Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria

Austrian archduke (1833–1896)
the son of Charles I of Austria

Archduke Karl Ludwig Josef Maria of Austria (30 July 1833 – 19 May 1896) was the younger brother of both Franz Joseph I of Austria and Maximilian I of Mexico, and the father of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (1863–1914), whose assassination ignited World War I. His grandson was the last emperor of Austria, Charles I.

He was born at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the son of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (1802–1878) and his wife Princess Sophie of Bavaria (1805–1872). His mother ensured he was raised a devout Roman Catholic by the Vienna Prince archbishop Joseph Othmar Rauscher, a conviction that evolved into religious mania in his later years. Though not interested in politics, the 20 year old joined the Galician government of Count Agenor Romuald Gołuchowski and in 1855 accepted his appointment as Tyrolean stadtholder in Innsbruck, where he took his residence at Ambras Castle. However, he found his authority to exert power restricted by the Austrian cabinet of his cousin Archduke Rainer Ferdinand and Baron Alexander von Bach. He finally laid down the office upon the issue of the 1861 February Patent for a life as patron of the arts and sciences. As the eldest surviving brother of the Emperor, Karl Ludwig, after the death of his nephew Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria in 1889, became heir presumptive to the Austro Hungarian Empire. A newspaper article appeared shortly after the death of his nephew claiming that the Archduke had renounced his succession rights in favor of his eldest son Franz Ferdinand. This rumor proved to be false.

Karl Ludwig died of typhoid at Schönbrunn in Vienna after returning from a journey to Palestine and Egypt, allegedly after the consumption of contaminated Jordan waters. His widow Maria Teresa died on 12 February 1944.