Emperor of Austria - Crown Princes and Other Successors To The Throne

Crown Princes and Other Successors To The Throne

The eldest son of the monarch bore the title Crown Prince (Kronprinz); other designated successors were called Thronfolger (in addition to their title of Archduke). Francis I was followed by Crown Prince Ferdinand. In the 1848 revolutions, the empire's existence was in danger. The Habsburg family tried a new start with a new emperor: Ferdinand I on December 2, 1848 was urged to hand over government. He moved to Hradcany Castle in Prague and, without laying down his imperial title, lived there privately until his death in 1875.

As Ferdinand I had no son, his brother, Archduke Franz Karl, would have become emperor, but was asked by his wife, Archduchess Sophie Friederike of Bavaria, to pass over the right of succession to her and his son, Francis Joseph I. He accepted the duty of the Emperor of Austria without having been Crown Prince or Thronfolger before. Francis Joseph's only son Rudolf committed suicide in 1889, Francis Joseph's brother Karl Ludwig died in 1896. Karl Ludwig's son Franz Ferdinand became heir-presumptive to the throne. He was assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914; due to his morganatic marriage, his son had no rights to the throne. At this time his younger brother Otto already had died, which made Otto's son Charles the new heir-presumptive to the throne, to which he acceded in 1916, upon the death of Emperor Francis Joseph I. In this moment Charles I's son, four years old Archduke Otto became the last Crown Prince of Austria(-Hungary). He declared himself a loyal citizen of the Republic of Austria in 1961.