Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Countess Sophie and their family

[grandduchessella]

Please, please, please use the search feature before starting a new topic. The Habsburg thread isn't large at all and there were already 3 threads on Sophie, the children and the family in general. I am meging them all.

[YaBB_Jose]

Sophie and her younger brothers were brought up by their maternal aunt, Marie Fürstin von Thun und Hohenstein. Marie lived with her husband and her children in Bohemia. (Just a note: Marie is the great-grandmother of the actor Max von Thun who was recently seen as Crownprince Rudolf on German television).
At the end of WW I, in 1918, Max and Ernst were forced to leave the country and fled to Artstetten, Franz Ferdinand's castle in Lower Austria where they spent a lot of time during their early childhood. Sophie was allowed to stay with her aunt.

Sophie, Franz Ferdinand's only daughter, was married to Friedrich Graf von Nostitz-Rieneck (1891-1973) and became mother of three sons and one daughter.

So I gather they lost contact withAD Maria Teresa.
That's sad since she was close to Franz Ferdinand.

Are there any pictures of Graf Nostitz and their children ?

[britt.25]

I once read that Franz Ferdinand fathered a son, who was born before his marriage to Sophie Chotek. What happened to this son?

That´s interesting. Did he have an illeg. son? Do you have the name or any other details??

[TheAce1918]

I just finished "Europe's Last Summer" by David Fromkin...and those who had posted reviews of it were right! Spectacular!

Anyway, I was most shocked upon reading Chapter 23 [144-6], and discovering how Austrian officials and Bavarian nationalists had rigged the funeral ceremony.  Obviously since Sophie was not of Hapsburg blood, she was treated differently, more or less horribly in death as she was in life. 

My point is, though I never agreed with Ferdinand, I respect the love he felt for his wife.  Despite his political ambitions and positions regarding the Balkans, I must confess that it is truly admirable how FF defied his native laws, and married a 'commoner'.  You know what they say, 'Love is the most powerful force of all...'

 

[britt.25]

Hello Ace,

Maybe it interests you, we already have a thread on Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, and their family. But if you want to discuss some special points of that topic, we can leave this special thread for it. Is it your ambition?

[TheAce1918]

Oh no, I just wanted to point something specific out.  Sorry about that.   

[grandduchessella]

I've merged the 2 threads.

We always welcome members to start new threads but please use either the search feature or even a quick scan in the appropriate forum. Thanks. 

[britt.25]

I thought he wanted to discuss special views on his book here, but I think we can combine it with this, it´s better. 

[grandduchessella]

He indicated that it wasn't his intention so I thought it best to merge them. If it was to specifically discuss something separate I would've left it.

[Maria_Pavlovna]

Am not a history buff with the Hapsburgs, but I heared that Countess Sophie was with child at the time of her murder? true or rumor?

[TheAce1918]

I don't think she was expecting.  She already had had three children. 

[britt.25]

I didn´t hear about that, but it would be very tragic, if....That she already had three children would not exclude the possibility, but it must have been quite "late" then, because as she was born in 1868 che was already about 46 at the time of the murder.

[Maria_Pavlovna]

I heard this watching a history channel show; it was about her murder and the murders that changed Europe.

All I remember hearing (this was about three months ago) “Shot in the stomach” and that “His Pregnant wife” (the Countess). I am sure it just a misake, because a few times i have watch other shows and some facts are wrong or twisted. 

[Greenowl]

Yes, I have also heard the "rumour" the the Duchess of Hohenberg was pregnant at the time of her assassination....I think I read it on the internet in the context of a confession made by Gavrilo Princip (the assassin) in which he claimed that he regretted killing the duchess, especially as she was pregnant. However, to the best of my knowledge there is no reliable evidence to back up this assertion and I tend to think it is nothing more than a rumour, or perhaps for some reason Gavrilo Princip believed her to have been pregnant. Incidently, Sophie Hohenberg had four children...the fourth (a son) was born dead or died soon after the birth.

[grandduchessella]

Her age would seem to make it doubtful that she was pregnant. (Though not entirely unlikely, Queen Sophie of Greece was about 43 when she gave birth to her last child in 1913). Perhaps there was confusion with what Princip said? Maybe he regretted killing her because she was a mother?