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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Thousands Mourn Last Heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Otto Von Habsburg

Thousands of mourners, many in regalia suggesting a bygone age, joined European royalty for the funeral of Archduke Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary.



Royals including the King and Queen of Sweden mingled with Tyrolean rifleman in full ceremonial dress inside Vienna’s St. Stephen's Cathedral.

In the cobbled square outside, thousands crowded round large screens to watch the funeral on Saturday of a man who had been exiled from Austria for nearly 50 years, from 1918 to 1966.

The colourful costumes and plumed helmets reflected the imperial majesty into which von Habsburg, who died on July 4 aged 98, had been born.

The eldest son of Charles I, the last Austrian emperor, he was born in November 1912, less than two years before the start of the First World War which was to lead to the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

His title at birth was ‘His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke and Prince Imperial Otto of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary’. He was baptised Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xavier Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius.

He became Crown Prince when his father ascended to the throne In November 1916.

In 1918, however, defeat in the First World War led to the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and forced von Habsburg’s family into exile.

The family were in Madeira in 1922 when Charles died prematurely, leading Otto’s mother, the Empress Dowager Zita, to tell the nine-year old, "your father is sleeping the eternal sleep—you are now Emperor and King"

It was, however, not until October 1966, after very reluctantly renouncing all claims to the throne, that he was allowed to set foot once more on Austrian soil.

Von Habsburg will be interred in the imperial crypt in Vienna where dozens of his ancestors lie. In accordance with his personal wishes and Habsburg tradition, however, his heart will be buried in the Abbey of Pannonhalma, in western Hungary.

Austrian magazines packed their pages with stories on the Habsburg dynasty this week. Some, though, were gently mocking about the outpouring of emotion, with the cultural weekly Falter writing: "The little state of Austria is suffering from the empty feeling of once having been the crown jewel of a huge empire."

While in exile, von Habsburg strongly opposed the 1938 Anschluss of Austria to Hitler’s Germany, and was sentenced to death in absentia by the Nazis. Only in 1965 was Hitler’s revocation of his Austrian citizenship finally reversed.

A long time resident of Bavaria, Germany, he was married to Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen from 1951 until her death last year.

Von Habsburg was an early supporter of European union. He was president of the International Paneuropean Union from 1973 to 2004, and an MEP from 1979 to 1999.

In 1989 he was instrumental in organising the ‘Pan-European Picnic’ at the Hungary-Austria border, an event often considered to have helped hasten the collapse of Communist dictatorships in eastern Europe.

In July 2007, von Habsburg received the Freedom of the City of London.

According to a spokesman, he died “peacefully and without pain in his sleep” at his home in Pöcking, Bavaria. He is survived by his younger brother Felix, as well as seven children, 22 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

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