Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen
Encyclopedia
Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen (Friedrich Maria Albrecht Wilhelm Karl; 4 June 1856 – 30 December 1936) was a member of the House of Habsburg and the Supreme Commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...

 during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Early life

Friedrich was born at the castle Gross-Seelowitz (now Židlochovice
Židlochovice
Židlochovice is a town in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic.The town covers an area of , and has a population of 3,075.Židlochovice lies approximately south of Brno and south-east of Prague.- References :*...

, near Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

 in Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

) the son of Karl Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria
Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria
Elisabeth Franziska Maria, Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia ....

.

Amongst his siblings were Queen Maria Theresia of Bavaria, Queen Maria Cristina of Spain
Maria Christina of Austria
Maria Christina of Austria was Queen consort of Spain as the second wife of King Alfonso XII of Spain...

, Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria
Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria
Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria was a member of the House of Habsburg and a Grand Admiral in the Austro-Hungarian Navy.-Family:Charles Stephen was born in Židlochovice the son of Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria and of his wife Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria...

, and Archduke Eugen of Austria
Archduke Eugen of Austria
Archduke Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard Felix Maria of Austria-Teschen was an Archduke of Austria and a Prince of Hungary and Bohemia...

.

When Friedrich's uncle Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Albrecht Friedrich Rudolf Dominik of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian Habsburg general. Inspector General for 36 years, he was honored with the rank of Field Marshal in the armies of Austria-Hungary and Germany .-Early life:He was the eldest son of Archduke Charles of Austria,...

 died in 1895, he and his brothers each inherited large estates. Friedrich owned properties at Ungarisch-Altenburg (now Mosonmagyaróvár
Mosonmagyaróvár
Mosonmagyaróvár is a city in Győr-Moson-Sopron county in northwestern Hungary. It lies close to both the Austrian and Slovakian borders and has a population of 30,200 ....

 in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

), Belleje, Saybusch (now Żywiec
Zywiec
Żywiec is a town in south-central Poland with 32,242 inhabitants . Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship....

 in Poland), Seelowitz (now Židlochovice
Židlochovice
Židlochovice is a town in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic.The town covers an area of , and has a population of 3,075.Židlochovice lies approximately south of Brno and south-east of Prague.- References :*...

) and Frýdek
Frýdek-Místek
Frýdek-Místek is a city in Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It is the administrative center of Frýdek-Místek District. It comprises two formerly independent towns, Frýdek and Místek, divided by the Ostravice River...

 in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

, and Pressburg (now Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

 in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

). His Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 residence, the Palais-Albrecht, housed the Albertina
Albertina, Vienna
The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well as more modern graphic works, photographs and architectural drawings...

 art collection which he owned.

Marriage

On 8 October 1878 Friedrich married at Château L'Hermitage in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, Princess Isabella of Croÿ
Princess Isabella of Croÿ
Princess Isabella Hedwig Franziska Natalie of Croÿ was the daughter of Rudolf, Duke of Croÿ, and his wife Princess Natalie of Ligne.-Marriage and issue:...

 (1856–1931), daughter of Rudolf, Duke of Croÿ
House of Croÿ
The House of Croÿ is an international family of European mediatized nobility which held a seat in the Imperial Diet from 1486, and was elevated to the rank of Imperial Princes in 1594...

, and his wife Princess Natalie of Ligne
Prince of Ligne
Prince of Ligne is one of the most prestigious Belgian noble titles. It goes back to the eleventh century and owes its name at the village in which it originated, between Ath and Tournai. The lords of Ligne belong to the entourage of the Count of Hainaut at the time of the crusades...

. They had nine children together.
  • Maria Christina, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen
    Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria (1879–1962)
    Archduchess Maria Christina Isabelle Natalie of Austria, full German name: Maria Christina Isabelle Natalie, Erzherzogin von Österreich was a member of the Teschen branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and an Archduchess of Austria and Princess of Bohemia, Hungary, and Tuscany by...

     (1879–1962), married Prince Manuel of Salm-Salm
  • Maria Anna, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen
    Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1882–1940)
    Archduchess Maria Anna Isabelle Epiphanie Eugenie Gabriele of Austria, full German name: Maria Anna Isabelle Epiphanie Eugenie Gabriele, Erzherzogin von Österreich was a member of the Teschen branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and an Archduchess of Austria and...

     (1882–1940), married Elias, Duke of Parma
    Elias, Duke of Parma
    Elias, Duke of Parma and Piacenza was the head of the House of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the defunct throne of Parma between 1950 and 1959...

  • Maria Henrietta, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen(1883-1956), married Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingfurst
  • Natalie Maria, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1884–1898)
  • Stephanie Maria Isabelle, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1886–1890)
  • Gabriele Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1887–1954)
  • Isabella, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen
    Archduchess Isabella of Austria
    Archduchess Isabella Maria Theresia Christine Eugenie of Austria-Teschen was a daughter of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen and his wife Princess Isabella of Croÿ...

     (1887–1973), married Prince Georg of Bavaria
    Prince Georg of Bavaria
    Prince Georg of Bavaria was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach and a Catholic priest.- Birth and family :...

  • Maria Alice, Archduchess of Austria-Teschen (1893–1962), married Baron Friedrich Waldbott von Bassenheim
  • Albrecht Franz, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Teschen
    Archduke Albrecht Franz, Duke of Teschen
    Albert Franz Josef Karl Friedrich Georg Hubert Maria, Archduke and Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Teschen – was a member of the House of Habsburg and titular pretender to the Duchy of...

     (1897–1955)

Military career

On 11 July 1914 Friedrich was appointed Supreme Commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...

 by Emperor Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...

; it was thought that he would not interfere with the operational and tactical talents of Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf
Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf
Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf was an Austrian soldier and Chief of the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army at the outbreak of World War I.-Early life and military career:...

. He was promoted to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...

 on 8 December 1914. Friedrich remained Supreme Commander until February 1917 when Emperor Charles I decided to take the office himself.

Retirement and death

After World War I the governments of Austria and Czechoslovakia confiscated all of Friedrich's properties within their borders. These included his palace in Vienna and his art collection. He retained his properties in Hungary however. In 1929 he won a court case requiring compensation from the Czechoslovak government.

Friedrich died at Ungarisch-Altenburg (Magyaróvár,, now Mosonmagyaróvár
Mosonmagyaróvár
Mosonmagyaróvár is a city in Győr-Moson-Sopron county in northwestern Hungary. It lies close to both the Austrian and Slovakian borders and has a population of 30,200 ....

) in 1936. His death was the biggest royal event for Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 since the coronation of King Karl in 1916. The funeral and burial
in the Pfarrkirche in Mosonmagyaróvár
was attended by his nephew, the exiled King of Spain; by numerous archdukes; by all the surviving Austro-Hungarian Feldmarshals; by personal representatives of Hitler; by members of the House of Savoy; by the diplomatic corps; by a son of exiled German Kaiser Wilhelm; by representatives of the governments of Germany, Italy and Austria, and by Hungary's Regent, Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...

 and his wife. There were members of the Hungarian government and delegates of the German and Austrian in attendance as well. Entire battalions of the Hungarian army were present to pay their last respects to their former Supreme Commander.

Ancestry



External links

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