Archduke Ludwig Victor

[MarieCharlotte]

Did Archduchess Sophie try to marry Ludwig Victor to any eligible princesses? If she did who were they?

Ludwig Victor's elder brother Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, wanted Ludwig Victor to marry Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil (1846-1921). Max and his wife Charlotte didn't have any children. So Ludwig should succeed him. It was his plan to rule over Mexico and Brazil one day - on condition that Ludwig and Isabel were married, Max could have reached his goal. But Ludwig refused.

[Rani]

In the book "Stephanie - Im Schatten von Mayerling" that Ludwig Viktor was in love with a Princess Lobkowitz. And he wanted to marry her. But she didn´t belong to a governing House and Archduchesse Sophie prevented this marriage. Could anybody tell me something about Princess Lobkowitz?

[Rani]

[britt.25]

That´s a good picture. Here he looks quite "normal" in comparison to the pictures, I have seen before. The beart makes him more "a man", I think. He still looks a bit like an "overgenerated" member of the Habsburg family, but still better than the pictures before.  It´s strange that all brothers seem so different to me: Franz Josepph did not have that degenerated face at all , in my opinion, he looked a bit Habsburg, but not like that, Maximilian was also quite longish in his features and Karl Ludwig was quite "normal".... It´s strange, because their mother Sophie wasn´t a Habsburg at all...

[Eric_Lowe]

I like the crossed-dressed ones better !  They are more fun to look.

[CFH_Mexico]

Ludwig Victor was Gay. He had to hide from a very represive society. He was exiled from Vienna and lieved a quiet and sort of discrete life. Quiet because being the brother of the emperor he was always in the limelight and was forced to live in the twilight zone. He was an art colector, loved opera, music, theatre and became patron to various artists. Had little contact to his family and never married.

[umigon]

I wouldn't say his life was quiet and discreet. It might have been after he was sent to the Castle of Klesheim in 1875 after  leading a scandalous life in Vienna. In fact, the Emperor forced him to go there because he had threatened a man in a spa after he violently refused to have sexual intercourse with him.

He was also a gossipy man, always talking about everyone. He was in very good terms with Sisi, until she realised she was also one of the victims of his poisoned tongue.

In 1914 he was officially declared mad, although I don't know if this was true, it was just an illness produced by old age or a way of legitimating the Emperor's decision. As the declaration was published 39 years after he was expelled from the Court, I would say the most plausible option would be the second one.

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes...Sisi was not the only victim, Louise of Belgium was another...But she too was indistreet. 

Didn't know too much about his last years...after his exile that is. 

[TsarPaulI]

Those photo's are hilarious Ludwig Victor seems such an interesting Hapsburg Archduke, its a shame there's little written information on him and the unorthodox life he led.

CFH Mexico, I think Ludwig Victor was bisexual rather than homosexual, he had a few affairs with women, two being Princess Lobkowitz (whom Rani mentioned) and a dancer called Claudine Couqui, he carried a small photo album of Claudine around with him everywhere.

[Eric_Lowe]

I know about the tale about him invited soliders to dip in his pool but did not offer them any bathing clothes. So they had to swim naked...

[RealAnastasia]

I never heard about this one, and I agree...It should be very interesting to know more about him, and have a book about this Franz Joseph's brother. And of course, I'm one of those who wonders about Archiduchess Sophie's reactions...

RealAnastasia.

[Eric_Lowe]

Indeed...there are chapters on him in Austria in books about the Hapsburgs. 

[TsarPaulI]

I'm looking for some more books to read on the Hapburgs, I've only read John Van Der Kiste's biography on Francis Joseph. 

[MarieCharlotte]

There is a book called Historische Photographien aus den Alben des Kaiserbruders Erzherzog Ludwig Victor by Gabriele Praschl-Bichler. It contains many pictures, but also a lot of facts about Ludwig Victor's life.

[britt.25]

Thanks, MarieCharlotte, for the picture and the tite of the book. Is it easy to buy here in Germany?
I don´t know many pictures of Ludwig Victor and do not know so much about his life as well. This picture is very nice, he looks better than on pictures later. I think here he still looks a bit similar to Franz Joseph, whereas later his looking differs much from that of his brother Franz Joseph!

Thanks!