Rudolph Franz
*24.09.1822 Vienna - †11.10.1822 Vienna
Archduke of Austria
Rudolph Franz was the son of Archduke Karl Ludwig and Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg.
Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg gave birth to the little prince at one o'clock in the morning in the Archducal Palace, where he was baptised the following afternoon. Empepor Francis II.(I.) himself acted as godfather.
The child died a few weeks later from seizures. After the exenteration of the little body, dressing, blessing and procession in the Knights' Hall of the Hofburg, the heart was buried in the Loreto Chapel, the internal organs in the crypt of St. Stephen's Cathedral and the body in the Capuchin Crypt.
The sarcophagus
The simple copper coffin is smooth, riveted and decorated with a cross and inscription plaque.
The inscription reads:
AETERNAE MEMORIAE RUDOLPHI FRANCISCI CAROLI. LUD. ET. HENRICAE. ALEX. ARCHIDD. AUST. FILII NATI. VIND. XXIV. SEPT. MORT. XI. OCT. MDCCCXXII HAVE. ANIMA. DULCIS.
In eternal memory of Rudolph Franz, son of Archduke Karl Ludwig and Archduchess Henriette Alexandra, born in Vienna on 24 September, died on 11 October 1822. Farewell, delicate soul.