Archduke Gottfried of Austria


Archduke Gottfried of Austria, also styled as Gottfried Erzherzog von Österreich, was an Archduke of Austria and claimant to the defunct throne of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

Biography

On 20 December 1866, Goffredo's grandfather, Ferdinando IV, the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his children were readmitted to the imperial family. The House of Tuscany ceased to exist as a sovereign branch and merged with the Austrian imperial house. Ferdinand was able to maintain his fons honorum vita natural durante, while his children became only imperial princes and no longer princes/princesses of Tuscany. The Grand Magistry of the Order of St Stephen died out with the death of Ferdinand IV. In fact, after the death of Grand Duke Ferdinand IV in 1908, Emperor Franz Joseph I forbade the acceptance of the title of Grand Duke or Prince or Princess of Tuscany: none of Ferdinand IV's children born after 1866 accepted the title of Prince or Grand Duke of Tuscany. They were also unable to legitimately take possession of the extinct dynastic orders, previously conferred by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
While his grandfather had kept the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany after the abolition of the dukedom in 1860, he had abdicated it in favor of the Austrian Emperor in 1870. Peter Ferdinand, Goffredo's father, never claimed the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany. The former Prime Minister of Saxony and later Imperial and Household Minister Beust declared: "The Tuscan Grand Ducal family has lost its sovereign rights as a result of political events. This branch of the Austrian imperial family is therefore naturally subordinate to the rights and duties of all other members of the imperial family. The Grand Dukes Leopold and Ferdinand and their more famous brothers are therefore from now on to be considered only as Archdukes of Austria and to be treated in accordance with the Statute of the High Noble Family of 3 February 1839."

Family

Gottfried was born in Linz, Austria-Hungary, the eldest child and son of Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Gottfried was raised with his three siblings in Salzburg and Vienna until the end of World War I in 1918, when his family emigrated to Lucerne, Switzerland. He died in Bad Ischl, aged 81.

Marriage and issue

Gottfried married Princess Dorothea of Bavaria, fifth child and fourth daughter of Prince Franz of Bavaria and his wife Princess Isabella Antonie of Croÿ, on 2 August 1938 civilly and religiously on 3 August 1938 in Sárvár, Kingdom of Hungary. Around 1970, in violation of the decree of Emperor Franz Joseph I of 1866 and ignoring the abdication of his grandfather last Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand IV signed in Lindau on Lake Constance in 1870, he assumed the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany without the permission of the head of the imperial and royal house. Gottfried and Dorothea had issue:
  • Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, married on 28 April 1965 in Salzburg, Friedrich Hubert Edler von Braun, son of Erich Edler von Braun and Baroness Elisabeth von Teuchert-Kauffmann und Traunsteinburg. They had three children:
  • *Bernadette Edle von Braun, she has illegitimate son
  • *Dominik Edler von Braun, married on 25 August 1995 in New York City, Countess Tatiana Angela von Nayhauss-Cormons, daughter of Count Mainhardt von Nayhauss-Cormons and Sabine Beirlein. They have three children:
  • **Justus Edler von Braun
  • **Ludovic Edler von Braun
  • **Edina Edler von Braun
  • *Felix Edler von Braun, married on 27 May 2006 in Berlin, Gabrielle Hinzmann. They have one daughter:
  • **Stella Edler von Braun
  • Archduchess Alice of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, married on 7 May 1970 in Salzburg, Baron Vittorio Manno, son of Baron Antonio Manno and Bonile Maria Asinari di Rossillon. They had three children:
  • *Leopoldo dei baroni Manno
  • *Baron Niccolò Manno, married on 22 May 2004 in London, Manon Sybille Duflos. They had three sons:
  • **Arturo dei baroni Manno
  • **Paolo dei baroni Manno
  • **Alessio dei baroni Manno
  • *Domitilla dei baroni Manno, married on 24 April 1999 in Salzburg, Pierre-Emmanuel Derriks, son of Michel Derriks and Anne Mottard. They had four children:
  • **Felicie Derriks
  • **Ombeline Derriks
  • **Fleur Derriks
  • **Corentin Derriks
  • Archduke Leopold of Austria, Prince and later titular Grand Duke of Tuscany, married on 19 June 1965 in St. Gilgen, Laetitia de Belzunce d'Arenberg, daughter of Henry de Belzunce and Marie-Thérèse de la Poëze d'Harambure. They had two sons.
  • * Archduke Sigismund Otto Maria Josef Gottfried Heinrich Erik Leopold Ferdinand of Austria, Prince and later Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to Uruguay, ; married London 11 September 1999, Elyssa Edmonstone, daughter of Sir Archibald Bruce Edmondstone, of Duntreath, 7th Baronet and the former Juliet Elizabeth Deakin, with three children.
  • ** Archduke Leopold Amedeo Peter Ferdinand Archibald of Austria, Grand Prince of Tuscany.
  • ** Archduchess Tatyana Maria Theresa Letitia Juliet of Austria, Princess of Tuscany.
  • **Archduke Stefano Sigismund William Bruce Erik Leopold of Austria, Prince of Tuscany.
  • * Archduke Guntram Maria Josef of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, married Cuernavaca, Mexico 13 April 1966 19 May 1996 Deborah de Sola, Countess von Habsburg, and has two children.
  • ** Countess Anna Faustian von Hobsburg.
  • ** Count Tiziano Leopold von Habsburg.
  • Archduchess Maria Antoinette of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, married on 13 April 1974 in St. Gilgen, Baron Hans Walter von Proff zu Irnich, son of Oskar Natterman and Margarete Wutt, adopted by his stepfather Baron Max von Proff zu Irnich. They have two children:
  • *Baron Maximilian von Proff zu Irnich, married on 29 May 2010, Baroness Sidonia von Ledebur, daughter of Baron Ernst von Ledebur and Alix von Watzdorf. They have one son:
  • **Baron Cornelius von Proff zu Irnich
  • *Baroness Johanna von Proff zu Irnich, married on 1 October 2011 in Starnberg, Florian Prechtl. They have two children:
  • **Franz Prechtl
  • **A child

Honours