Archduke Franz Ferdinand

December 18, 1863 - June 28, 1914

Born in 1863, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the nephew of the then Emperor, Kaiser Franz Joseph I. The young Archduke married the daughter of a Bohemian noble family, Sophie Chotek, who he met at a Prague ball in 1894. Their wedding took place six years later in Zákupy, a northern Bohemian town found in today's Czech Republic. The event was snubbed by the Vienna social elite, including the disapproving Emperor Franz Joseph, who referred to Sophia as a scullery maid. The strained relations with the aging emperor, who had held the empire together since the revolutionary year of 1848, did not improve. 

After the suicide of the Crown Prince, Rudolf, in 1889 and the subsequent death of his father, Archduke Karl Ludwig, the brother of the Kaiser, Franz Ferdinand became the heir presumptive of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. However, he would never hold this office as he would be assassinated by Bosnian revolutionaries in Sarajevo, today's Bosnia and Herzegovina. The deadly bullet, fired by Gavrilo Princip, is now on exhibit at the museum of the Konopiště Castle, the Archduke's last residence, now a part of the town of Benešov in central Bohemia. The funeral of Franz Ferdinand and his wife took place in Vienna on July 6th, 1914. The emperor, still holding onto his grudge, did not attend. 

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

June 28, 1914

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were on an official visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia. While on their way to the Governor's mansion, Nedeljko Čabrinović, a member of Young Bosnia, threw a grenade at the Archduke’s car. However, the grenade missed and detonated under another car in the motorcade, injuring two. With the assassination attempt failing, the members of Young Bosnia dispersed. After some time at the Governor's mansion, the Archduke and Duchess decided it would be right to go to the hospital to check on the bombing victims. En route to the hospital, they encountered Gavrilo Princip, who opened fire on them. One bullet pierced the neck of the Archduke, and the other landed squarely in the abdomen of the Duchess. Both died from their wounds. A crisis ensued thereafter and ultimately the Kaiser declared war on Serbia, starting the domino collapse of alliances that would lead to World War I.