Notizen zu dieser Person
Otto von Habsburg (born 20 November 1912 as Archduke Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius of Austria, later of Austria-Este), was the nominal king of Hungary from 1922 to 1946 and has been the head of the Habsburg family since 1922. He is the eldest son of Charles, the last Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary-Croatia and Bohemia, and his wife, Zita of Bourbon-Parma. He is a former member of the European Parliament for the Christian Social Union (CSU) party and honorary president of the International Paneuropean Union. Otto lives in Bavaria in Germany, and is a citizen of Germany, Austria, Croatia and Hungary. Although his official name in Germany is Otto von Habsburg, he is referred to as Otto Habsburg-Lothringen by Austrian authorities, since the use of noble titles and prepositions like "von" is forbidden by the Austrian constitution. He is sometimes known as Archduke Otto of Austria, Crown Prince Otto of Austria, and in Hungary simply as Habsburg Ottó. Early life Otto was born at Villa Wartholz in Reichenau an der Rax, Lower Austria. He was baptised on November 25, 1912, at Villa Wartholz, by the Prince-Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Franz Xavier Nagl. His godfather was the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (represented by Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria); his godmother was his grandmother Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal. In November 1916, Otto became Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary-Croatia and Bohemia when his father, Archduke Charles, ascended to the throne. However, in 1918, at the end of the First World War, the monarchies were abolished, the Republics of Austria and Hungary founded instead, and the family was forced into exile. Hungary did become a kingdom again, but Charles was never to ascend the throne. Instead, Miklós Horthy ruled as regent until 1944, in a kingdom without a king. Years in exile Otto's family spent the subsequent years in Switzerland and on the Portuguese island of Madeira, where Karl died prematurely in 1922, leaving the 10-year-old Otto pretender to the throne. Meanwhile, the Austrian parliament had officially expelled the Habsburg dynasty and confiscated all the official property (Habsburgergesetz of 3 April 1919). In 1935 Otto graduated from the Catholic University of Leuven, having studied social and political sciences. Opposing the Nazi government Otto spent most of the war years in Washington, D.C. (1940 - 1944), after escaping from Belgium to Paris with his mother, former Empress Zita, and other family members. His uncle Max, Duke of Hohenberg, and Prince Ernst of Hohenberg were arrested in Vienna by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp until the end of the war.[citation needed] When Paris was in danger, the family left the French capital and moved to Portugal with a visa issued by Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux. A fervent Austrian patriot, Otto opposed the Nazi Anschluss in Austria in 1938[citation needed] and, sentenced to death by Hitler, chose to leave Europe altogether (ironically, the code name for the operation carried out by the German army in the Anschluss was "Otto"). After the war, Otto lived for some years in both France and Spain. Political career In 1961, Otto "for purely practical reasons" renounced all claims to the Austrian throne and was eventually allowed to return to his home country in 1966. (Austria had until the mid 1950s been officially neutral, staunchly republican and ill-disposed to welcome back the heir to a deposed dynasty.) An early advocate of a unified Europe, Otto was president of the International Paneuropean Union from 1986 to 2004. He served from 1979 till 1999 as a Member of the European Parliament for the conservative CSU party, becoming the Senior Member of the supranational body. He is also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society. He was a major supporter of the expansion of the European Union from the beginning and especially of the acceptance of Hungary. During his time in parliament Otto is alleged to have struck fellow MEP Ian Paisley. When Pope John Paul II gave a speech to the European Parliament in 1988, Paisley shouted at the Pope, "I renounce you as the Antichrist!" and held up a poster reading "Pope John Paul II Antichrist", whereupon he was excluded from the session and expelled from the room by other MEPs. Otto is a patron of the Three Faiths Forum, a group which aims to encourage friendship, goodwill and understanding amongst people of the three monotheistic faiths of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In December 2006, Otto observed that, "The catastrophe of September 11, 2001 struck the United States more profoundly than any of us, whence a certain mutual incomprehension. Until then, the United States felt itself secure, persuaded of its power to bombard any enemy, without anyone being able to strike back. That sentiment vanished in an instant... Americans understand 'viscerally' for the first time the risks they face." In January 2007 he relinquished his status as the Head of his House to his eldest son. On July 5, 2007 Otto received London’s highest honour, the Freedom of the City of London from the hands of Sir Gavyn Arthur, former Lord Mayor of London. Family life Otto has been married since 1951 to Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen and Hildburghausen. The couple have seven children and 23 grandchildren: Archduchess Andrea of Austria (born 1953). Married Hereditary Count Karl Eugen of Neipperg. They have three sons and two daughters. Archduchess Monika of Austria (born 1954). Married Luis María Gonzaga Gonzaga de Casanova-Cárdenas y Barón, Duke of Santangelo, Marquess of Elche, Count of Lodosa and Grandee of Spain, who is a descendant of Infanta Luisa Teresa of Spain, Duchess of Sessa and sister of Francis, King-Consort of Spain. They have four sons. Archduchess Michaela of Austria (born 1954). Monika's twin sister. Married firstly Eric Alba Teran d'Antin, and secondly Count Hubertus of Kageneck. She has two sons and a daughter from her first marriage. Twice divorced. Archduchess Gabriela of Austria (born 1956). Married Christian Meister in 1978, divorced in 1997. She has a son and two daughters. She is an international sculptor. Archduchess Walburga of Austria (born 1958). Married Count Archibald Douglas, from the Swedish nobility. They have a son. Archduke Karl of Austria (born 11 January 1961), married Baroness Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza (daughter of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza) in 1993. They have two daughters and a son. They separated amicably in 2003. Eleonore (born 1994) Ferdinand Zvonimir (born 1997) Gloria (born 1999) Archduke Georg of Austria (1964). Married Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg. They have two daughters and a son. Zsófia (born 2001) Ildikó (born 2002) Károly-Konstantin (born 2004) Otto and his wife reside in retirement at the Villa Austria in Pöcking bei Starnberg, Starnberg, near the lake Starnberger See, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
William B.
