Franz Ferdinand

Karl I

Zita of Bourbon-Parma

The end of monarchy

After the tragic suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf one of the emperor's nephews, Franz Ferdinand (*1863, +1914), became heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. However, he was also to meet a tragic end: in June 1914 he was assassinated together with his wife, Sophie, in Sarajevo, an act that triggered the outbreak of the First World War.

During the war, in November 1916, Franz Joseph died at the age of 86, after a reign that had lasted 68 years. He was succeeded by his great-nephew Karl I (*1887, +1922), the last emperor of Austria. The end of the First World War also spelled the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. On 11th November 1918 the First Republic of Austria was proclaimed after the emperor had renounced any share in the affairs of state. However, since he had refused to renounce his claim to the throne he had to go into exile with his family. In 1922 he died at the age of 35 on the Portuguese island of Madeira. His wife, Zita (*1892, +1989) of Bourbon-Parma, also refused to relinquish her claim to the throne and thus spent the rest of her life in exile, latterly in Switzerland, where she died in 1989. Her body was transported to Vienna and she was buried as the last Austrian empress in the imperial crypt of the Church of the Capuchin Friars.