Anton Lehár Anton Freiherr von Lehár ( 21 February 1876 – 12 November 1962 ; known sometimes as " Baron Antal Lehár " ) was an Austrian officer of Hungarian descent , who reached the pinnacle of his service after World War I when he supported the former Emperor Charles I of Austria ' s attempts to retake the throne of Hungary . His brother was composer Franz Lehár . Early life . Lehár was born in Ödenburg , ( now Sopron ) , Austria - Hungary , as the younger son of a bandmaster in the Infantry Regiment No . 50 of the Austro - Hungarian Army . He attended schools in Preßburg , Prague and Vienna . He entered cadet school in Vienna to become a professional officer , finishing in 1893 top of his class . Following a posting to his father ' s regiment , he was promoted Leutnant in 1894 and Oberleutnant in 1898 . Between 1897 and 1899 Lehár attended the " Kriegsschule " ( war college ) in Vienna , after which he was attached to the general staff and served in a number of training positions until World War I . World War I . Following the outbreak of World War I , Lehár , now with the rank of Major , was put in command of the 2nd battalion of the Honvéd - Landsturm Infantry Regiment No . 13 , which he led in September 1914 during battles at Chodel south of Lublin . His battalion was part of the Army group " Kummer " and served next to the unit of General Viktor Dankl . For his conduct there , Lehár would later be decorated with the Knights ' s Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa ( see below ) . While still fighting near Lublin , Lehár was severely wounded . After leaving hospital he was reassigned to the War ministry in Vienna and in September 1915 he served in the Tyrolean Defence Command . Following promotion to Oberstleutnant in September 1915 , Lehár returned to fighting , this time on the Italian front . There he commanded the " Heeresgruppe " Lehar " " in the Etschtal - Rovereto sector of the Italian front , which consisted of Tyrolese " Standschützen " and Bosniaks . In June 1916 he was transferred back to the technical Military committee and became head of the department for infantry and cavalry weapons . Assignments to the Eastern front and to the office of Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza followed . Later he was transferred to the newly raised Infantry Regiment 106 and commanded this unit in the battles on the Piave . He served in the Infantry Regiment 106 until the end of the war . In May 1918 he was promoted to Oberst and received the Golden Bravery Medal for Officers . In August 1918 Lehár was decorated with the Knights ' s Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa in recognition of his services during the battles at Chodel south of Lublin in September 1914 . In accordance with the statutes of this order , Lehár became a baron in his country ' s nobility and was since styled " Freiherr von Lehár " , while his brother Franz remained a commoner . At the conclusion of hostilities of World War I , Lehár was able to move his regiment , without any casualties or desertion , back to Steinamanger ( now Szombathely in Hungary ) . Hungary . After the dissolution of the Austro - Hungarian Empire , Oberst Anton Freiherr von Lehár decided to remain in Hungary and to fight for the monarchy , again in numerous roles and at various theatres of war . He played an important role in the counterrevolution in Hungary . In August 1919 he became the military commander of Western Hungary and was promoted to Major General by Regent Miklós Horthy . When the former King King Charles IV tried to return to the Hungarian throne , Lehár joined his troops , but the mission failed . While the former monarch was transported into exile , Lehár escaped from Hungary and fled through Czechoslovakia to Germany where he hid with friends of his brother ' s . Life as a businessman . When the political turmoil had calmed down , Anton ' s brother Franz Lehár organized for the former general a job as director of the " Society of Authors , Composers and Music Publishers " in Berlin in 1926 . With the rise of the National Socialist Party , Freiherr von Lehár was , as a dedicated Austrian - Hungarian monarchist , soon considered suspect . When the National Socialists assumed power in 1933 ( " Machtergreifung " ) , he had to leave Berlin . Back in Vienna , Lehár founded the " Chodel Music Publishing Company " , but after it did not prosper , he decided to hand over the business to his brother in 1935 . He then moved to the countryside , becoming a farmer in Theresienfeld near Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria . When Germany occupied Austria in March 1938 ( " Anschluss " ) , Lehár was ordered to move to Vienna where the Gestapo could keep a closer eye on him and his wife for much of World War II . After Franz Lehár ' s death in October 1948 , the former general became the administrator of his estate and spent the rest of his life guarding the rights and promoting the popularity of his brother ' s music . Anton Freiherr von Lehár died in Vienna in 1962 , aged 86 .