Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria
| Archduke Ludwig Viktor | |||||
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| Born |
15 May 1842 Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria |
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| Died | 18 January 1919 (aged 76) Schloss Klessheim, Austria |
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| Burial | Siezenheim Cemetery | ||||
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| House | House of Habsburg-Lorraine | ||||
| Father | Archduke Franz Karl of Austria | ||||
| Mother | Princess Sophie of Bavaria | ||||
| Full name | |
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| Ludwig Viktor Josef Anton |
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 and younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.
He was born in Vienna shortly after his sister Archduchess Maria Anna had died at four years of age, followed by a stillborn brother. His elder siblings included Emperor Franz Joseph, Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico and Archduke Karl Ludwig.
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 and was appointed General of the Infantry, but had no intentions to interfere in politics. He rejected his brother Maximilian's ambitions in the Second Mexican Empire and especially plans to marry him to Princess Imperial Isabel, daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. Instead he concentrated on building up his own art collection and had a city palace erected on Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna according to plans 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, culminating in a brawl at the Central Bathhouse Vienna, his brother Emperor Franz Joseph finally forbade him to stay in Vienna. The same emperor joked that he should be given a ballerina as adjutant to keep him out of trouble.
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