The family of Hohenberg

How it started

Franz Ferdinand became heir presumptive of the throne in 1889 after
the suicide of his cousin Crown Prince Rudolf and after the death of
his father Karl Ludwig in 1896. This gave him a great deal of trouble,
for he could not marry the woman he loved: Sophie, Countess of
Chotek. Her family was not of dynastic rank.Franz Ferdinand refused
to renounce Sophie to marry.

A marriage

In 1899, under pressure from family members (especially the
Archduchess Maria Theresa, the emperor's formidable sister-in-law
and Franz Ferdinand's stepmother) the couple were granted permission
to wed. 

Franz Ferdinand was allowed to retain his place in the order of succession
and a suitable title was promised for his future wife. However, to
prevent Franz Ferdinand from attempting to proclaim his wife
empress-queen or declaring their future children dynasts and thus
eligible to inherit the crown (especially that of Hungary, where morganatic
marriages were unknown to law) once he ascended the throne, he was
compelled to appear at the Hofburg Imperial Palace before the
gathered archdukes, ministers, and dignitaries of the court, the
Cardinal-Archbishop of Vienna and the Primate of Hungary on 28 June 1900
 to execute by signature an official instrument in which he publicly declared
that Sophie would be his morganatic wife, never to bear the titles
of empress, queen or archduchess, and acknowledging that their
descendants would neither inherit nor be granted dynastic rights
or privileges in any of the Habsburg realms.

Sophie and Franz Ferdinand were married on 1 July 1900 at Reichstadt
(now Zákupy) in Bohemia. The Emperor did not attend the nuptials, nor
did any of the archdukes, including Franz Ferdinand's brothers. The only
members of the Imperial family who were present were Franz
Ferdinand's stepmother, Archduchess Maria Theresa, and her
two daughters, Maria Annunciata and Elisabeth Amalie.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand & 

Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg

A new title

Upon her marriage, Sophie was given the title Fürstin von Hohenberg
("Princess of Hohenberg") with the style of Durchlaucht ("Serene Highness").
In 1909, she was elevated to Herzogin (Duchess) and accorded the higher
style of Hoheit ("Highness").

Humiliated

Nonetheless, all of the archduchesses, mediatized princesses and
countesses of Austria and Hungary took precedence before her.
For the fourteen years of their marriage, Sophie never shared her
husband's rank, title, or precedence. Her position at the Imperial court
was humiliating.

Problems of protocol prevented many royal courts from hosting
the couple despite Franz Ferdinand's position as heir to the throne.
Nonetheless, some did so, including King George V and Queen Mary
of the United Kingdom, who warmly welcomed the couple to
Windsor Castle from 17–21 November 1913. 

Assassination

On 28 June 1914, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were assassinated in 
Sarajevo. This event caused the start of World War I. 

See also on this link . 

The Hohenberg Family

The couple had four children:

1: Princess Sophie of Hohenberg (1901–1990), who married Count
Friedrich von Nostitz-Rieneck (1891–1973)

2: Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg (1902–1962), who married
Countess Elisabeth von Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldsee (1904–1993).

3: Prince Ernst of Hohenberg (1904–1954), who married
Marie-Therese Wood (1910–1985)

4: stillborn son (1908)

To continue

Thus, Maximilian became the first Duke of Hohenberg, with the
dukedom being hereditary according to primogeniture in the male line.
Following the collapse of the monarchy, the Austrian nobility, along
with hereditary titles and such nobiliary particles as von, were abolished
by law in 1919.

Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg

In 1938, several members of the family who were opposed to Adolf Hitler
were arrested by the Nazis and sent to Dachau concentration camp,
most notably Maximilian and his brother Ernst. 

Ernst of Hohenberg

The former head of the family, Georg, was ambassador of the
Republic of Austria to the Holy See during
part of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. He was also a
Knight of the Golden Fleece.

Members of the Hohenberg family are not only descended from, and
married into, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, but are also related
through marriage to several other European dynasties, including the
Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg and the Princely Family of
Liechtenstein. 

They also descend from King George II of Great Britain through his
daughter Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange and are therefore
distantly related to the British Royal Family.

👉 More about the House of Habsburg on this link.

Luckily the royal weddings are nowadays less complicated

source pictures: Wikipedia