Crown Prince Rudolf

August 21, 1858 - January 30, 1889

The entire nation celebrated the crown prince's birth in 1858 - he was the son of Kaiser Franz Joseph I, and his birth secured the royal lineage.

At the age of six, Rudolf's education was meant to prepare him for the rigors of imperial duty. Though his relationship with his mother, Empress Elizabeth, was strained, the two would share liberal views. Rudolf grew up close with his older sister Gisela until her marriage to Leopold of Bavaria. The Crown Prince would marry Princess Stéphanie of Belgium in 1881, though their match was as ill-fated as his parents'. Unhappy with his family life, he began an affair with Marie Freiin von Vetsera, a 17-year-old girl, in 1888. Both shared a pessimistic outlook on life and exchanged letters where they planned to “save their love from this world.” On January 30, 1889, they committed suicide together in an imperial hunting lodge in Mayerling, Austria.