Otto von Habsburg
Encyclopedia : O : OT : OTT : Otto von Habsburg
Otto von Habsburg (Franz Josef Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xavier Felix René Ludwig Gaetano Pius Ignazius von Habsburg-Lothringen), born 20 November, 1912, is the current head of the Habsburg family and the eldest son of Karl of Austria, the last Emperor of Austria and last King of Hungary, and his wife, Zita of Bourbon-Parma. He is a former member of the European Parliament for the CSU party and president of the International Paneuropean Union.
He lives in Bavaria in Germany, and is German, Austrian, Croatian, and Hungarian citizen. Although his official name in Germany is Otto von Habsburg, he is referred to as Otto Habsburg-Lothringen by Austrian authorities. He is also sometimes known as Archduke Otto of Austria, Crown Prince Otto of Austria, and in Hungary, simply as Habsburg Ottó.
On March 23, 2006, he became a honorary citizen of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Early life
Otto was born near Vienna in Reichenau an der Rax, Lower Austria.In November 1916, Otto became Crown Prince of Austria and Hungary when his father, Archduke Karl, ascended to the throne. However, in 1918, at the end of the First World War, both monarchies were abolished, the Republics of Austria and Hungary founded instead, and the family were forced into exile. It should be noted that Hungary did become a kingdom again, but Karl was never to rule it. Instead Miklós Horthy ruled as a regent until 1944.
Years in exile
Otto's family spent the following years in Switzerland and in Madeira, where Karl died prematurely in 1922, making Otto pretender to the throne at the age of ten. Meanwhile, the Austrian parliament had officially expelled the Habsburg dynasty and confiscated all the official property (Habsburgergesetz of 3 April 1919).In 1935 Otto graduated from the Catholic University of Leuven, having studied social and political sciences.
Opposing Nazi government
Otto spent most of the war years in Washington, D.C. (1940 – 1944), after escaping from Austria to Portugal with a visa issued by the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux, Aristides Sousa Mendes.A fervent patriot, he had opposed the Nazi Anschluss of Austria of 1938 and also fought Adolf Hitler's regime from America. After the war, he lived in exile in France and Spain.
Early advocate of a United Europe
Well after the end of the Second World War, Otto renounced all claims to the Austrian throne (1961) and was eventually allowed to return to his home country in 1966. The renunciation of the claims to the throne is seen as null to members of the former imperial family as well as monarchists. Monarchists tend to view successor governments as illegitimate and renunciations in their favor as invalid. An early advocate of a unified Europe, he served from 1979 till 1999 as a Member of the European Parliament for the conservative Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) party. He is also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.Recent events
Recently he warned that Russia is becoming the biggest threat to Europe and compared the actions made by Putin to actions of Hitler.[link]Family life
Otto has been married since 1951 to Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen and Hildburghausen. The couple have seven children and 22 grandchildren:
- Andrea (1953). Married Hereditary Count Karl Eugen of Neipperg. Has issue.
- Monika (1954). Married Luis Gonzaga de Casanova-Cárdenas y Barón, Duke of Santangelo, Marquess of Elche, Count of Lodosa and Grandée of Spain, who is a descendant of Infanta Doña Luisa Teresa of Spain, Duchess of Sessa and sister of Francisco de Asís, King-Consort of Spain. Has issue.
- Michaela (1954). Monika's twin sister. Married firstly Eric Teran d'Antin, and secondly Count Hubertus of Kageneck. Has issue from her first marriage; twice divorced.
- Gabriela (1956). Married Christian Meister in 1978, divorced in 1997. Has issue.
- Walburga (1958). Married Count Archibald Douglas, from the Swedish nobility, and has issue.
- Karl (born 11 January, 1961), the presumptive future head of the Habsburg family, married Baroness Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza (daughter of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza) in 1993. They have three children and currently live in Salzburg, Austria.
- Georg (1964). Married Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg and has issue.
External links
- redirect [[Template:Commonscat]]
- [Erzherzog Dr. Otto von Habsburg (Autorisierte Ehrenseite)]
- [An essay on Republicanism vs Monarchism by Otto]
Karl I
|-
|- style="text-align: center;"
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Preceded by:
Charles IV
|-
|- style="text-align: center;"
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Preceded by:
Charles III
|}
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.