Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-07-11
THE MEYERLlNG
TRAGEDY

Ihe mysterious murders In the royal
castle at Meyerling, only ~ miles from
Vienna. although they occurred on the
last day but one of January, 1889, are
as closely enveloped in mystery today
as on that fateful January morning "a,
years ago. Like royal tragedies OF
its the Austrian court has
taken every opportunity to squelch
any attempt to fathom the mystery
put the sensation 1t created at the
time Is still fresh in the memory of
many readers.
There was a jolly house party at
crown prince of the empire. who was
very fond of social gaiety and lived
more or less a life of dissipation. The
night Of January go was an unusually
lively n at the castle. and on the
oilowin morning the sole heir to the
rulership Of the mighty Austrian en-
pire lay dead in an upper room. It
was ofncially announced that he had
died of apoplexy, but Rudolf, being a
many OF only 80 years of age, and of
magnihcent physique. the people
doubted the story. Gossip became SO
loud that the official announcement
was made that the prince had COM
mitted suicide.
Finally the Information reached the
public that the beautiful young Bar
oness Marie Vetsera, who had been
a member of the house party. was
also dead. and that she had either
killed herself or had been murdered.
These facts are all that have eve
been automatically known of what oc-
Cured upon that %eventful night at the
Heyerling castle.
But there have beer many versions
that have been SGT afloat and from
time to time have beer published.
According to one statement, the
crown prince his wife. Who was.
S~tephanie, a daughter of Leopold III,
the late king of Belgium, We're
~wretchedly unhappy in their married
life. Rudolf was a sort of gay Lo-.
thario and stephanie was a sulky and
jealous creature, and when 1t became
known that the crown prince had
fallen in love with the pretty Marie
Vetsera, Stephanie decided to seek a,
divorce. The emperor of Austria did
everything to bring about a reconcil-
iatiOn between the estranged couple.
Rudolf even expressed his willing
ness to resign his right to the Aus
trian throne in order hat he might
marry Marie. During the house party.
at Meyerling the unhappy crown prince
told the young baroness the failure of,
Rather than live without Rudolf. Marie
killed herself. and left a note request
the crown prince to follow her Into
eternity.
me prince, finding her BODY, laid
1t n sofa in a little reception room,
covered 1t from head to foot with a
pail of fragrant flowers, after which
he killed himself.
A somewhat different story tells Of
a suicide pact which the two lovers
arranged. Rudolf shot Marie in the
back, between the shoulder blades.
and then shot himself, but not be-
fore he had left a note saying he
had killed the baroness, but aimed
the bullet where it would not mar
her beauty"
And still another rumor had 1t that
Marie shot the crown prince and
then took poison. Perhaps a bare
half dozen people in all the world
/. ever knew or eve will know the real
truth, Inc IL still living, their lips are
sealed.
/ The House Of Hapsburg. the ruling
family of Austria, have for centuries
been pursued by an evil destiny, and
misfortunes have piled upon its mem
bers until "Hapsburg uck" has be-
come almost a synonym for wretched-
ness. Less than 10 years after Rudolf's
death, his aged mother, the Empress
Elizabeth OF Austria. was murdered
by an anarchist. The aged emperor
lives on in sorrow, with no direct heir
t. whom his vast authority can de-
scend and with that awful tragedy of
January 80, 1889. always fresh in his
momnrv fe