she would marry someone like the Crown Prince of Saxony or the Duke of Braganza, and Prince Alfons of Bavaria would also court her. However, Elisabeth stated that Valerie could even marry a chimney sweep if she set her heart on it (unlike her other children, who both had to enter a dynastic marriage). Valerie chose Franz-Salvator for love, a relatively small prince from the Tuscan branch of the Austrian imperial family who had no great wealth to offer, and Elisabeth, as she had promised, supported her favorite daughter. For a time this caused a deep rift between Valerie and her sister and heir to the throne brother Rudolf, but eventually Rudolf reconciled with the marriage when Valerie and Franz became engaged on Christmas Day 1888.

Valeria's solemn renunciation of her rights to the Austrian throne, which was necessary for marriage, took place on July 16, 1890 in Hermesvilla. The solemn wedding of the young couple took place on July 31 in the parish church in Bad Ischl. The ceremony was presided over by the Bishop of Linz, Franz Maria Doppelbauer. Then Valerie and Franz went on their honeymoon to Italy, Switzerland and Bavaria.

Children of Marie Valerie and Franz Salvator had 10 children:

Name Birth Death notes
Elisabeth Franziska "Ella" January 27, 1892. On January 29, 1930 she married Count Georg of Waldburg-Zeil-Trauchburg, had issue.
Franz Karl Salvator on February 17, 1893. On December 12, 1918, he died unmarried of the Spanish flu.
Hubert Salvator on April 30, 1894. On March 24, 1971, he married Princess Rosemary of Salm-Salm and had descendants.
Hedwig on September 24, 1896. On November 1, 1970 she married Count Bernard van Stolberg-Stolberg and had descendants.
Theodor Salvator on October 9, 1899. On April 8, 1978, he married Countess Maria Theresa of Waldburg-Zeil-Trauchburg and married.
Gertrud on November 19, 1900. On December 20, 1962, she married Count Georg of Waldburg-Zeil-Trauchburg, the widower of her sister Elisabeth, whom she married.
Maria Elisabeth 19 November 1901 29 December 1936 died unmarried.
Clemens Salvator on October 6, 1904. On August 20, 1974, he married Countess Elisabeth Rességuier de Miremont, took the title of Prince of Altenburg and had descendants.
Mathilde on August 9, 1906. On October 18, 1991 she married Ernst Hefel, unmarried.
Agnes on June 26, 1911. On June 26, 1911, she died at the age of eight.

Later life

Initially, Valerie and Franz lived in Schloss Lichtenegg (Lichtenegg Palace). On June 11, 1895, the couple purchased Schloss Wallsee (Wallsee Palace) on the Danube from its then owner, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Goth, and completely renovated it. When the renovation was completed, a ceremony was held on September 4, 1897 to mark their move into the new palace. Due to Valerie's popularity, there was a big party in Wallsee.

She was known and loved for her generous involvement in local charitable endeavors. In 1900 she became a patron of the Red Cross, for which she established hospitals and raised considerable funds; she was also a patron of seven other charities. During the First World War, she built a hospital barrack in the castle itself and helped care for the wounded. She was a devout Catholic who also spent much of her time supporting religious charities and was known among the people as the "Angel of Waldsee". She was also a Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross.

Valerie was deeply affected by the suicide of her brother Rudolf on 30 January 1889 and the murder of her mother Elisabeth in September 1898. She and her sister Gisela were a great support to their father after these tragedies.

Although Valerie and Franz's marriage was initially harmonious, over time this deteriorated. Franz had many affairs, including one with Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe (1891–1972), who was later known as "Hitler's Spy Princess" for her espionage activities before and during World War II. In 1914 she gave birth with him to a son Franja Josip, whom he recognized as his own while Valerie was still alive. Valerie endured these blows stoically, trusting only her diary.

After the end of World War I, Valerie officially recognized the end of the Habsburg Monarchy and signed documents renouncing all rights to it for herself and her descendants. The exemption allowed her to keep her home and property.

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Valerie died of lymphoma on September 6, 1924 in Schloss Wallsee. Shortly before her death, her sister Gisela wrote in a letter: “I must add that I saw Valerie — fully conscious, fully aware of her condition, and so reverently accepting, and even joyfully anticipating her imminent departure, that I believe that an unexpected recovery would occur. actually let her down." She was buried in the crypt behind the main altar at the parish church in Sindelburg, Austria. Several thousand people followed her coffin to the resting place.

On April 28, 1934, ten years after Valerie's death, Franz married Freiin (a title equivalent to "Baroness") Melanie von Riesenfels (September 20, 1898 – November 10, 1984) for the second time. This was a morganatic marriage; the wedding took place in Vienna. The couple met after Valerie's death at Melania's home, Seisenegg Palace, where she lived with her sisters Maria Anna and Johanna. After the wedding, the couple lived in Seisenegg.

Franz Salvator died on April 20, 1939 in Vienna.

The Mária Valéria Bridge connects Esztergom u Mađarskoj and Štúrovo u Sloveniaj, across the Dunav River, opened in 1895. It is named after Marie Valerie.

I http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduchess_Marie_Valerie_of_Austria

Telegram about M.ValerieIschl, September 25, 1896, printed form of the Bureau of Imperial-Royal Telegrams.
"Valerie healthy and fresh. The youngest very strong. The other three very mature. Early morning rain, 5 degrees, now sunshine. Elisabeth"
Franz: I just received, sent ... 1000 kisses heart FJ

Gisella of Habsburg-Lorraine: Sisi's forgotten daughter