The Republican journal., 1922-11-09
|HISTuRY'S
MYSTERIES
WHO KILLED RUDOLF OF
AUSTRIAN

THE proverbial Tuck of the Haps-
burgs"-a synonym for i'll fortune
rather than good-manifested itself in
number of ways during the long
reign of Franz-Josef. late emperor of
Austria-lIungary, but none of the oc-
currences were more startling or mys-
terlous than those connected with
the sudden death of Rudolf crown
prince Of tie realm and favorite son
of Franz-JoSef.
Married to the Princess Stephanie.
laughter Of Leopold III, king of the
Belgians, Rudolf was far from happy
In his marital relations, and COM
paratively short time had elapsed af-
ter his marriage when he attempted
to induce his wife to secure q divorce
In order that he might marry Maria
Vetsera, beautiful young baroness
with whom he was madly> In love-
Franz-Joseph, however, sternly for
bade all thought of divorce and Ru-
dolf announced that he was prepared
to renounce all his title and marry the
Baroness Vetsera In spite of parental
objections This was recalled vividly
when, only a few months later, there
occurred the "Meyerling Tragedy"
Late In January, 1869, Rudolf
staged a gay house party at the castle
of Meyerling, some twelve miles from
Vienna. Among the guests was the
Baroness Maria Vetsera and gossip
concerning her affair with the crown
prince ran high finally breaking with
clash when, on the morning of Jan
uary 80, Rudolf's valet entered his mas
ter's bed chamber and found the crown
prince dead and, beside him, the body
Of the beautiful baroness.
The first official report stated that
the crown prince had died of apoplexy
but, as his rugged physique and ex-
ceptional health were well known
throughout the court circles of Europe,
this statement was received with a
smile and much Struggling of shoul-
ders. Following this there came
food of rumors and supposedly "au-
thentic" accounts of the tragedy, some
of which stated that the baroness had
killed herself in despair and that Ru-
dolf had committed suicide when he
found her body, others telling of an al
legged suicide pact between the lovers
and still others limiting at completely
on the part of certain court officials
who had been instructed to put a stop
to the intimacy between the baroness
and the crown prince at any cost"
a fourth story, which gained consid-
cradle credence on the continent. was
connected with former fiance of the
baroness, whom Sic had discarded in
favor of Prince Rudolf This person
age, whose name was freely mentioned
was known to have been in the vicin-
ity of Meyerling castle on the night of
the tragedy, and the report was that
he had secured admittance to the
apartments of the prince by bribing
several of the servants and had shot
both Rudolf and the baroness, making
his escape before the double murder
was discovered.
Still another angle to the whole af-
fair appeared several years later when
the former crown prince and the baro-
ness were reported to have been seen
in the United States, and it was freely
hinted that news of their deaths had
been given to the world in order to
cover scandal which would have
shaken the throne of Austria and i'm
periled the friendship then existing be-
tween that country and Belgium. That
this version of the tragedy Is not as
wild as it appears is evident from the
fact that one of the foremost ency-
clopedias states that the crown prince
"is believed to have died, probably by
his own hand, at the Castle Meyerling"
But the entire affair-whether dou
BILE murder, suicide pact or an at
tempt to cover a Scandals only one
of the many tragedies which made
their appearance during the reign of
Franz-Joseph, tragedies which includ
ed his unhappy marriage with the
Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria; the ex-
ecution of his brother, the Emperor
MaXimilian of Mexico; the mysterious
disappearance of the Grand Duke Jo-
ham Salvador; the murder of the EN-
press Elizabeth at Geneva and the as
sassination of the heir to the throne,
the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and
his morganatic wife. the final tragedy
which led to the greatest of all-the
World war and the subsequent par
tition of the kingdom.