Archduke Johann Salvator of Austria (german: Johann Salvator, it, Giovanni Salvatore; 25 November 1852 – declared dead in absentia 2 February 1911) was a member of the Tuscan branch of the

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine (german: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen) originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Austria, later successively Queen of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary, Queen of ...

. He was Archduke and Prince of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, Prince of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

and

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

. After renouncing those titles, he was known as Johann (John) Orth. He disappeared while sailing with his wife in July 1890 and is believed to have died when his ship encountered a storm near

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

. Archduke Salvator was declared dead in absentia in February 1911.

Early life

Archduke Johann Salvator was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

, the youngest son of

Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II( it, Leopoldo Giovanni Giuseppe Francesco Ferdinando Carlo, german: Leopold Johann Joseph Franz Ferdinand Karl, English: ''Leopold John Joseph Francis Ferdinand Charles''. (3 October 1797 – 29 January 1870) was Grand Duke of Tusc ...

and his second wife,

Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies it, Maria Antonietta Giuseppa Anna , image = Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies by Morelli 1840.jpg , caption = Maria Antonia in the early 1840s, painted by Carlo Morelli , reign = 7 June 1833 – 21 July 1859 , ...

. He was baptized in Florence's Battistero di San Giovanni as ''Giovanni Nepomuceno Maria Annunziata Giuseppe Giovanni Batista Ferdinando Baldassare Luigi Gonzaga Pietro Alessandrino Zanobi Antonino''. He pursued a career in the

Austrian Army The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of nat ...

and was a good friend of

Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria en, Rudolph Francis Charles Joseph , caption = Rudolf in 1887 , spouse = , issue = Elisabeth Marie, Princess Otto of Windisch-Graetz , house = Habsburg-Lorraine , father = Franz Joseph I of Austria , mother ...

, with both sharing liberal opinions. After Bulgaria was granted autonomy by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

, Johann Salvator was an unsuccessful candidate for the throne. Prince Alexander of Battenberg would be elected Prince of Bulgaria in 1879. During the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...

occupation of the Ottoman territory of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

in 1878, he was put in command of a division of the occupying army and won numerous honours. On 16 October 1889, he resigned his army commission and renounced his title and the privileges he enjoyed as a member of the Austrian Imperial Family. After renouncing his titles he assumed the name "Johann (or John) Orth", the surname Orth derived from the name of a castle he had owned,

Schloss Orth Schloss Ort (or ''Schloss Orth'') is an Austrian castle situated in the Traunsee lake, in Gmunden, from Vöcklabruck, the gate to Salzkammergut. Early history The castle was founded around 1080 by Hartnidus of Ort, and improvements continued to ...

Disappearance

In 1889, Johann Salvator married Ludmilla ("Milli") Stubel, an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Shortly after his marriage, he purchased a ship named the ''Santa Margareta'', on which he and his wife sailed for

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

. In February 1890 he set off from

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, heading for

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

. He was last seen on 12 July in Cape Tres Puntas,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. It is believed that his ship was lost during a storm off the coast of

. He was officially declared dead on 2 February 1911 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. His possessions were disposed of in 1912. In the years following Salvator's disappearance, numerous sightings of him were reported. Rumors persisted that he and his wife sailed to

and assumed new identities. Several men also came forward claiming to be the "missing Duke". One of the more publicised claims came in May 1945 when a German born

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

living in Kristiansand, Norway named Alexander Hugo Køhler made a deathbed confession claiming that he was Johann Salvator. Køhler claimed that, as Johann Orth, he "bought" the identity of Alexander Hugo Køhler and assumed his life. Køhler claimed that the real Alexander Hugo Køhler posed as Salvator and it was he who died at sea.

Films about the Johann Orth mystery

*'' Das Geheimnis der Santa Margherita'' (dir.

Rolf Randolf Rolf Randolf (born Rudolf Zanbauer; 15 January 1878 – 29 June 1941) was an Austrian actor, film producer and director. Selected filmography Director * '' Das Geheimnis der Santa Margherita'' (1921) * ''Wallenstein'' (1925) * ''What the Stones ...

, 1921) *''

A Vanished World ''A Vanished World'' (German: ''Eine versunkene Welt'') is a 1922 Austrian silent adventure film directed by Alexander Korda and starring Alberto Capozzi, Victor Varconi, María Corda and Olga Lewinsky. It was based on the novel ''Serpoletto'' by ...

'' (dir.

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)The Secret of Johann Orth ''The Secret of Johann Orth'' (German: ) is a 1932 German historical drama film directed by Willi Wolff and starring Karl Ludwig Diehl, Ellen Richter and Paul Wegener.Grange p.398 It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin and on locatio ...

'' (dir.

Willi Wolff Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or hypocorism of Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Willi Apel (1893–1988), German-American musicologist * Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991), Austrian violin ...

, 1932) *'' The Red Prince'' (dir.

Hans Schott-Schöbinger Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

, 1954)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johann Salvator Of Austria, Archduke 1852 births 1910s missing person cases 1911 deaths Austrian princes Disappeared princes Italian Roman Catholics House of Habsburg-Lorraine Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Military personnel from Florence Missing person cases in Chile Nobility from Florence People declared dead in absentia People lost at sea

Early life

Disappearance

Films about the Johann Orth mystery

See also

References

External links