Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria
| Archduchess Elisabeth Marie | |||||
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| Archduchess of Austria | |||||
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| Born |
2 September 1883 Franzensburg Castle, Laxenburg, Empire of Austria |
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| Died | 16 March 1963 (aged 79) Villa Habsburg, Hütteldorf, Vienna, Allied-occupied Austria |
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| Burial | Hütteldorfer Friedhof | ||||
| Spouse | Prince Otto Weriand of Windisch-Grätz (m. 1902 - div. 1948) Leopold Petznek (m. 1948 - 1956; his death) |
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| Issue | Prince Franz Joseph Prince Ernest Prince Rudolf Princess Stéphanie |
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| House | Habsburg | ||||
| Father | Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria | ||||
| Mother | Princess Stéphanie of Belgium | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
| Full name | |
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| Elisabeth Maria Henriette Stephanie Gisela |
Archduchess Elisabeth Maria Henriette Stephanie Gisela of Austria (2 September 1883, Laxenburg – 16 March 1963, Vienna) was the only child of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria and Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, and a granddaughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and King Leopold II of the Belgians. She was known to the family as "Erzsi", a diminutive of her name in Hungarian. Later nicknamed "The Red Archduchess", she was famous for becoming a socialist and a member of the Austrian Social Democratic Party.
Archduchess Elisabeth was born at Schloss Laxenburg on 2 September 1883 to Crown Prince Rudolf and Stéphanie, daughter of King Leopold II of Belgium. The only child of his only (deceased) son, Erzsi was Franz Joseph's favorite granddaughter.
In 1889, when Erzsi was a little over five years old, her father and Baroness Mary Vetsera, his mistress, were found dead in what was assumed to be a murder-suicide pact at the Imperial hunting lodge at Mayerling. Her father's death interrupted the dynastic succession within the Austrian imperial family, fractured her grandparents' already tenuous marriage and was a catalyst in Austria-Hungary's gradual destabilization, which culminated in the First World War and the subsequent disintegration of the Habsburg Empire.
After Rudolf's death, Franz Joseph took over guardianship of Erzsi; by his order, she was forbidden to leave Austria with her mother. At a young age she displayed a strong personality, as well as an opposition to the Viennese court.
Her grandmother, the capricious Empress Elisabeth, did not enjoy being identified as a grandmother and was therefore not close to any of her grandchildren. However, after her assassination in 1898, her will specified that outside a large bequest of the sale of her jewels to benefit charities and religious orders, all of her personal property was bequeathed to Erzsi, her namesake and Rudolf's only child. The Empress made no secret of her dislike of her daughter-in-law prior to the scandal, and after Mayerling blamed Stéphanie's jealous behavior for her son's depression and suicide. The crown princess herself was entirely dependent on the Emperor's charity, and following her husband's death the resulting lack of imperial support towards Stéphanie negatively impacted her relationship with her daughter; the parent and child were never close.
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