Archduke Of Austria Joseph Ferdinand

Passions

Vocation

Notable

Family

Austro-Hungarian Archduke and the titular Grand Duke of Tuscany from 17 January 1908 to 2 May 1921, military commander, from 1916 Generaloberst, and early advocate of air power. He later retired to life as a common citizen of Austria, and was briefly imprisoned in Dachau during the Nazi era. Joseph Ferdinand was born to Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his wife, Alicia of Bourbon-Parma. As the fourth child and second son, he assumed the mantle of heir after his elder brother gave up the claim following numerous scandals. He succeeded his father as head of the House of Tuscany on 17 January 1908. When the Germans occupied Austria in 1938, Joseph Ferdinand was arrested along with more than 70,000 other Viennese. He was interrogated by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau concentration camp, where he was imprisoned for three months. The conditions in the camp ruined his health permanently. Joseph Ferdinand was released and lived an isolated existence thereafter, under continual observation by the Gestapo. He died on 28 August 1942, aged 70, in Vienna. Link to Wikipedia biography