Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria

Archduke Ludwig Viktor
Archduke Ludwig Viktor, about 1870
Full name
Ludwig Viktor Joseph Anton
House House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father Archduke Franz Karl of Austria
Mother Princess Sophie of Bavaria
Born 15 May 1842(1842-05-15)
Hofburg, Vienna, Austria
Died 18 January 1919(1919-01-18) (aged 76)
Schloss Klessheim, Austria

Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria (Ludwig Viktor Joseph Anton; 15 May 1842 – 18 January 1919) from the House of Habsburg was the youngest son born to Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and Princess Sophie of Bavaria. His siblings included Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico and Archduke Karl Ludwig.

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Biography

He was born in Vienna shortly after his sister Archduchess Maria Anna had died at four years of age, followed by a stillborn brother. During the Revolutions of 1848 and the Vienna Uprising, pampered "Luziwuzi" with his royal family had to flee the Austrian capital, at first to Innsbruck, later to Olomouc. Ludwig Viktor pursued the usual military career but had no intentions to interfere in politics. He had a city palace erected in Vienna designed by Heinrich von Ferstel, where he hosted homophile soirées.

Despite his mother's attempts to arrange a marriage for him with Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria, youngest sister of Empress Elisabeth he remained a bachelor all his life. As a result of his very public homosexuality and transvestitism (Visits at the Central Bathhouse Vienna), his brother Emperor Franz Joseph finally forbade him to stay in Vienna.[1] The same emperor said that he couldn't be worry about his brother only if he would give him a Ballerina as orderly. Ludwig Viktor retired to Klessheim Palace near Salzburg where he died in 1919, at the age of 76. He is buried at the Siezenheim cemetery.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

References

Helmut Neuhold: Das andere Habsburg. Homoerotik im österreichischen Kaiserhaus, Tectum-Verlag

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Archduke_Ludwig_Viktor_of_Austria Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria] at Wikimedia Commons