The Last Habsburg

When strolling through Freiburg this morning, I noticed a strange flag with a mourning band flying from a bookshop. When I came nearer, I recognized the Austrian Imperial banner and had my light bulb moment (mir ging ein Licht auf): The bookseller wanted to remind the passers-by that the last of the Habsburgs, Otto, grandchild of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, had passed away on the 4th of July at a biblical age of 99.

Polyglot Otto von Habsburg had lived through the last days of the Austrian Empire, survived Nazi rule, nearly became president of Hungary, and was elected as a German (!) deputy to the European Parliament, where he fought against communism and for a strong, united Europe.

    

My friend Jim took both photos,
particularly one of the shop windows displaying Otto von Habsburg's portrait.

Freiburg had been under Habsburg rule for 438 years when, in 1806, Napoleon ordered the Anschluss of the Breisgau to the Duchy of Baden. The Catholic population accustomed to the "mild" Austrian hand (Vienna was far away!) suddenly felt dominated by Protestant Badeners. It is reported that many a man wasn't ashamed of his tears.

One of the means of integrating the Breisgau into the Duchy was the creation of a reading society (Lesegesellschaft) to marry the Protestant North with the Catholic South, as the poet Johann Georg Jacobi then wrote. In those days, the Lesegesellschaft, nowadays named Museumsgesellschaft, united the civil servants from Karlsruhe with the local intellectuals. It still exists and is now Freiburg's oldest civic society.

The Habsburg rule is still felt in Freiburg, with historical buildings sometimes showing the Austrian colors red-white-red, the Vienna cuisine, and the fine bakery.

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