Archduke Gottfried of Austria (German: Gottfried Maria Joseph Peter Ferdinand Hubert Anton Rupert Leopold Heinrich Ignaz Alfons, Erzherzog von Österreich, Prinz von Toskana; 14 March 1902 – 21 January 1984), also styled as Gottfried Erzherzog von Österreich, was an Archduke of Austria and claimant to the defunct throne of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
Contents
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 (archdukes of Austria) 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 (born 2 October 1939 in Achberg), married on 28 April 1965 in Salzburg, Friedrich Hubert Edler von Braun (born 26 December 1934 in Regensburg), son of Erich Edler von Braun and Baroness Elisabeth von Teuchert-Kauffmann und Traunsteinburg. They had three children:
Bernadette Edle von Braun (born 21 July 1966 in Bad Godesberg), she has illegitimate son David
Dominik Edler von Braun (born 21 September 1967 in Bad Godesberg), married on 25 August 1995 in New York City, Countess Tatiana Angela von Nayhauss-Cormons (born 5 May 1968 in Munich), daughter of Count Mainhardt von Nayhauss-Cormons and Sabine Beirlein. They have three children:
Justus Edler von Braun (born 15 May 2003 in Bonn)
Ludovic Edler von Braun (born 20 September 2005 in Bonn)
Edina Edler von Braun (born 15 November 2007 in Bonn)
Felix Edler von Braun (born 23 April 1970 in Bad Ischl), married on 27 May 2006 in Berlin, Gabrielle Hinzmann (born 15 August 1972 in Berlin). They have one daughter:
Stella Edler von Braun (born in 2009)
Archduchess Alice of Austria, Princess of Tuscany (born 29 April 1941 in Leutstetten), married on 7 May 1970 in Salzburg, Baron Vittorio Manno (born 31 July 1938 in Cuneo), son of Baron Antonio Manno and Bonile Maria Asinari di Rossillon. They had three children:
Honours
Knight of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece