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29-456: In 1886, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria , only son of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Empress Elisabeth , and heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, acquired the manor and transformed it into a hunting lodge . It was in this hunting lodge that, on 30 January 1889, he was found dead with his mistress, Baroness Mary Vetsera , apparently as a result of suicide . Exactly what happened

58-698: A new church building, had the hunting lodge changed into a convent which then was settled by nuns of the Discalced Carmelite Order . The church was dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel , the convent to Saint Joseph . A statue of the Virgin Mary in the Lady Chapel has the facial features of the Empress Elisabeth and a dagger pierces the Immaculate Heart of Mary . The position of the main cross in

87-531: A short time at Castle Eckartsau. Ferdinand von Hochstetter Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand Ritter von Hochstetter (30 April 1829 – 18 July 1884) was a German - Austrian geologist . In 1857 he was appointed geologist on the Austrian Novara expedition to New Zealand, collecting natural history specimens and producing the first geological map of New Zealand. Von Hochstetter was born in Esslingen , then in

116-674: A travelling scholarship. He then travelled to Vienna where in 1853, he joined the staff of the Imperial Geological Survey of Austria and was engaged until 1856 in parts of Bohemia , especially in the Bohemian Forest , and in the Fichtel Hills and Karlsbad mountains. His excellent reports established his reputation. Thus he came to be chosen as geologist to the Novara expedition (1857–59), and made numerous valuable observations in

145-555: A variety of geological, palaeontological and mineralogical subjects. In 1869, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society and in 1884, was granted a hereditary knighthood by the Emperor of Austria. Detailed descriptions in his diaries were helpful in 2011, when researchers managed to locate the silica terraces on Lake Rotomahana , which was buried in the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera . He

174-423: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an Austrian building or structure is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria (Rudolf Franz Karl Josef; 21 August 1858 – 30 January 1889) was the only son and third child of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi) . He

203-522: Is known of his personal life through his documented correspondence with friend and colleague Julius von Haast He died in Oberdöbling near Vienna, at age 55 from complications of diabetes. The Geoscience Society of New Zealand holds an annual lecture named in von Hochstetter's honour. New Zealand's endemic Hochstetter's frog , Leiopelma hochstetteri , is named after Ferdinand. Several other species bear his name in their scientific names , including

232-530: Is unknown, but on 31 July 2015, the Austrian National Library issued copies of Vetsera's letters of farewell to her mother and other family members. The letters — written in Mayerling shortly before the deaths — state clearly and unambiguously that Mary Vetsera was preparing to commit suicide alongside Rudolf, out of love. After the deaths of Rudolf and Vetsera, Emperor Franz Joseph, who wanted to endow

261-652: The Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute in Vienna ; from 1874 to 1875, he was the rector there. His analysis of the tsunami generated by the 1868 Arica (Peru) earthquake is well known for its contribution to understanding of tsunami propagation. The resulting tsunami caused damaging surges in a number of regions in the Pacific region, including fatalities on the Chatham Islands . Von Hochstetter, charted

290-648: The Takahē , Porphyrio hochstetteri , and Powelliphanta hochstetteri , a species (with five subspecies) of New Zealand's giant carnivorous land snails. Hochstetter Peak on Trinity Peninsula in Antarctica is named after Hochstetter, as are New Zealand's Mount Hochstetter ( West Coast Region ), Lake Hochstetter and the Hochstetter Dome and Hochstetter Icefall close to the Tasman Glacier . The rock type dunite

319-525: The government of New Zealand to make a first geological survey of the islands. His survey of old Lake Rotomahana and the Pink and White Terraces provides the only primary evidence of the Terrace locations today. Between 2016 and 2020, his survey diary was reverse engineered to provide the coordinates of the Pink, Black and White Terraces. On his return he was appointed in 1860 professor of mineralogy and geology at

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348-566: The chapel is supposed to be where the bed of Rudolf of Austria and Mary Vetsera were situated. Prayers are still said daily by the nuns for the repose of the souls of Rudolf and Mary. A visitor center nearby the convent was opened in 2014. This center, the restored tea pavilion and some other rooms with objects from the 19th century now form the exhibition of the "Museum Altes Jagdschloss Mayerling". 48°02′49″N 16°05′54″E  /  48.04694°N 16.09833°E  / 48.04694; 16.09833 This Lower Austria location article

377-530: The colours of mourning, for the rest of her life and spent more and more time away from the imperial court in Vienna. Her daughter Gisela was afraid that she might also commit suicide. In 1898, while Elisabeth was abroad in Geneva , Switzerland , she was murdered by an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni . Rudolf's death had left Franz Joseph without a direct male heir. Franz-Joseph's younger brother, Archduke Karl Ludwig ,

406-445: The effects of the disease, Rudolf began taking large doses of morphine. By 1889, it was common knowledge at Court that Stéphanie would not have any more children due to the events of 1886, and that Rudolf's health was deteriorating. In 1886, Rudolf bought Mayerling , a hunting lodge . In late 1888, the 30-year-old Crown Prince met the 17-year-old Baroness Marie von Vetsera , and began an affair with her. On 30 January 1889, he and

435-489: The first Habsburg King of Germany , Rudolf I , who reigned from 1273 to 1291. Rudolf was raised together with his older sister Gisela and the two were very close. At the age of six, Rudolf was separated from his sister as he began his education to become a future Emperor of Austria . This did not change their relationship and Gisela remained close to him until she left Vienna upon her marriage to Prince Leopold of Bavaria . Rudolf's initial education under Leopold Gondrecourt

464-586: The kingdom of Württemberg, to Christian Ferdinand and his second wife, Sophie Orth. His father was a parson who also published on botanical and geological subjects. Having received his early education at the evangelical seminary at Maulbronn , Ferdinand proceeded to the University of Tübingen and the Tübinger Stift ; there, under Friedrich August von Quenstedt , the interest he already felt in geology became permanently fixed, and he obtained his doctor's degree and

493-562: The night and secretly buried in the village cemetery at Heiligenkreuz . The Emperor had Mayerling converted into a penitential convent of Carmelite nuns and endowed a chantry so that daily prayers would eternally be said by the nuns for the repose of Rudolf's soul. Vetsera's private letters were discovered in a safe deposit box in an Austrian bank in 2015, and they revealed that she was preparing to commit suicide alongside Rudolf, out of love. Rudolf's death plunged his mother, Empress Elisabeth, into despair. She wore black or pearl grey,

522-517: The possession of the University of Agriculture in Vienna, which is now known as the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna In 1877, Count Karl Albert von Bombelles was master of the young prince. Bombelles had been the custodian of Rudolf's aunt Empress Charlotte of Mexico . In contrast with his deeply conservative father, Rudolf held liberal views that were closer to those of his mother. Nevertheless, his relationship with her

551-532: The trajectory of the event throughout the Pacific. This also enabled an estimate of the depth of the Pacific Ocean to be calculated. In 1872, he became the natural history tutor of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria . In 1876, he was made superintendent of the Imperial Natural History Museum . In these later years he explored portions of Turkey and eastern Russia , and he published papers on

580-504: The voyage round the world. The Novara arrived in New Zealand on 22 December 1858. Almost immediately he met the German scientist Julius von Haast who had also recently arrived in New Zealand, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. Polymath Arthur Purchas convinced von Hochstetter to stay in New Zealand, where he spent the next nine months of his life. In 1859, Ferdinand was employed by

609-512: The young baroness were discovered dead in the lodge as a result of an apparent joint suicide . As suicide would prevent him from being given a church burial, Rudolf was officially declared to have been in a state of "mental unbalance", and he was buried in the Imperial Crypt ( Kapuzinergruft ) of the Capuchin Church in Vienna. Vetsera's body was smuggled out of Mayerling in the middle of

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638-519: Was heir apparent to the imperial throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from birth. In 1889, he died in a suicide pact with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera at the Mayerling hunting lodge . The ensuing scandal made international headlines. Rudolf was born at Schloss Laxenburg , a castle near Vienna , as the son of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth . He was named after

667-571: Was at times strained. In Vienna, on 10 May 1881, Rudolf married Princess Stéphanie of Belgium , a daughter of King Leopold II of Belgium , at the Augustinian Church in Vienna. Although their marriage was initially a happy one, by the time their only child, the Archduchess Elisabeth , was born on 2 September 1883, the couple had drifted apart. After the birth of their child, Rudolf became increasingly unstable as he drank heavily and

696-441: Was born at Esslingen , Württemberg , the son of Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter (1787–1860) and his second wife, Sophie Orth. Christian Ferdinand was a clergyman and Professor at Bonn, who was also a botanist and mineralogist . In 1861 von Hochstetter married Georgiana Bengough, daughter of John Egbert Bengough, an Englishman who was director of the Vienna city gasworks. They went on to have eight children. A good deal

725-410: Was having many affairs. This behaviour, however, was not entirely new as Rudolf had a long history of reckless promiscuity prior to his marriage. In 1886, Rudolf became seriously ill and the couple was directed to the island of Lacroma (present day Croatia) for his treatment. In transit, Stéphanie also became seriously ill and described "suffering terrible pain". The couple's diagnosis of peritonitis

754-471: Was kept secret by order of the Emperor. After intensive treatment, Stéphanie was able to recover from the illness but she was left unable to have children as the illness had destroyed her fallopian tubes. Stéphanie's symptoms and outcome indicate Rudolf had most likely infected her with gonorrhoea . Rudolf himself did not improve with treatment and grew increasingly ill. It is likely he had contracted syphilis in addition to gonorrhoea. In order to cope with

783-517: Was next in line to the Austro-Hungarian throne, though it was falsely reported that he had renounced his succession rights. In any case, his death in 1896 from typhoid made his eldest son, Archduke Franz Ferdinand , the new heir presumptive . However, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 (an event that precipitated World War I ), so when Emperor Franz-Joseph died in November 1916, he

812-402: Was physically and emotionally abusive, and likely a contributing factor in his later suicide. Influenced by his tutor Ferdinand von Hochstetter (who later became the first superintendent of the Imperial Natural History Museum ), Rudolf became very interested in natural sciences, starting a mineral collection at an early age. After his death, large portions of his mineral collection came into

841-582: Was succeeded instead by his grandnephew, Charles I of Austria . The demands of the American President, Woodrow Wilson forced Emperor Charles I to renounce involvement in state affairs in Vienna in early November 1918. As a result, the Austro-Hungarian Empire ceased to exist and a republic came into being without revolution. Charles I and his family went into exile in Switzerland after spending

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