TravelJo!

Do you remember the man whose death triggered the Great War in Europe (1914-1918)?

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Hapsburg throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, along with his pregnant wife Sophie was assassinated by a young Bosnian-Serb, Gavrilo Princip, in Sarajevo in June, 1914. [More]

By the time the war was over; millions had died and new Europe’s maps were drawn. Most importantly, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had ceased to exist as Czechoslovakia, Hungary, former Yugoslavia declared their independence. The Hapsburg family was forced to leave their home as Hapsburg’s properties were taken by the states. Franz Ferdinand’s children, who lived in Konospiste during the assignation left for Vienna to be cared for by an uncle in-law and their father’s hunting friend.

Now, the great-grand daughter of Ferdinand, Her Serene Highness Princess Sophie von Hohenberg, demands to backwhat rightfully hers, Konospiste castle in the Czech Republic, because it is not a Hapsburg’s property.

Franz Ferdinand’s children — Sophie, Maximilian and Ernst — were not Hapsburgs and so the castle and its dependencies — nearly 15,000 acres of woodland and a brewery — should never have been seized.

That is because Franz Ferdinand married a woman a rung below his royal status. His uncle, Emperor Franz Jozef, would only allow the union on the condition that Sophie and any children she bore never be considered heirs to the throne. He gave the young bride her own title and a new name instead: Princess von Hohenberg, which has been passed down to her great-granddaughter today.

The heiress won’t have an easy time in court as the states hesitate to even consider such claim as they

Konospiste–50 km southeast of Prague–is opened for public visits and occasional ceremonies.

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