Archduchess Adelheid of Austria (3 January 1914 – 2 October 1971) was an

archduchess of Austria The Archduchy of Austria (; ) was a major Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empire's southeastern periph ...

, as the daughter of Emperor Charles I of Austria and Empress Zita.

Biography

Early years

Archduchess Adelheid was born on 3 January 1914,Birth record in church book
of parish Vienna - Hetzendorf, p. 03-Taufe_0267 in the

Schloss Hetzendorf ''Schloss Hetzendorf'' is a baroque palace in Hetzendorf, Meidling, Vienna, that was used by the imperial Habsburg family. History The building was originally a hunting lodge. It was refashioned by the architect Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt ...

. She was the second child and eldest daughter of

Archduke Charles of Austria Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen (; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and his wife, Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the youn ...

and his wife,

Zita of Bourbon-Parma Zita of Bourbon-Parma (Zita Maria delle Grazie Adelgonda Micaela Raffaela Gabriella Giuseppina Antonia Luisa Agnese; 9 May 1892 – 14 March 1989) was the wife of Charles I, the last monarch of Austria-Hungary. She was also the last Empress o ...

. On 7 January 1914 she was baptised by

Friedrich Gustav Piffl Friedrich Gustav Piffl (15 October 1864 – 21 April 1932) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Vienna. Early life and education Gustav Piffl was born in Lanškroun, Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire. His father, ...

, Archbishop of Vienna; her baptismal names were: ''Adelheid Maria Josepha Sixta Antonia Roberta Ottonia Zita Charlotte Luise Immakulata Pia Theresia Beatrix Franziska Isabella Henriette Maximiliana Genoveva Ignatia Marcus d'Aviano''. Her godparents that stood for her were her father's mother, Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony, and her mother's brother

Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma (; 1 August 1886 – 14 March 1934) was a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma, a Belgian officer in World War I, and the central figure in the Sixtus Affair, an attempt to negotiate a treaty to end Austria-Hunga ...

. On 21 November 1916, Adelheid's great-granduncle,

Emperor Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death in 1916. In the early part of his reig ...

, died and her father succeeded him as

emperor of Austria The emperor of Austria (, ) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The hereditary imperial title and office was proclaimed in 1804 by Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorr ...

and

king of Hungary The King of Hungary () was the Monarchy, ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Magyarország apostoli királya'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Adelheid would often accompany her brother, Crown Prince Otto, and father on trips to inspect the Austrian troops. Following the Austro-Hungarian Empire's defeat in the war, her father was forced to renounce participation in state affairs and subsequently the empire was dismantled—and republics were established in Austria and Hungary. In 1919, Adelheid and her family were sent into exile, first in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and lastly in the Island of Madeira. On 9 March 1922, Adelheid was with her brother Otto and father when he went into town to buy toys for

Carl Ludwig Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig (; 29 December 1816 – 23 April 1895) was a German physician and physiologist. His work as both a researcher and teacher had a major influence on the understanding, methods and apparatus used in almost all branche ...

’s birthday. On the way back, they were enveloped by chill mists; due to this, her father caught a cold that later developed into

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, from which he died on 1 April.

Later life

In December 1933 she became the first member of her family to set foot in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

since the establishment of the republic, when she arrived by train from

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. Adelheid attended the University of Louvain and gained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in 1938. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

she emigrated with most of her family to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to escape the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

; she would later return to Europe. On 2 October 1971, Adelheid died unmarried and childless in

Pöcking Pöcking is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany. It is best known for being the location of Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria's childhood summer home, Possenhofen Castle. Transport The district has a railway station, , t ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, aged 57. She is currently buried in the Tulfes Friedhof.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adelheid Of Austria, Archduchess 1914 births 1971 deaths 20th-century Austrian people 20th-century Austrian women 20th-century Roman Catholics Austrian emigrants to Germany Austrian emigrants to Switzerland Austrian emigrants to the United States Austrian exiles Austrian princesses Austrian Roman Catholics Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni Children of Charles I of Austria Daughters of emperors Daughters of kings Exiled royalty House of Habsburg-Lorraine People from Meidling