Gunnison news-champion., 1923-05-18
.E.STRY1S'
MKSTEKlES|
WHO KILLED RUDOLF or
AUSTRlAf


THE proverbial 'luck Of the Haps
burgs'-a synonym for III fortune
rather than good-manifested Itself In
number Of ways during the long
reign OF Franz-Josef, late emperor Of
Austrla-Hungary, but none OF the oc-
currences were more startling or mys-
terious than those connected with
the sudden death OF Rudolf. crown
prince Of the realm and favorite son
OF Franx-Josef.
Married TO the Princess Stephanie,
daughter Of Leopold II. king Of the
Belgians. Rudolf was far from happy
In his marital relations, and COM
paratively short time had elapsed az.
ter his marriage when he attempted
to induce his wife to secure a divorce
In order that he might marry Maria
Vetsers. q beautiful young baroness
with whom he was madiy In love.
Frnnx-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 viyidly
when, only 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 30. Rudolf's valet entered his mas
ters bed chamber and found the crown
prince dead and. beside him, the body
OF the beautiful baroness.
The first official report stnted 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 q
flood OF rumOrs and supposedly "au-
thentic" accounts Of the tragedy, some
OF which stated that the baroness had
killed herself I'm 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.
erable credence on the continent. was
connected with former fiance Of the
baroness, whom she 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 II 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 40
wild as II 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 Afeyerling."
But the entire affair-whether dou.
BILE murder. q 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-
hann Salvador; the murder Of the EN-.
pfess 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.
No Preacher Shortage.
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