The causes of the death of Crown Prince Rudolph, which occurred on the eve of the upcoming New Year of 1890 in a small hunting castle, arouse the interest of psychologists, historians, filmmakers, musicians and choreographers. Everyone interprets it one way or another, without coming to a consensus. Apparently, only Crown Prince Rudolph himself could explain it, but the materials of the investigation were immediately hidden in the archives of the Habsburgs.
Birth and upbringing
In the castle of Laxenburg on August 21, 1858, the heir to the throne was finally born to the emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elizabeth of Bavaria after two daughters.
He was named Rudolph in honor of the founder of the Austrian monarchy, who lived in the 13th century. Crown Prince Rudolph grew weak and painful. But the father dreamed that his son would become a military man with iron health. Therefore, Major General Count Leopold Honrecur was assigned to his education. He did not spare the child and accustomed him to physical exercises in the air under heavy rain and in severe cold. The count accompanied his morning rise with sudden shots from a pistol or could take the child to the forest near Vienna and leave him alone. Now we would call it exercises to
expand consciousness, but such methods are suitable only for an adult.
Method change
Mother could not stand the bullying of her son, and Crown Prince Rudolph switched to softer educators.
The photo shows the family of Emperor Franz Joseph. The German zoologist
Alfred Brem began to study with the boys
, who instilled in him a love of the natural sciences. The curious and attentive Crown Prince Rudolph was especially well aware of ornithology. A grown-up young man at the age of twenty traveled around Europe, and he became interested in political issues. He was keenly interested in the reasons for the defeat of Austria in the war with Prussia, did not hide his negative attitude and love for Hungary to it.
He criticized the political preferences of his father, but Franz Joseph did not pay attention to it. In 1878 he began to serve in Prague in an infantry regiment.
Marriage
At the insistence of the parents, in 1881, a magnificent wedding of the Crown Prince and the Belgian Princess Stephanie took place. After the wedding, a blessed allegorical picture was written, where angels hover over the young spouses, and a tamed lion is nearby, since Rudolph, crown prince of Austria, was a lion by the sign of the horoscope.
It was unknown whether there was happiness, rather no than yes, but the young lived together in Prague until the birth of their daughter, Mary Elizabeth. The young man was sad, drank a lot and met with ladies of easy virtue. A skull and a gun were seen on his desk.
These attributes of death are now played out in ballets, which are put on the theme of his life. One can imagine that he parted with youthful ideals, but could not find new ones. And so he turned his thoughts to death.
Causes of suicide
In the scientific mind, the act of suicide is not known. Psychologists do not give direct answers, referring mainly to a dysfunctional family. Of course, it contradicts the very nature of every living creature, which is arranged in such a way that the worse the material environment, the more stable the life force becomes. It is known that even in the 20th century, when the problem of suicide was investigated, it became clear from suicide notes that people themselves did not understand why they were doing this. Hereditary factors also have little effect on this act. The fear of death is natural, not the desire for it. Nevertheless, in Europe in the 60-80s a wave of suicides swept, very romantically furnished, which was based on the example of the death of the hero Goethe Werther. But some scholars conclude that suicide is caused by deep contradictions between the individual and the environment. The imposition of the personality of the actions necessary in its position may, according to modern psychologists, cause a sharp conflict in family relationships, for example, and, as a result, lead to a fatal outcome. Modern psychiatry considers suicide the most serious mental disorder. It can be part of the structure of the disease, and can be caused by any external cause.
Maria Alexandrina von Evenings
The girl was the youngest daughter of Baron Vecher, who was in the diplomatic service at the Austrian court. She attended not a gymnasium, but a closed Institute of noble maidens. There she received the knowledge necessary for social adaptation in high society as a wife and mother: French, music, drawing, dancing, needlework.
The Evenings family held receptions at home in order to introduce their daughters to the circle of men most suitable for marriage. They also attended races in the hope of making the necessary acquaintances. Women of the family were dressed extremely fashionably and elegantly.
First meeting
Presumably, the acquaintance of Mary Vecher, who was not yet seventeen years old, with the Crown Prince took place at the end of November 1888 at a diplomatic reception. Others say they met at the ball, while others say they were at the races.
One way or another, Rudolph, the crown prince of Austria, was immediately subdued by the sexuality emanating from the young girl: sensual grace, beautiful neck and profile, deep black sparkling eyes. Almost immediately, she received a gift from him - a hand-engraved cigarette case. But, given that there could only be a compromising connection with a girl, her family did not approve of continuing the acquaintance. Rudolf Habsburg, the Crown Prince, stood immeasurably higher on the social ladder than the Baron's daughter, especially since he was married. For a man, this did not play a role. Even for his wife, an affair on the side was unpleasant, but meant little. The girl did not even know that at that time he had a stormy romance with Mizzi Caspar, whom he considered the love of his life and on which he spent about sixty thousand guilders. It was she who he proposed to commit suicide with him, but the 24-year-old Mizzi refused. Then the Crown Prince turned his attention to Mary Vecher.
Mystical Temperament
One of the Crown Prince’s secretaries said quite expressively that he saw in Mary Vecher “a somewhat superficial and emotional maid”. She knew how, in his opinion, to sparkle like a Frenchwoman, but she did not possess serious thoughts. Of course, with the education she received, intellectual interests were excluded. And Crown Prince Rudolph was always interested in allowing a woman to share his political views. Therefore, on his part, it was a strange choice, as people close to him noted. Nevertheless, the exalted Maria Evenings tried to share the mystical temperament of the Crown Prince, which he really liked.
Mayerling Hunting Lodge
On January 28, 1899, Mary Vecher was brought to Mayerling with the Crown Prince. She was immediately sent to the bedroom on the second floor, and the owner in the morning of January 29 began to receive the arrived guest. He did not suspect that in the hunting lodge, in addition to him and the owner, there was still a girl.
He hoped to enjoy hunting after the last Christmas during the coming merry Christmas. However, the owner, citing ill health, refused to participate in the hunt. He made orders to receive guests on January 31 and ordered the coachman to be ready for tomorrow morning.
A mystery unknown to this day
So, Crown Prince Rudolph and Maria Evenings were left alone towards the night of January 29th. There are suggestions that the girl was pregnant, and the lovers wanted to have an abortion. But he was unsuccessful, and Mary began to bleed. There are other assumptions, more precisely, descriptions of the position of bodies. Mademoiselle Evenings was shot in the left temple, and a bullet entered the heart of Rudolph in the heart from the back. His body lay on his right side. And the window on the left was open. To the question of why Crown Prince Rudolph was killed if he was killed, there is still no answer. The investigation was not seriously carried out. What the researchers do not write!
- He was killed because he refused to participate in the Clemenceau conspiracy against Franz Joseph and take over the throne. It was required to unite Austria and France against Germany.
- Rudolph killed the girl, and then shot himself.
- Each of them killed himself.
- Both were killed by unknowns.
It is known that they wrote suicide notes to relatives, and they will be published in 2016, but have not yet been published. When the grave of Mary was repaired in 1955, no bullet holes were found in her skull.
Such a short and sad life was lived by Crown Prince Rudolph. His biography represents a large field for research.