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73-593: The Imperial Treasury is divided into two collections: the secular collection and the ecclesiastical collection. The secular collection contains numerous imperial artifacts from the House of Habsburg, including jewels and precious stones that due to their unique size could not be fitted into the imperial crowns. Like all secular treasuries, it was designed to attest to the political power and geographical reach of their owners. The ecclesiastical collection contains numerous religious treasures, including relics and objects ascribed to

146-708: A Member of the European Parliament for the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). As a newly elected Member of the European Parliament in 1979, Otto took a strong interest in the countries behind the Iron Curtain, and had an empty chair set up in the European Parliament to symbolize their absence. Otto von Habsburg played a notable role in the revolutions of 1989 as a co-initiator of the Pan-European Picnic . Later, he

219-549: A certain mutual incomprehension. Until then, the United States felt itself secure, persuaded of its power to bombard any enemy, without anyone being able to strike back. That sentiment vanished in an instant. Americans understand viscerally for the first time the risks they face." He was known as a supporter of the rights of refugees and displaced people in Europe, notably of the ethnic Germans displaced from Bohemia where he

292-560: A comprehensive array of coats of arms of Italian nobility, filling fifteen volumes, for Fugger's library. A suite of drawings of ancient coins, that Strada did for Fugger, has found its way into Duke Albrecht's collection and is preserved at Gotha . In 1544 he wed Grafin Ottilia Schenk von Roßberg in Lyon. He moved to Nuremberg in 1546, where he was granted the city's freedom as a goldsmith in 1549. In 1556 he moved to Vienna, taking

365-614: A fierce opponent of Nazism , nationalism , and communism . He has been described as one of the leaders of the Austrian Resistance . After the 1938 Anschluss , he was sentenced to death by the Nazis and fled Europe to the United States. Otto von Habsburg was Vice President (1957–1973) and President (1973–2004) of the International Paneuropean Union movement. From 1979 to 1999, he served as

438-658: A friend to leave the country. Otto left, and lived from 1940 to 1944 in Washington, D.C. In 1941, Hitler personally revoked the citizenship of Otto, his mother and his siblings, and the imperial-royal family found themselves stateless . Otto was listed on the Nazi Sonderfahndungsliste G.B. ("Special Search List Great Britain"), and was the unofficial head of numerous resistance groups in Central Europe. These groups hated Nazi ideology and saw

511-552: A heavy burden on me. I accept it readily. God willing, the hour of reunion between the Duke and the people will arrive soon. He continued to enjoy considerable public support in Austria; from 1931 to 1938, 1,603 Austrian municipalities named Otto an honorary citizen. John Gunther believed that Zita was less popular among Austrians, however, writing in 1936 that "restoration would be a good deal closer if Otto's return would not mean also

584-713: A house that still stands, now Bankgasse 12, and putting his antiquarian knowledge at the disposal of the Habsburg court, and rewarded with the care of the imperial treasury . He worked as architect to Ferdinand I in the ongoing construction of the Hofburg . In December 1566 he journeyed to Albrecht's court in Munich , to oversee the Antiquarium planned in conjunction and competition with Fugger, returning to Vienna in 1568. For Schloss Bučovice near Brünn he provided plans for

657-483: A nobleman offers God his soul, represented as a naked baby. However, in his "expensive den", Strada makes a very different offer to a client: "He manhandles a Venus , whose pudica gesture is wittily cancelled out by his hand clamped on her breast. As a shady character, he has an exceptionally heavy chiaroscuro on his face. His crowning achievement, his works on numismatics (a mixture of erudition and nonsense) are significantly placed above his head. His social ambition

730-575: A passport and was effectively stateless, he was given a passport of the Principality of Monaco, thanks to the intervention of Charles de Gaulle in 1946. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta , of which he was a knight, also issued him a diplomatic passport . Later, he was also issued a Spanish diplomatic passport. On 8 May 1956, Otto was recognized as an Austrian citizen by the provincial government of Lower Austria . The Austrian Interior Ministry approved this declaration of citizenship, but on

803-599: A restoration of Austria-Hungary, but Joseph Stalin put an end to these plans. Otto lobbied for the recognition of an Austrian government-in-exile, for the rights of the German-speaking population of South Tyrol , against the deportation of the German-speaking inhabitants of Bohemia and eastern Europe, and against letting Stalin rule Eastern Europe. At the end of the war, Otto returned to Europe and lived for several years in France and Spain. As he did not possess

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876-466: A result, on 1 November, by verbal order of Emperor Charles I , jewels were to be removed from the treasury and taken to Switzerland. The Court Office Director ( Hofamtsdirektor ) Wilhelm von Weckbecker, who was responsible for the treasuries, and treasurer Ulreich handed over to the Lord Chamberlain ( Oberstkämmerer ) Count Leopold Berchtold not only Empress Zita 's private jewellery, but also

949-466: Is divided into two sections - secular and ecclesiastical. The secular museum contains a collection of royal objects: On display are various valuable gems, including one of the world's largest emeralds. Part of the treasury are also the crown of the Transylvanian prince Stephen Bocskay and the two "inalienable heirlooms of the House of Austria": a giant narwhal tooth which was thought to be

1022-463: Is emphasised by Titian's late decision to double the loops of his chain." He quit Albrecht's service about 1570. During 1571–1574 he compiled a catalogue of the surviving literature of Antiquity and compiled a lexicon. In 1574 his wife Ottilia died. At the end of the year, 27 December, he was accorded noble status. He demolished and rebuilt his dwelling, which housed his library of 3,000 volumes and his Kunstkammer . There he lived until his death,

1095-658: Is now sleeping the eternal sleep—you are now Emperor and King". The family eventually relocated to the Basque town of Lekeitio , where forty Spanish grandees bought them a villa. Meanwhile, the Austrian parliament had officially expelled the Habsburg dynasty and confiscated all the official property via the Habsburg Law of 3 April 1919. Charles was banned from ever returning to Austria again, while Otto and other male members could return only if they renounced all claims to

1168-889: Is supposed to have received early training as a goldsmith in the Mantua workshops of Giulio Romano ; drawings of Giulio's Palazzo del Tè and of its painted interiors and those of the Palazzo Ducale at Mantua, datable 1567-68, are attributed to Jacopo Strada, intended for his Descrizione di tutta Italia . From 1552 to 1555 he sojourned in Lyon and travelled to Rome in the service of Pope Paul III , and after his death his successor Marcellus II , upon whose sudden death he returned north. From 1556 onwards he settled at Vienna and from 1576 served as an official artist and architect to three successive Habsburg Holy Roman emperors , Ferdinand I , Maximilian II and Rudolph II . He also worked for Albert V, Duke of Bavaria , for whom he conceived

1241-812: The Antiquarium to house the antiquities at the Munich Residenz ; the Roman sculptures that he assembled for the Duke may still be seen in the setting he devised there. He also served as the friend and trusted agent of the Augsburg patrician, humanist and book-collector, and a friend and advisor of Albrecht, the immensely rich Jakob Fugger (1516–1557), for whom he scouted works of art in Italy from his headquarters in Mantua. On Fugger's commission he assembled

1314-617: The European Parliament for the conservative Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) party, eventually becoming the senior member of the European Parliament. He was also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society . He was a major supporter of the expansion of the European Union from the beginning and especially of the acceptance of Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. During his time in the European Parliament, he

1387-711: The Gestapo and sent to Dachau concentration camp where they remained throughout Nazi rule. Otto was involved in helping around 15,000 Austrians, including thousands of Austrian Jews, flee the country at the beginning of the Second World War. After the German invasion of France in 1940, the family left the French capital and fled to Portugal. On 12 June the Portuguese ruler António Salazar issued instructions to

1460-534: The Paneuropean Union . Otto's public advocacy for the weekly Junge Freiheit which was affiliated with the Neue Rechte , and for which he repeatedly made himself available as an interviewee, was met with criticism. As the first to sign two petitions initiated by the editors, he campaigned in 2002 against the background of a legal dispute against the then constitutional protection categorization of

1533-639: The World Vision donation affair with the Nazi persecution of the Jews: Karl is attacked because he bears the certain yellow star, the name Habsburg. ... The poor Jews went through terrible things. I often think of her in this context. Karl Habsburg's EU election campaign for the ÖVP in 1996 was partly financed - according to Habsburg without his knowledge - with donations from the aid organization World Vision Austria that were embezzled and diverted to

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1606-501: The 1960s in the course of the "Habsburg Crisis" on the occasion of the return of the heir to the throne Otto von Habsburg to Austria. To this day, the circumstances surrounding the crown jewels is discussed in publications. Several versions of the fate of the jewels exist. The original display case XIII was recently identified again in the Imperial Furniture Collection , as were the empty cases left behind in

1679-593: The Habsburg-Lorraine family jewellery from display cases XII and XIII ( Vitrine XIII ) of the Secular Treasury. Packed in two bags Count Berchtold transported the jewels, some in cases, some only wrapped in paper, abroad by train the same night. The documents list 14 precious objects from Empress Zita's private property and 39 objects belonging to the historical Habsburg-Lorraine household treasure, such as orders, crowns, pearls and diamonds. Among

1752-516: The House of Habsburg were confiscated. It was not returned after the war. The so-called " Habsburg Law ", which had previously been repealed, was reintroduced by the Nazis. Otto's supporters, the leaders of the Austrian legitimist movement, were arrested by the Nazis and largely executed ( Stefan Zweig 's novella The Royal Game is based on these events). Otto's cousins Max, Duke of Hohenberg , and Prince Ernst of Hohenberg were arrested in Vienna by

1825-561: The Nazis. Among them was Karl Burian , who was planning to blow up the Gestapo headquarters in Vienna, or Dr. Heinrich Maier , who passed on plans and production facilities for V-2 rockets , Tiger tanks and Messerschmitt airplanes to the Allies. In contrast to many other German resistance groups, the Maier group was informed very early about the mass murder of Jews through its contacts with

1898-515: The Portuguese consulates in France to provide Infanta Maria Antónia of Portugal with Portuguese passports which would allow visas for her daughter Empress Zita and grandson Otto without violating Portuguese neutrality. The family resided in Cascais during their exodus. When the German authorities pressed Salazar for Otto's extradition from Portugal, Salazar offered to protect Otto, but asked him as

1971-733: The Semperit factory near Auschwitz. During his wartime exile in the United States, Otto and his younger brothers were in direct contact with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the federal government. His efforts to create an "Austrian Battalion" in the United States Army were delayed and never implemented. However, he successfully convinced the U.S. to halt or limit the bombardment of Austrian cities, especially Vienna; due to this influence, bombardments on Vienna were delayed until 1943. Otto greatly desired Austria to be free, independent and democratic; he expressed concern that after

2044-478: The Treasury. 48°12′24″N 16°21′56″E  /  48.20667°N 16.36556°E  / 48.20667; 16.36556 Jacopo Strada Jacopo Strada ( Mantua , 1507 – Prague 1588) was an Italian polymath courtier, painter, architect, goldsmith, inventor of machines, numismatist , linguist, collector, and merchant of works of art. His portrait by Titian has kept his image familiar. He

2117-483: The attempt failed. Another deal was hatched with Titian while the negotiations proceeded; Strada was to authenticate for the Emperor Maximilian studio repetitions of works that Titian had painted for Philip II of Spain as originals from the hand of the master himself. In return Titian was to paint Strada's portrait, and to receive a fur from him; perhaps the one that seems to be falling from his shoulders in

2190-534: The condition that he accept the name Dr. Otto Habsburg-Lothringen, on 8 February 1957. However, this only entitled him to a passport "valid in every country but Austria". Otto had already submitted a written statement, on 21 February 1958, that he and his family would renounce all former personal privileges of the House of Habsburg, but this did not satisfy the requirements of the Habsburg Law , which stated that Otto and other descendants of Charles could only return to Austria if they renounced all royal claims and accepted

2263-524: The country, particularly the Socialists , were ill-disposed to welcoming back the heir of the deposed dynasty. This touched off political infighting and civil unrest that almost precipitated a crisis of state, and later became known as the "Habsburg Crisis". It was only on 1 June 1966, after the People's Party won an outright majority in the national election, that Otto was issued an Austrian passport, and

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2336-638: The dissolution of parliament and the ban on parties and trade unions: "When it comes to the country, I'm ready for anything." On the 2008 anniversary of the Anschluss , Otto von Habsburg made a statement as part of his "1938 Remembrance Day" address before Parliament that "there is no country in Europe that has a better claim to be a victim of the Nazis than Austria ". Although his speech received an ovation, this received public protest, media criticism and disapproval voiced by Austrian politicians. Social Democratic Party Defence Minister Norbert Darabos

2409-532: The doors of the chamber, as the Pope looked on. With others, he was instrumental in organising the so-called Pan-European Picnic at the Hungary-Austria border on 19 August 1989. This event is considered a milestone in the collapse of Communist dictatorships in Europe. In December 2006, he observed that, "The catastrophe of 11 September 2001 struck the United States more profoundly than any of us, whence

2482-762: The end of the First World War, the monarchies were abolished, the republics of Austria and Hungary were founded in their place, and the family was forced into exile in Madeira . Hungary did become a kingdom again, but Charles was never to regain the throne. Instead, Miklós Horthy ruled as regent until 1944, in a kingdom without a king. Otto spoke German , Hungarian , Croatian , English, Spanish , French and Latin fluently. In later life, he would write some forty books in German, Hungarian, French and Spanish. His mother made him learn many languages because she believed he one day might rule over many lands. Otto

2555-458: The heritage of the peace emperor, my beloved father, rather earlier than later ... The [Austrian] people have never cast a vote in favor of the republic. They have remained silent as long as they were exhausted from the long fight, and taken by surprise by the audacity of the revolutionaries of 1918 and 1919. They shook off their resignation when they realized that the revolution had raped their right to life and freedom. ... Such trust places

2628-593: The highest calibre". Otto's son, Karl von Habsburg , also defended his father's words, in a 2011 statement, stating that "there were guilty parties in practically every country". After the death of his wife, Regina , aged 85, in Pöcking on 3 February 2010, Otto stopped appearing in public. He died at the age of 98 on Monday, 4 July 2011, at his home in Pöcking , Germany. His spokeswoman reported that he died "peacefully and without pain in his sleep". On 5 July, his body

2701-655: The honoured guest of the emperors. His Palais Strada stood as an eminent example of Late Renaissance architecture in the Simmering district of Vienna until it was demolished in 1875 in the rebuilding of the Wiener Burgtheater . In 1577 he published in Frankfurt-am-Main Sebastiano Serlio 's seventh book of architecture, with its original Italian text, which exists in manuscript on parchment, and Strada's Latin translation. In

2774-576: The horn of a unicorn ( Ainkhürn ) and the Agate bowl from Late Antiquity which was thought to be the legendary Holy Grail ; furthermore the Napoleonica artifacts of Napoleon II and his mother Marie Louise . The ecclesiastical collection contains numerous devotional images and altars, mostly from the Baroque era. On 30 October 1918, the provisional National Assembly proclaimed the republic. As

2847-1164: The introduction Strada reported that he had received the manuscript from Serlio himself in Lyon in 1550. He died in Prague and is buried in the Church of St. Nicholas in the Malá Strana . His son, Ottavio Strada (1550–1607), his assistant at the Hofburg, followed in his father's footsteps in the service of the Imperial court as expert in works of art. Ottavio's daughter Katharina was a favourite of Emperor Rudolph II , and bore him six children. [REDACTED] Media related to Jacopo Strada at Wikimedia Commons Otto von Habsburg Otto von Habsburg ( German : Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius , Hungarian : Ferenc József Ottó Róbert Mária Antal Károly Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Lajos Gaetan Pius Ignác ; 20 November 1912 – 4 July 2011)

2920-399: The last emperor of Austria and king of Hungary , and his wife, Zita of Bourbon-Parma , Otto was born as Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius von Habsburg , third in line to the thrones, as Archduke Otto of Austria , Royal Prince of Hungary, Bohemia, and Croatia. With his father's accession to the thrones in 1916, he

2993-654: The last days of the Holy Roman Empire around 1800 from Nuremberg , where they had been kept since 1424, in order to save them from the advancing French troops under Napoleon . After the Austrian Anschluss of 1938, the Nazi authorities took them back to Nuremberg. At the end of World War II , they were returned to Vienna by the US forces. The display was completely renovated in 1983–1987. The Treasury

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3066-417: The latter, also known as the "Crown Jewels", were the world-famous " Florentine Diamond ", a 133-carat brilliant from the possession of Franz Stephan of Lorraine, the famous emerald and ruby sets that can be traced back to Maria Theresa , Marie Antoinette and Empress Elisabeth , and the crown of Empress Elisabeth. Numerous reports and arguments about the legality of the removal as well as a discussion about

3139-574: The making of the Titian portrait show Strada in a less favourable light. He visited Venice in 1567-68 to try and acquire for Albrecht the famous collection of art and antiquities left by Gabriele Vendramin (died 1552, and also now mainly remembered as the subject of a Titian portrait, the Portrait of the Vendramin Family ). This entailed breaking the terms of Vendramin's will, and in the end

3212-499: The most ruthless subjugation of the Austrian people ... The people of Austria will never tolerate that our beautiful fatherland should become an exploited colony, and that the Austrian should become a man of second category. He strongly opposed the Anschluss , and in 1938 requested Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg to resist Nazi Germany . He supported international intervention and offered to return from exile to take over

3285-568: The newspaper as "right-wing extremist" and in 2006 against its uninvitation at the Leipzig Book Fair . In 2002, Habsburg said in an interview with Junge Freiheit that US domestic policy was split in two, namely a Department of Defense "filled with Jews" in key positions, "today a Jewish institution", on the one hand and one by "blacks, on the other hand". For example, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice "occupied" State Department . On

3358-730: The old curriculum of Austria-Hungary, preparing him to become a Catholic monarch. During his life in exile, he lived in Austria , Belgium , France , Madeira , Spain , Switzerland , the United States , and from 1954 until his death, finally in Bavaria (Germany), in the residence Villa Austria. He had been stateless de jure and de facto , and he possessed passports of the Order of Malta and Spain . His funeral took place at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna on 16 July 2011; he

3431-487: The other hand, after the Habsburgs, the "Anglo-Saxons, i.e. the white Americans" played "hardly any role". In November 2007, the Habsburgs commented on their position on Engelbert Dollfuss ' coup. He "respected Dollfuss infinitely. The man was brave, ready to stand up for Austria to the last consequence. At that time I saw everything from this perspective: We have to preserve Austria". He also had "no" problem at all with

3504-472: The owner Jan Šember von Boskovic . For Schloss Neugebäude , begun from scratch ( neu gebäude ) as a hunting box by Maximilian II in 1568, no architect is reported in surviving documents, but its advanced integration with gardens makes Strada the most likely candidate; its construction, altered by numerous minute changes, abruptly came to an end with the Emperor's death in 1576. The circumstances surrounding

3577-493: The portrait. Knowledge of the deal comes from a letter to Fugger by Nicolò Stoppio , a Venetian dealer who was Strada's rival in Fugger's service; this claims Titian disliked Strada, and thought him a charlatan. Although the brilliant quality of the portrait has always been recognised, art historians agree the depiction of Strada is not flattering. The pose is taken from a tomb relief of about 1335 that Titian would have known, where

3650-416: The private ownership of saints. The Imperial Treasury collections were set up from 1556 by the scholar Jacopo Strada , court antiquarian of Ferdinand I . In the eighteenth century, Maria Theresa had the Habsburg treasures moved to its present location, covering up the fact that the dynasty's assets had been largely affected by the expensive wars against rivaling Prussia . The Imperial Regalia arrived in

3723-400: The question of ownership, at least of the crown jewels, followed in the next few years. The new government's argument was based on the wartime ban on the export of jewels, the Habsburg Law and the legalisation of the Habsburgs' private property by the Saint-Germain Peace Treaty. The demand for restitution was abandoned by the state in 1921. The discussion about the crown jewels came up again in

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3796-492: The reins of government to repel the Nazis. According to Gerald Warner, "Austrian Jews were among the strongest supporters of a Habsburg restoration, since they believed the dynasty would give the nation sufficient resolve to stand up to the Third Reich". Following the German annexation of Austria, Otto was sentenced to death by the Nazi regime; Rudolf Hess ordered that Otto was to be executed immediately if caught. As ordered by Adolf Hitler , his personal property and that of

3869-585: The resurgence of a Danube confederation as the only way for small states to exist between Germany and Russia. They championed the centuries-old Habsburg principle of "live and let live" among ethnic groups, peoples, minorities, religions, cultures and languages. These imperial resistance groups became embroiled in ferocious partisan warfare against Hitler, who profoundly hated the Habsburg family tradition. Many of these imperial resistance fighters (according to current estimates 4000–4500) were sent directly to concentration camps without trial, and over 800 were executed by

3942-495: The return of his mother—to say nothing of hundreds of assorted and impoverished Habsburg cousins and aunts, who would flock to Vienna like ants to a keg of syrup". A greater obstacle, he wrote, was the opposition of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia , which feared that their people might want to rejoin a recreated monarchy. Otto denounced Nazism, stating: I absolutely reject [Nazi] Fascism for Austria ... This un-Austrian movement promises everything to everyone, but really intends

4015-429: The status of private citizens. He officially declared his loyalty to the Republic of Austria on 5 June 1961, but this statement was ruled insufficient as well. In a declaration dated 31 May 1961, Otto renounced all claims to the Austrian throne and proclaimed himself "a loyal citizen of the republic", "for purely practical reasons". In a 2007 interview on the occasion of his approaching 95th birthday, Otto stated: This

4088-442: The throne and accepted the status of private citizens. In 1935, he graduated with a PhD degree in Political and Social Sciences from the University of Louvain in Belgium. His thesis was on "the right, born of usage and of the peasant law of inheritance, of the indivisibility of rural land ownership in Austria". In 1937 he wrote, I know very well that the overwhelming majority of the Austrian population would like me to assume

4161-432: The war the country was in danger of becoming a Soviet satellite state. Otto was commonly known in the U.S. as "Otto of Austria", and tried to keep his homeland and its neighbors in the minds of the American people by inaugurating a series of stamps (the Overrun Countries series ) featuring the German-occupied nations of Europe . He obtained the support of Winston Churchill for a conservative "Danube Federation", in effect

4234-428: Was "another reality behind the mass of people who listened to Hitler on the Heldenplatz ", meaning the "thousands in the resistance and thousands in prison waiting to be transported to Dachau " near Munich . Murauer also recalled that Engelbert Dollfuß had been the only head of government in Europe to have been murdered by the Nazis. Murauer advised Darabos "to avoid populist pot-shots against an honourable European of

4307-460: Was a strong supporter of the EU membership of Central and Eastern European countries . A noted intellectual, he published several books on historical and political affairs. Otto has been described as one of the "architects of the European idea and of European integration" together with Robert Schuman , Konrad Adenauer , and Alcide De Gasperi . Otto was exiled in 1919 and grew up mostly in Spain. His devout Catholic mother raised him according to

4380-451: Was an early critic of Russian President Putin . In a newspaper interview in 2002 and in two speeches in 2003 and 2005, he warned of Putin as an "international threat" that he was "cruel and oppressive" and a "stone cold technocrat". At the end of 1998 Habsburg was targeted by criticism and the public prosecutor's office in Munich because he compared the allegations and calls for resignation against his son Karl Habsburg in connection with

4453-424: Was attended by his mother, Empress Zita. He returned there with his wife for their golden jubilee in 2001. Otto lived in retirement at the Villa Austria in Pöcking near Starnberg , upon Starnberger See , Upper Bavaria , Bavaria, Germany. At the time of his death in 2011, the couple had seven children, 22 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren: He became a citizen of the Republic of Croatia in 1990, with

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4526-429: Was buried in the family's crypt in Vienna , while his heart was buried in Pannonhalma Archabbey in Hungary. He married Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen in 1951 at the Church of Saint-François-des-Cordeliers in Nancy , capital city of Lorraine. They were fourth cousins as both were descendants of Karl Ludwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife Countess Amalie Henriette of Solms-Baruth . The wedding

4599-424: Was chosen so that he might reign as "Franz Joseph II" in the future. His godfather was Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria (represented by Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria ); his godmother was his grandmother Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal . In November 1916, Otto became Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia when his father, Archduke Charles, acceded to the throne. However, in 1918, after

4672-496: Was entombed in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and his heart buried in Pannonhalma Archabbey in Hungary. Otto was born at Villa Wartholz in Reichenau an der Rax , Austria-Hungary , during the reign of his great-granduncle, Franz Joseph I of Austria . He was baptised Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius on 25 November 1912 at Villa Wartholz by Franz Xaver Cardinal Nagl , Prince-Archbishop of Vienna. This name

4745-406: Was finally able to visit his home country again on 31 October 1966 for the first time in 48 years. That day, he traveled to Innsbruck to visit the grave of Archduke Eugen of Austria . Later, he visited Vienna on 5 July 1967. An early advocate of a unified Europe , Otto was president of the International Paneuropean Union from 1973 to 2004. He served from 1979 until 1999 as a Member of

4818-413: Was in the Gödöllő Palace during the Aster Revolution , but quickly evacuated from Hungary at the rise of republican sentiment. Otto's family spent the subsequent years in Switzerland, and on the Portuguese island of Madeira , where 34-year-old Charles died in 1922, leaving the nine-year-old Otto pretender to the throne. On his father's deathbed, his mother, Empress Dowager Zita, told Otto, "your father

4891-548: Was involved in a fracas with fellow MEP Ian Paisley , a unionist Protestant pastor from Northern Ireland . In 1988, Pope John Paul II had just begun a speech to the Parliament when Ian Paisley , a vehement anti-Catholic , shouted and held up a poster reading "Pope John Paul II Antichrist ". While other members threw papers and other objects at Paisley, Otto snatched Paisley's banner and, along with other MEPs and security personnel, roughed him up, punched him, tore his shirt, pulled on his tie, and ejected him head-first through

4964-417: Was laid in repose in the Church of St. Ulrich near his home in Pöcking, Bavaria, and a massive 13-day period of mourning started in several countries formerly part of Austria-Hungary. Otto's coffin was draped with the Habsburg flag decorated with the imperial–royal coats of arms of Austria and Hungary in addition to the Habsburg family coat of arms. In line with the Habsburg family tradition, Otto von Habsburg

5037-400: Was likely to become emperor and king. As his father never abdicated, Otto was considered by himself, his family and Austro-Hungarian legitimists to be the rightful emperor-king from his father's death in 1922. Otto was active on the Austrian and European political stage from the 1930s, both by promoting the cause of Habsburg restoration and as an early proponent of European integration ; he was

5110-400: Was once the Crown Prince. He was a jury member of the Franz Werfel Human Rights Award . He also held Francisco Franco in a high regard and praised him for helping refugees, stating that he was "a dictator of the South American type, not totalitarian like Hitler or Stalin ". In 2002, he was named the first-ever honorary member of the European People's Party group . Otto von Habsburg

5183-429: Was quoted as saying that the remarks were "unacceptable", "a veritable democratic-political scandal" and that he had "insulted the victims of National Socialism ". Otto von Habsburg was also quoted as saying that "a discussion as to whether Austria was an accomplice or a victim is an outrage". Austrian People's Party military spokesman Walter Murauer defended Otto's statement at the time. Murauer claimed that there

5256-454: Was such an infamy , I'd rather never have signed it. They demanded that I abstain from politics. I would not have dreamed of complying. Once you have tasted the opium of politics, you never get rid of it. The Austrian administrative court found on 24 May 1963 that Otto's statement was legally sufficient. Upon his return to Austria, he and his wife were issued a Certified Proof of Citizenship on 20 July 1965. However, several political elements in

5329-665: Was the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the empire in November 1918. In 1922, he became the pretender to the former thrones, head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine , and sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece , upon the death of his father. He resigned as Sovereign of the Golden Fleece in 2000 and as head of the Imperial House in 2007. The eldest son of Charles I and IV ,

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