Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Archduke Albrecht dies at 75

February 18, 1895

Archduke Albrecht of Austria died today at Arco from "congestion of the lungs. He was in his seventy-fifth year. Death took place at approximately at 1:15 in the morning. The late Archduke, who was born in Vienna on August 3, 1817, was the Field Marshall and the Inspector General of the Austrian army.
He was the son of the "glorious Archduke Carl, who defeated Napoleon at Aspern," and he "inherited his military dispositions, which his father guided."
In 1844, the archduke married Princess Hildegarde of Bavaria, daughter of King Ludwig I. They had two daughters, one of whom, Archduchess Maria Theresa, who survives him. Maria Theresa is married to Duke Philipp of Württemberg, the head of the Roman Catholic branch of the family, and heir presumptive to the throne.
Archduke Albrecht was one of the wealthiest members of the Habsburg family. He owned more than 300,000 acres in Hungary, and enjoyed a great collection of paintings and engravings and had the "reputation of being one of the world's great iconophilists."
For some years, he suffered from epilepsy, but his mind was not affected. His "popularity was profound, and his kindness to the poor was sincere and heartfelt."

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