"Putting On Heirs!" Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, Duke of Reichstadt | The Esoteric Curiosa "Putting On Heirs!" Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, Duke of Reichstadt Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte 20.III. 1811 – 22.VII.1832 Emperor Napoléon II Of France King Of Rome Prince Imperial Duke Of Reichstadt Throughout the centuries, with the birth of most children, there always seems to exist all the immeasurable exciting possibilities and great expectations of what kind of person this new life will grow up to become. Sometimes a child comes into this world with high expectations not only upon the part of his parents and others, perhaps even the very country of its birth, which would make it seem like the weight of the world rested in the hands of a babe. Such, was the birth of the only legitimate son of Napoléon Bonaparte. Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte was born when it seemed to the world, that his father was at the apogee of his spectacular rise to power.

Everyone thought that his baby son was assured of a great destiny and sure to succeed him on the throne of France. Yet, in the end he grew up without a mother's love or a father's care. Sadly his short life was pitifully lonely and his early death was a relief to most people. There are few who thought of his existence at all, and his name is scarcely mentioned in history to this day. At birth the expectation was that he was to be the next ruler of France, and reign just as gloriously as his father as Emperor Napoléon II. That being said, no higher expectations were perhaps heaped upon one child than this little boy upon his much heralded arrival. Almost two hundred years ago, he was born in the Palace of the Tuileries. The boy's birth on the twentieth of March, 1811, was announced by the roaring salute of many cannons positioned throughout the capital. At the time, his birth was a great joy to the French nation, as well as his parents.

His mother, the Empress Marie-Louise, a former Archduchess of Austria and a daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria was Napoléon’s second wife, after he had divorced the beautiful Empress Joséphine. On March 11, 1810, the 18-year-old archduchess married Napoléon I by proxy, with a subsequent ceremony taking place in the chapel of the Louvre on April 1, 1810. The bride's father intended the marriage to strengthen links between the Austrian Empire and the First French Empire. Napoléon sought the validation and legitimation of his Empire by marrying a member of the House of Habsburg, one of the oldest ruling families of Europe. He also hoped to cement his position by fathering a legitimate heir. Napoléon had previously tried to marry Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of the House of Romanov, younger sister of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, but his proposal had been refused.

Following in the tradition of the heirs of Emperor’s of the Holy Roman Empire, Napoléon gave his son the style "His Majesty the King of Rome" which he declared was the new courtesy title of the heir-apparent to his large freshly built Empire, additionally he was also bestowed with the title, Prince Imperial. The young king’s christening was a stately ceremony at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It seemed as though he had a great future before him. During his first years in Paris, the King of Rome was surrounded by the many military trappings of his parent’s Imperial Household. According to one account, his “favorite toys were flags, trumpets, drums, a great horse which he used so much that it had to be repaired innumerable times.” History records that his father adored him, and the King of Rome often spent time with his father in the study, playing with his wooden blocks with military unit markings, with Napoléon talking to his infant son as he worked on governing his empire. The doting father also included his son while receiving dignitaries during official audiences. When the boy was only two and a half years old, his education was begun.

Given lessons almost before his baby lips could repeat the words that were taught him. It's been claimed that at the age of three, he was as fluent in French as a nine year old, rather than having a toddler's vocabulary. His father was determined that he should be well prepared for the great place in history that he was to fill. However, before the king was three years old, the fates took a drastic turn when Napoléon was defeated by the bitter cold of the Russian winter, subsequently the First French Empire collapsed. As the armies of the allies who had defeated the emperor neared Paris on March 29th 1814, the Empress Marie-Louise fled the Tuileries Palace with the young King of Rome and accompanied by her suite. Their first stop was the Château de Rambouillet; then, fearing the advancing enemy troops, they continued on to the Château de Blois. When his mother first fled with him from Paris, they had to leave most of their possessions behind. Being a child, the young prince thought that King Louis XVIII had stolen his toys.

Later when the toys were forwarded to Vienna, all the Napoleonic symbols which had previously decorated every toy, had been stripped from them on orders of his maternal grandfather. The Treaty of Fontainebleau of April 11, 1814 allowed Marie-Louise to retain her imperial rank and style Her Imperial Majesty The Empress Marie-Louise and made her the ruler of the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, with her son as heir. On April 13, with her suite much diminished, Marie-Louise and the three-year-old King of Rome were back in Rambouillet where they met her father, the Emperor Franz, and Tsar Alexander of Russia. Escorted by an Austrian regiment, mother and son left Rambouillet and France forever on April 23 and started for their exile in Austria. Intent on not missing this turn of good fortune, all the countries in Europe had combined and conspired against the emperor. Napoléon had fought and lost the great Battle of the Nations at Leipzig.

Even then, he might have kept his throne, if he had promised to be content with the Kingdom of France, but this he refused to do and everything was taken from him. It was Napoléon’s wish to abdicate the throne in favor of his toddler son, but the Allied Powers, at the insistence of the Tsar Alexander of Russia, refused. Napoléon, of course, was sent into exile on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean and never again saw the son of whom he was so proud and whom he loved so dearly. During his stay on the island, Napoleon received a marble bust of the King of Rome from his wife, but neither his son nor his wife visited the island. Marie-Louise was already under the watchful eye of her homeland. Marie-Louise, who did not care for her husband any longer, made no effort to go to him, despite his loving pleas and commands that she do so. She was quite content to obey her father's command of distancing herself from her husband. Eventually, in a further act of disloyalty to her exiled husband, she agreed to give up the title of Empress.

Soon afterwards at the Congress of Vienna, with representatives attending from all parts of Europe to try to redraw the national boundaries that Napoléon had so blithely erased, the security of their new found peace was to be shattered. They had hardly begun to crave up the map of Europe when news came that Napoléon had escaped from Elba and was on the move. Down but not out, Napoléon landed on March 1, 1815, and the famous Hundred Days saw him once again become master of France. The Battle of Waterloo soon followed on June 18, 1815, which saw his final defeat and abdication. Once again, Napoléon abdicated in favor of his son. This time the European Powers exiled him to St. Helena, where he was treated as prisoner of war, and died in May 1821. In the days following Napoléon's abdication, a Government Commission consisting of five members took over the rule of France, awaiting the return of King Louis XVIII who was in Cateau-Cambresis.

The Commission held the power for two weeks, and during that time it never summoned Napoléon II as emperor, and no regent was ever appointed. The entrance of the Allies into Paris on July 7th brought a rapid end to his supporters' wishes. Emperor Napoléon II, aged 4, was by then residing in Austria with his mother and was probably never aware at the time that he had been proclaimed Emperor in his father's will. In the settlements of 1814 and 1815, the European Powers had opposed any title or claims on the part of the little king. As such, he remained at Vienna, a pawn in the complex games of European politics, of whom one mastermind was Prince Metternich, the Austrian Chancellor. The title of King of Rome was taken from Napoléon and Marie-Louise’ son, and it was agreed that he was to succeed his mother, as Duke of Parma.

Essentially, his mother's family wanted him to forget his French blood and his father, but in time he would rebel, and later say: "If France called me, I would come." In 1815, the Congress of Vienna revised the arrangements from the Treaty of Fontainebleau and made Marie-Louise, Duchess of Parma for her life only, with the details of who would become Duke of Parma after her death unspecified. The great powers of Europe were determined that no son of Napoleon should ever rule. On occasion, Metternich brought up the name of Napoléon II, but to accomplish his own ends. On other occasions, he was championed by the supporters of Italian unification (for his role as son of the Duchess of Parma); and every so often, the malcontents in France would use his name to discourage the French Bourbon monarchy. Even his grandfather, Emperor Franz although having great affection toward him, also feared him as a political threat. In November 1816, the Imperial Court of Vienna informed Marie- Louise that her son could not succeed to her title as ruler of Parma; this decision was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris of 1817.

which stated that upon her death, the Duchies would revert to a member of the House of Bourbon. In 1844 it was further determined that the Duchy of Guastalla would be inherited by the Duke of Modena, who by this time was a member of the House of Habsburg. The title "Duke of Reichstadt" was given in 1818, as sort of a consolation prize to her son in lieu of his lost titles and possessions. Thus, Napoléon I, who once averred “that he would prefer his son be strangled rather than be brought up as an Austrian prince”, lived to see his son reduced to a rank inferior to that of the Austrian princes. After 1815, the young prince, became known as "Franz" after his maternal grandfather and lived entirely within the boundaries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Upon returning to Austria with his mother as a toddler, he was raised in luxury at the famed Schönbrunn Palace located in the heart of Vienna. Considered a beautiful child with long curly blond hair, Franz was reportedly much loved by his grandfather the Emperor Franz, as his favorite grandson loved him in return.

The Empress Caroline Augusta adored the orphan and called him "Fränzchen". Aware of his grandson’s reduced station, out of grand paternal love and perhaps a bit of guilt in recognition of Franz’s denied heritage, his grandfather provided all the necessary comfort for his grandson’s establishment: a big house staffed by 1 huissier, 2 postillons, 5 cochers, 4 laquais, 1 aide garde-magasin, 1 palefrenier, 1 adjoind de bureau, 2 cuisiniers de cour, 1 cuisinière pour les entrements, 1 confiseur, 1 valet, 1 sommelier, 1 porteur d'eau, 1 blanchisseur, 1 valet chargé de l'éclairage and so on. The Imperial family in general loved the prince who had a keen mind. At his grandfather’s court, he was treated with great respect and addressed as " Hoheit Durchlaucht ", meaning "His Most Serene Highness". A bit of a rebel by nature, above his bed there was a large portrait of his father Napoléon.

Franz was educated by tutors and apparently was a bright student, he could write and speak French, German, and Italian fluently. Even today when one reads some of his letters, they are stupefied by the quality of the writing. Well versed in Latin and Greek, he was also especially interested in military history. According to Dormer Creston, the boy’s passion for soldiering was no passing phase. “When he was only six he demanded a soldier’s uniform, the real thing, in miniature, and when later he was formally given the badge of a sergeant, he was beside himself with satisfaction. He would do sentry-duty outside the Emperor’s rooms and present arms to any man of the Court.” Meanwhile, his father continued to dictate specific instructions to his young son. Even though he'd named his son as his successor when he abdicated and although no one was willing or prepared to recognize him as legitimate to the throne of France, this was still at a time when French peasant households, had pictures of him on their walls. Growing up in his new home at Schönbrunn Palace, the boy was at first not told very much about his father because of the political division between Austria and France.

The Habsburg family and the government, especially Metternich, wanted to transform him into an Austrian prince. Under this guise, a routine was established to where he was raised by a staff of military tutors under the guardianship of his maternal grandfather. At the early age of eight, it was apparent to his tutors that the boy had clearly chosen his career. Count Mortiz von Dietrichstein, a retired major assigned to Franz, wrote to Marie-Louise: “The profession of arms is undoubtedly the only one he can embrace. That is indicated by all his taste, and it would be a mistake not to encourage such inclination.” By the spring of 1820, Franz had completed his elementary studies and was ready for the classics. The nine year old was now ready to fully begin his military training. As Octave Aubry relates, “Anything with a bearing on war delighted him. He had a soldier’s instinct.” Captain M. de Foresti, the assistant tutor, taught Franz tactics and strategy. The boy was now learning German and Italian while another tutor, Major Weiss, convinced him that learning math was important for a military career. Franz showed a “lively interest” in different systems of fortifications.

His physical training consisted of running, jumping, swimming, wrestling and riding. “He adored horses and rode instinctively,” according to Octave Aubry. As he grew into a young man, Napoléon II was described as precocious, volatile, passionate, and he indulged heavily in physical exercise, but at the same time was described as "weakly." When Napoléon died on May 5, 1821 it took until July for a courier to reach Vienna with the news. The task of telling 10-year-old Franz fell to Captain Foresti. One of Napoléon’s final wishes on St. Helena was for his son to never forget that he is a French prince. On September 7, 1821, four months after her husband’s death, Marie-Louise married morganatically her lover, Count Adam Albert von Neipperg. The couple had three children, the first two of whom were born before Marie-Louise and Neipperg were married.

The boy’s Army career officially began at age 12, during the summer of 1823, when his grandfather appointed him as an Army cadet entitling him to wear a uniform, which gave Franz “great delight.” As a cadet, he held the rank of a non-commissioned officer. His interest in the military easily distracted him from other studies. Aubry tells us that twice a day in the courtyard below his window “he could hear the bugle and drum announcing the changing of the guards. And he would at once jump to his feet...the sight of soldiers drawn up in file...the swift, spirited drill, the transmission of the password to the sentinels were an unfailing attraction to him...” Meanwhile, military bands, drums and trumpets were the only music that he liked. When Franz was 13, Count Dietrichstein made this report to Marie-Louise in Parma: “His appearance, his demeanor, in word everything about him, are subjects of boundless admiration.

His politeness is something exquisite...he sparkles with wit, his conversation is finesse itself, and the consideration he has for everyone...give him an ease that is far beyond his age.” While reports from the boy’s tutors might not be totally objective and could be self-serving to those charged with the boy’s development, it does appear that Franz was developing into an intelligent, serious and focused young man. With the passing of his father, Franz’s tutors showed less hesitation in speaking of the Emperor Napoléon. By the time Franz was 15, he was allowed to read some of the extracts of writings produced by some of the staff serving with his father on St. Helena, including Montholon, Gourgaud and Las Cases. The tutors had not been instructed to teach Franz to dislike his father, but “that with all his genius Napoleon had played a disastrous role in history,” says Aubry. When Franz was anxiously awaiting his promotion to lieutenant, his tutor did not believe he was ready. Nevertheless, the 15 year-old enjoyed wearing the dark uniform of a lieutenant of the Tyrolian Chasseurs. The Duke was tall and slender with thick curly blond hair and blue eyes.

He shared his military ambitions with his best friend the former Princess Sophie of Bavaria, an archduchess six years his senior and married to the Archduke Franz Karl. He told her that “he was sure to love the soldiers’ life...[he] would take an interest in his men, lead them in maneuvers, pass them in review...” As a result of this friendship, it has been suggested that the Duke of Reichstadt was the biological father to Sophie’s son, the future ill-fated Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, but this suggestion has never found acceptance amongst those who have a sound sense of Habsburg family history. Meanwhile, by the late 1820’s Franz appeared to have problems with his health. The household staff began noticing that he was coughing a great deal, frequently suffering from colds, chills and even fevers. During the summer of 1828 Marie-Louise visited Vienna, finding that Francis had become “an absolute giant” at about six feet tall. As much as others wished him to not be like his father, he shared many mannerisms.

In anger, he shared a look that Napoléon was famous for, and was a constant reminder to the Austrians of his father. Additionally, he walked just like his father, often with his hands behind his back when thinking, walking in a circle, with his head down. While his mother was home, the 17-year-old was appointed by his grandfather as a captain in a light infantry company. Marie-Louise presented him with the curved saber that had belonged to his father while he was in Egypt, “one of the few souvenirs of the Napoleonic epic” she had kept, according to Andre Castelot. The sword became a part of a large collection of weapons Franz displayed in his bedroom along with military books, “symbols of what he most desired...but over books and weapons brooded the spirit of Napoleon,” writes Dormer Creston. “The legend of his father was a power-house which held everything to which his youth stretched out.” Now that he was finally an army officer, the Franz was eager to be set free from his palace life.

During the summer of 1829 the young captain took part in maneuvers at the camp at Vraiskirchen, but was still not considered ready for full-time active service on account of his health. The 18-year-old read the book “Memorial of St. Helena” by Emmanuel Las Cases which served to inspire him even more than previous accounts of his father. He became “intoxicated” and “inspired” according to Aubry, now openly declaring, “The principal aim of my life must be never to show myself unworthy of my father.” Aubry tells us that, “The spell was too powerful and nothing now could prevail against it. Not only had he found his father again, in his true heroic stature, but through his father he was to find himself.” At this point he was reading everything about his father that he could find. The captain commented in a letter to his mother about a book on Napoleon’s Russian campaign by Chambray, “a very praiseworthy work.

I should like to see the Russians invade Austria one day, to make them go through a similar retreat, only with the difference that it would be our courage and not the bitter cold that would send them back to their snow.” At age 19, Franz met a 34-year-old major in the Austrian army who had written about Waterloo and defended Napoleon’s actions during the campaign. Franz, searching for friends and probably a father figure, latched on to Major Antoine de Prokesch-Osten. The major was impressed by Franz’s knowledge, writing to a friend that “I would stake my life on it that he knows more about the art of war than the cleverest of our generals.” He related that, “I am astonished by the liveliness of his mind and judgment, the clarity of his thought and practical intelligence.” Franz explained to his new confidant that "he was loyal to Austria, but could never fight against France.

.” Upon the death of his stepfather, Count von Neipperg in 1829, and the revelation that his mother had borne two illegitimate children to him prior to her marriage, Franz said to his friend, Prokesch von Osten, "'If Josephine had been my mother, my father would not have been buried at Saint Helena, and I should not be at Vienna. My mother is kind but weak; she was not the wife my father deserved". In March 1830 the Duke completed his formal education by taking an exam on the military code at the palace. A promotion greeted Franz in July, advancement to major with duties as a battalion commander in the 54th Lamezan-Salins regiment. Another promotion followed in November with his long wished-for appointment as a lieutenant colonel. He was assigned to the Duke of Nassau’s 29th Infantry Regiment, garrisoned at Brunn. Preparing for his spring entry into full-time active service, three officers were appointed to accompany him on this first venture away from the limits of Schönbrunn. General Count Hartmann would be the Franz’s chief of staff, joined by Captain Baron de Moll and Captain Joseph Standeisky.

Additionally In 1830, when there was wide spread upheaval in France, the French Bonapartist’s thought of Napoléon II. However, Metternich had no intention of inaugurating a Napoléonic revival. An important lesson in Franz’s education about his father came about as the result of his social debut at the British Embassy in January 1831. The lieutenant colonel was introduced to one of his father’s former marshals, Marechal Marmont. Marmont knew Napoleon from the siege at Toulon and performed with distinction in Napoléon’s Army from the Italian Campaign until the 1813 Campaign where he negotiated with the Allies and surrendered his corps. Excited to meet someone who had fought alongside his father for so many years, Franz asked him for a series of meetings to discuss his father’s campaigns. Marmount consented, with the approval of Metternich, and the two began meeting three days later for the first of 17 sessions. At the end of the sessions, Franz presented his teacher with a portrait of himself by Daffinger, showing him gazing at a bust of Napoleon.

According to Caselot, these sessions had a huge impact on Franz, helping his father “come to life before his eyes: he was no longer just a character in his history books...” Franz was still eager to see active service. When Austrian troops were ordered to Italy to control a rebellion that had caused Marie-Louise to fear for her safety, the lieutenant colonel begged his grandfather to allow his battalion to be a part of the Austrian force, but the Emperor refused. “Never have I seen him so agitated,” recorded Major Prokech. Frustrations led to periods of depression for Franz and the winter took its toll on his fragile health. Count Dietrichstein recommended that he be given a grenadier battalion permanently garrisoned in Vienna, not only for health reasons, but since any foreign postings could compromise the prince in the eyes of France. On June 16, 1831, Franz was given his own command, a battalion of 200 men of the 60th Regiment, Hungarian Infantry. He collected his battalion at the Alslegasse barracks, Alsler-Kaserne and began conducting drills and took charge of a function at the Hotel des Invalides.

On his second day of command, he writes his mother that he now rises at four in the morning and spends many hours each day on horseback. According to Andre Castelot, “he became an excellent battalion commander, strict but just toward his subordinates. His fiery temperament soon captivated his chief, the Prince of Wasa. His young soldiers worshiped him. One day when he rode slowly by on his white horse, he looked so handsome, so serious, so soldierly that they could not refrain from giving him a cheer, in defiance of their machinelike discipline.” Health continued to dog him though, with his voice easily giving out after shouting commands to his battalion. When the young commander complained to his physician Dr. Malfatti about “this wretched body of mine,” the doctor replied that the Duke has “an iron spirit in a body of crystal.” After a few weeks of ordered rest, the duke resumed his duties.

Dormer Creston describes the situation: “He lived in a see-saw of hope and despair; one moment he believed that by sheer determination he would still be able to lead a normal life; the next he was tripped up by physical weakness, by his inability to fight the germs of consumption.” At the beginning of 1832 he resumed his military duties, caught pneumonia and was again back under ordered bed rest in his Hofburg apartments. His activities were limited to extra sleep, lots of reading of newspapers, pamphlets and books, although outings to the theater and riding were allowed. He was still recovering on his 21st birthday on March 20, 1832. He had now lost the hearing in one ear. While some were recommending that the Duke remove to a warmer climate, like Italy with his mother, Andre Castelot argues that it was the Austrian Chancellor Metternich who blocked that option. Metternich “had no need to poison his old enemy’s son, as some writers have claimed he did; all he had to do was to let him die.

For at the beginning of this spring of 1832, it seemed possible that Franz might still be saved...” Franz by this stage very popular with Viennese society was reportedly very intelligent, cultivated, and always well-dressed. He was also very handsome. The women in Vienna apparently adored this young man. A reader described a portrait of Franz as a youth; "An 1831 portrait depicts the same eyes and brown wavy hair though of course a bit shorter as he was older. He is wearing an Austrian military tunic, pink, no epaulets, but with the badges of a couple of orders on it and a high black collar. Believe he also had his father's sword."The portrait was done by a Rodolf Hille in Vienna. The year before he died, it's speculated that Franz did know love, or at least infatuation. Franz secretly met a ballerina at the theatre one night. She invited him to her dressing room after her performance. Her name was Franziska (Fanny) Elssler, and she was just one year older than him. More of this relationship later.

Successful in his new role after he was carefully taught his profession, all the soldiers looked forward to the time when he would command them, and perhaps lead them to victory. Tragically, their hopes were not to be realized, for already his days were numbered. Sadly, the young prince died from "weakness of the chest" at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna on July 22, 1832, ironically in rooms that his father occupied following Austerlitz and Wagram. When news of his death was heard in France, it caused but little mention. Napoléon II, the King of Rome, summed it up best with these words near the end of his short life: “My birth and my death -- that’s the whole of my story.” The Duke of Reichstadt’s funeral took place in Vienna with full military honors and he was buried in the “Kaisergruft” or the Habsburg Imperial burial vault. On December 15, 1940, the remains of Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte were transferred from Vienna to the dome of Les Invalides in Paris. This was done as a "gift" to France by the German Dictator Adolf Hitler.

The remains of Napoléon I had been returned to France in December 1840, at the time of the July Monarchy. For some time, the young prince rested beside his father. Later the remains of Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte were moved to the lower church. While most of his remains were transferred to Paris, his heart and intestines remained in Vienna. They are in Urn 42 in the "Heart Crypt" (Herzgruft) and his viscera are in Urn 76 of the Ducal Crypt. When Napoléon II was born, Napoléon had mentioned to Geraud Duroc, “I envy that boy. Glory is waiting there for him: I had to run after Her. I will have been Phillip: he will be Alexander. He has only to extend an arm, and the world is his.” While much has been written about his father, and even his mother, there are very few references and details about the boy who might have been Emperor of France had history played out a different hand.

He has been referred to in history books as the "the lifelong captive (but very much loved) of Habsburg empire." Finally facing his own personal Waterloo in death, there was no denying his fate -- he could not escape being a mostly forgotten footnote in history. It's seems almost ironic that all the hopes that Napoléon Bonaparte had invested in his son, were not what was to be his legacy, rather what has remained, is Napoléon 's Civil Code concepts.

Somehow, it seems sort of prophetic that Napoleon himself said, "There is no immortality, but the memory that is left in the minds of men." Ancestors of Emperor Napoléon II Seize Quartiers Of “l'Aiglon” 1 - Napoléon II Bonaparte, Emperor of France 1811-1832 Generation 2 2 - Napoléon I Bonaparte, Emperor of France 1769-1821 3 – Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria 1791-1847 Generation 3 4 - Carlo Maria Buonaparte 1746-1785 5 - Letizia Ramolino 1749/1750-1836 6 – Emperor Franz I of Austria & Hungary 1768-1835 7 – Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Sicily 1772-1807 Generation 4 Franziska “Fanny” Elssler 23.VI.1810 – 27.XI.1884 Franziska was a daughter of Johann

 Florian Elssler, a second generation employee of Prince Esterhazy in Eisenstadt.

Both Johann and his brother Josef were employed as copyists to the Prince's Kapellmeister, Joseph Haydn. Johann was to eventually become valet to Haydn and attended Haydn up to and was present at Haydn's death. From her earliest years she was trained for the ballet, and made her appearance at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna before she was 7. She almost invariably danced with her sister Theresa, who was 2 years her senior; the sisters studied dancing with Jean-Pierre Aumer and Friedrich Horschelt beginning when Fanny was 9 years old, also traveling to Naples to study with the great Gaetano Gioja. After some years experience together in Vienna, the 2 went in 1827 to Naples. Their combined success, to which Fanny contributed more largely than her sister, led to an engagement in Berlin in 1830. This was the beginning of a series of triumphs for Fanny's personal beauty and skill in dancing. After captivating all hearts in Berlin and Vienna, and inspiring the aged statesman Friedrich von Gentz with a remarkable passion, she paid a visit to London, where she received much kindness at the hands of Mr. and Mrs.

Grote, who practically adopted the little girl who was born three months after the mother's arrival in England. In September 1834 Elssler appeared with the Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, a step to which she looked forward with much misgiving on account of Marie Taglioni's supremacy on that stage. The result, however, was another triumph for her, and the temporary eclipse of Taglioni, who, although the finer artist of the two, could not for the moment compete with the newcomer's personal fascination. This earned Elssler a place among the most talented and notable ballerinas of the Romantic ballet period. It was conspicuously in her performance of the Spanish La Cachucha that Elssler outshone all rivals. In 1840 she sailed with her sister for New York, and after two years unmixed success they returned to Europe. While in New York City, Fanny dined with and was escorted by John Van Buren, son of the President of the United States, Martin Van Buren. During the following five years Fanny appeared in Germany, Austria, France, England and Russia.

In 1845, she refused to perform along with her rivals Marie Taglioni, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito and Lucile Grahn in Jules Perrot's Pas de Quatre in London. In the same year, having amassed a fortune, she retired from the stage and settled near Hamburg. A few years later her sister Theresa contracted a morganatic marriage with Prince Adalbert of Prussia, and was ennobled under the title of Baroness von Barnim. Fanny Elssler died in Vienna on November 27, 1884. Theresa was left a widow in 1873, and died on November 19, 1878. Franziska "Fanny" Elssler The Romantic Verison Fact Or Fiction?

“There is something exceedingly touching in the history of the unfortunate Duke of Reichstadt, who, during his final illness, thus composed his own epitah: “Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte; born King of Rome – died Lieutenant in the Austrian Artillery.” Handsome, accomplished, brave: the inheritor of a splendid name and dazzling glory: loved almost to idolatry by the country in which his childhood was passed; a magnificent future stretching before him – fate frowned upon his brilliant prospects, gave him a weak constitution, wretched health, bitter disappointment and was only kind in leading him to an early grave. He breathed his last at Schönbrunn, in the chamber once occupied by his father, and in the neighborhood of the Imperial Chateau where he was wont to take his solitary walks. He seems to have been completely blasé from his childhood, and of so melancholy a temperament that scarcely anything gave him pleasure. Everything was done to cure him of his gloomy indifference, and when all else had failed, he met, in one of his lonely rambles, a beautiful peasant girl, with whom he fell in love at first sight. She appeared to return his affection.

Her society aroused him from his lethargy and endowed him with new life. She first taught him, it is said the nature of happiness and by her presence the dreary emptiness of his being was delightfully filled. Peasant as she was, she was graceful, accomplished, witty, and to his fond fancy, she was as a goddess on earth. He revealed to her all the sources of his discontent, poured into her confiding ear the secrets of his thoughts and the sacredest of his feelings. She was the single break of blue in his clouded sky, and in that blue was set the star of hope. One evening he was in the city, and attended the opera. When the ballet came on, among all the dancers suddenly flashed a form of wondrous beauty and grace, agile as a fawn, lithe as a spirit and the theatre echoed and re-echoed with welcome to the new divinity of the dance. The pale youth flushed, and his heart beat quick. Was he dreaming, or was the sylph like creature bounding and whirling on the stage, his beloved Marie, whom he had preferred before all the ladies of the Court? He rubbed his eyes and leaned forward, his very soul burning in his face.

He could not be mistaken. The lovely and guileless peasant whom he had worshipped and admitted to the innermost sanctuary of his spirit and the magnificent dancer of the opera were one and the same. The blazing theatre grew dim; the tumultuous applause was no longer heard; the unhappy prince gasped, struggled, swooned, and amid much excitement was borne to his carriage. The charming dancer who had fascinated him was the famous Fanny Elssler, then at the beginning of her extraordinary conquests and career. She had allowed herself to be used by his relatives as a bait to ensnare the young Duke’s affections, in the hope that through her some interest in life might be awakened. The ingenuous and handsome boy pleased her, no doubt. Her vanity was gratified at the expense of his final faith. He never recovered, it is said from this sudden and terrible shock, and she was liberally paid. The Queen Of The Ballet Death Of The World Famous Fannie Elssler Napoleon II of France - The Full Wiki The Full Wiki More info on Napoleon II of France Wikis Napoleon II of France: Wikis Advertisements Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article!

This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . Related top topics House of Orléans Did you know ... From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Duke of Reichstadt" redirects here. For the 1921 operetta, see Petar Stojanović (composer) . For other persons named Napoleon, see Napoleon (disambiguation) . Napoleon II 22 June 1815 - 7 July 1815 (16 days) as Emperor of the French; Napoleon II's succession was not officially proclaimed for the Bourbon Restoration was proclaimed immediately after the abdication of Napoleon I. Successor Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte Father Schönbrunn Palace , Vienna , Austria Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, Duke of Reichstadt (20 March 1811 – 22 July 1832) was the son of Napoleon Bonaparte and his second wife, Marie Louise of Austria . He was known from birth as the "His Majesty the King of Rome " which Napoleon I declared was the courtesy title of the heir-apparent .

His father abdicated in his favor, transferring to him the title of Emperor of the French , in 1815. Contents 5 External links Life Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte was born at the Tuileries Palace in Paris to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his second wife, Marie Louise of Austria in 1811. Napoléon declared him his heir-apparent and gave him the style "His Majesty the King of Rome ". Three years later, the First French Empire —to which he was heir—collapsed. Napoleon wanted to abdicate the throne in favour of his toddler son, but the Allied Powers, at the instance of the Emperor Alexander I of Russia , refused. On 29 March 1814, accompanied by her suite, the empress left the Tuileries Palace with her son. Their first stop was the Château de Rambouillet ; then, fearing the advancing enemy troops, they continued on to the Château de Blois .

On 13 April, with her suite much diminished, Marie-Louise and the three-year-old King of Rome were back in Rambouillet where they met her father, the Emperor Francis II of Austria , and the Emperor Alexander I of Russia. On 23 April, escorted by an Austrian regiment, mother and son left Rambouillet and France forever, for their exile in Austria. [1] In 1815, after his defeat at Waterloo , Napoleon abdicated in favour of his son, whom he had not seen since his exile to Elba . Napoléon II, Emperor of the French Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, the King of Rome, and Duke of Reichstadt The day after Napoleon's abdication, a Commission of Government of five members took the rule of France, [2] waiting the return of King Louis XVIII who was in Cateau-Cambresis . [3] The Commission held the power for two weeks, and it never summoned Napoleon II as emperor, and no regent was ever appointed. The entrance of the Allies into Paris on 7 July brought a rapid end to his supporters' wishes.

Napoleon II, aged 4, was residing in Austria with his mother and was probably never aware at the time that he had been proclaimed Emperor in his father's will. The next Bonaparte to come to the throne of France (in 1851) took the name Napoleon III in deference to his cousin's theoretical reign. After 1815, the young prince, now known as "Franz" (after his maternal grandfather, Emperor Francis of Austria ), lived in Austria. He was awarded the title of Duke of Reichstadt in 1818. Upon the death of his stepfather, Neipperg , and the revelation that his mother had borne two illegitimate children to him prior to her marriage, Franz said to his friend, Prokesch von Osten, "'If Josephine had been my mother, my father would not have been buried at Saint Helena , and I should not be at Vienna. My mother is kind but weak; she was not the wife my father deserved".

[4] He was very close to Princess Sophie of Bavaria and it has been suggested that he was the father to her son, the future ill-fated Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico [5] , but this suggestion has not found acceptance. He died of tuberculosis at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna on 22 July 1832. It has been claimed that his death was the result of deliberate lead or arsenic poisoning at the hands of agents of Metternich [6] , but this suggestion has not found acceptance. Remains and legacy On 15 December 1940, the remains of Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte were transferred from Vienna to the dome of Les Invalides in Paris. This was done as a "gift" to France by the German dictator Adolf Hitler [7] [8] . The remains of Napoleon I had been returned to France in December 1840, at the time of the July Monarchy . [9] For some time, the young prince rested beside his father. Later the remains of Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte were moved to the lower church.

While most of his remains were transferred to Paris, his heart and intestines remained in Vienna. They are in Urn 42 in the "Heart Crypt" ( Herzgruft ) and his viscera are in Urn 76 of the Ducal Crypt . Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte was also known as "The Eaglet" (L'Aiglon). Edmond Rostand wrote a play, L'Aiglon , about his life. Serbian composer Petar Stojanović composed the operetta Napoleon II: Herzog von Reichstadt, which premiered in Vienna in the 1920s. Pet Shop Boys used him as an emblem of loneliness amid wealth in their 2009 track "King of Rome," on their album Yes . Sources Welschinger, Le roi de Rome, 1811-32, (Paris, 1897) Wertheimer, The Duke of Reichstadt, (London, 1905) References ^ G. Lenotre, le Château de Rambouillet, six siècles d'histoire, ch.

L'empereur, Éditions Denoël, Paris, 1984 (1930 reedition), pp. 126-133, ISBN 2-207-23023-6.

Question: On 15 December 1940, whose remains (except for his heart, intestines and viscera) were transferred from Vienna to the dome of Les Invalides in Paris as a "gift" to France by Adolf Hitler?
Answer: Napoleon II