All About Royal Families

"Photography is the art, application and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically." The word photography was created from the Greek words phôs = light and graphé or drawing. So literally it was drawing with light.  It always is fascinating that an image can be catched by a photo camera. It's a bit like magic.  Besides the magical side, photography also has a great and long history.  History Ibn al-Haytham, an Arab physisist who lived between 965 and 1040, invented the camera obscura as well as the first true pinhole camera. Later, Leonardo da Vinci mentioned natural camera obcscura that are formed by dark caves  on the edge of a sunlit valley.  The birth of photography was by inventing means to capture and keep the image produced by the camera obscura.  *Albert Magnus (1193-1280) discovered silver nitrate; * Georg Fabricius (1516-1571) discovered silver chloride; But around 1800, the British in

9 October 1586 marks the birth of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria. This royal event took place in Graz. Family The parents of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria were Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. His paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and  Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. His maternal grandparents were Albert V, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Austria. Leopold V, Archduke of Austria was thus a member of the royal house of Habsburg. Duty Already as a child, in 1598, Leopold was invested as a Bishop. In 1607 he became Bishop of Strasbourg. Although he resigned to marry in 1626. In 1632 Leopold V defended Tyrol against the Swedes.  Love and marriage On 19 April 1626, Leopold married to Claudia de' Medici, a daughter of Fernando I de' Medici. They would have 5 children together. Death Leopold V, Archduke of Austria died on 13 September 1632 in Schwaz, Tyrol. Source pictures: Wikipedia

On 1 October 1685, Archduke Charles of Austria was born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Family His parents were Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and Princess Eleonore Magdalena of Neuburg.  His paternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Anna of Spain.  His maternal grandparents were Prince William, Elector Palatine and  Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt.  Archduke Charles of Austria was thus a member of the royal house of  Habsburg. Youth The tutor of Archduke Charles was Anton Florian, Prince of Liechtenstein.  Duty After the death of King Charles II of Spain in 1700 there was a succession crisis because he had no direct heir.  Archduke Charles declared himself King of Spain, because both were members of the House of Habsburg. This caused the War of the Spanish Succession against the French candidate Philip, Duke of Anjou, who was a grandson of King Louis XIV of France. The Battle lasted almost 14! years.  Love and Marriage Charles's father and

Liechtenstein, a German-speaking micro state in the Alps in the southwest of Central Europe really has an interesting royal history. It is a principality headed by the Prince of Liechtenstein. Birth On 28 august 1853, Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein was born at Liechtenstein Castle,  near Vienna in the Austrian Empire.  His parents were Prince Aloys II of Liechtenstein and Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau.  Franz I attended the University of Vienna in Austria and later he went to the  University of Prague. He also was a Knight in the Austrian order of the Golden Fleece. Love and Marriage Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein fell in love to Elisabeth von Gutmann, a woman who had converted to Roman Catholicism from Judaism. The brother of Franz I, Prince Johann disapproved the relationship and he refused to give his consent. But Franz I married Elisabeth von Gutmann secretly after the death of his brother Johann.  Duty On 11 February 1929, Johann died and Franz became Prince

In the past the royals wrote lots of beautiful and interesting letters. It must be an absolute certainty that writing really is and was a royal hobby or even more a duty. The writing desk of Empress Elisabeth of Austria 'Sisi' in Corfu Many royal heads of state had a diary, which they kept up to date very well.  United Kingdom The most famous royal who kept diaries was Queen Victoria. She wrote 122 volumes which were expurgated by her youngest daughter: Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom. Queen Victoria started to write in her daily journal in 1832, when she was 13 years old.  Source picture: Wikipedia Nowadays, in the United Kingdom Princess Michael of Kent is a well known author. She wrote several books inter alia: Eight royal Brides; The Queen of for Kingdoms; Agnès Sorel, mistress of Beauty and Quicksilver; and she wrote some articles for the Orient Express Magazine.  Russia In Russia lots of members of the royal family held diaries, which were important witnesses of

27 July 1678 marks the birth of Joseph Jacob Johann Anton Eustachius. This took place in Vienna, Austria. Family Joseph was the son of Emperor Leopold I and his third wife, Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg. He was a member of the royal house of Habsburg. Youth Joseph was educated by Prince Dietrich Otto von Salm and he became a good linguist. On 9 December 1687, when he was 9 years old, Joseph was crowned King of Hungary. On 23 January 1690, at the age of 11, Joseph was crowned King of the Romans. Joseph had two great passions: music and hunting. Love and Marriage On 24 February 1699, Joseph married Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick- Lüneburg in Vienna. They would have three children but their only son died of hydrocephalus before his first B-day. Military service In 1702, at the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, Joseph saw his only military service. He joined the Imperial General, Louis William Margrave of Baden-Baden. Duty

Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily was born on 6 June 1772 at the Royal Palace in Naples. She was the eldest of 18 children. Family Her parents were Ferdinand IV & III of Naples and Sicily and Maria Carolina of Austria. She was the favourite child from her mother. Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily was inter alia the sister of Maria Amelia Theresa who would marry Louis Philippe, the King of the French. Her paternal grandparents were King Charles III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony. Her maternal grandparents were Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa who became Holy Roman Empress. Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily was thus a member of the royal house of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Maria Theresa was named after her maternal grandmother Maria Theresa of Austria. Love and Marriage On 15 September 1790, she married her double first cousin Francis. In 1792 he would become Holy Roman Emperor Francis II and Emperor Francis I of Austria. The

Was Klemens (von) Metternich a real spider or just a  splendid diplomatic? Klemens Metternich was born on 15 May 1773 as the eldest son of Franz George Carl Count Metternich-Winneburg zu Bilstein and  Countess Maria Beatrice Aloysia von Kageneck. He was named in honour of Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, the archbishop of Trier and the former employer of his father.  Education His education was handled by his mother , influenced by their  proximity to France. Metternich spoke French better than German. In 1788, Metternich started to study law at the University of Strasbourg. During his studies he met Prince Maximilian of Zweibrücken (who became later King of Bavaria).  At the end of 1790 till the summer of 1792, Metternich studied law at the University of Mainz. This was a more conservative education than at Strassbourg. In March 1792, Francis II succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor, he was  crowned in July. Meanwhile France had declared

In these series the Allaboutroyalfamilies blog continues to talk about the hobbies of the royals in past and present. One popular hobby of royals is painting. Painting often is described as: "Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or another  medium  to a solid surface.  Painting is an important form in the  visual arts." Prince Charles of Belgium, Count of Flanders was a keen artist So, who are the royals who liked to paint? It almost is impossible to make a complete list and it's sure that some royals are forgotten on the list. If you want some of the royals to be included in this blogpost, please let me know (and why) (only painters). Austria Maria Theresa of Habsburg, Holy Roman Empress was educated to paint. Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (hint by @empressofHAB via Twitter) Belgium Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium was a decent drawer and painter. It also is known that the Princess Maria of Hohenzollern- Sigmari

Hotel Sacher, Vienna, Austria - picture taken in 2011 A five star hotel, which is of course a part of the Leading Hotels in the World, located in the Inner Stadt of Vienna, near the Vienna State Opera ... that is all applicable to Hotel Sacher. Hotel Sacher also is famous for the specialty of the house: the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with apricot filling. Some History In 1876, the hotel was founded by the restaurateur and purveyor to the court Eduard Sacher (1843-1892). In 1880, Eduard Sacher married Anna Fuchs (1859-1930). She became the managing director after his death and she soon earned a good reputation for her commercial skills and her eccentricity.  Under her management, the Hotel Sacher became one of the finest hotels in the world, it became a meeting place of aristocracy and diplomats as well. After World War I, Anna held the upper-class reputation of the hotel, however this led to financial problems and the change of ownership in the 1930's.

May 21st. 1864 marks the birth of Princess Stéphanie of Belgium. This happy event took place at the Royal Castle of Laeken near Brussels. Stéphanie - dreaming of a fairy tale? Family Her parents were King Leopold II of Belgium and Queen Marie Henriette of Austria. Her aunt, Charlotte was married to Maximilian of Austria, a brother of Emperor Franz Joseph. She later became Empress of Mexico. The parents of Princess Stéphanie of Belgium had an unhappy marriage. Finally Queen Marie Henriette retired from court life to escape him and she lived the rest of her life in Spa. King Leopold had little interest in Stéphanie and his daughter Louise, the education of his daughters was neglected. Leopold also rejected his family for his mistresses and he had many scandalous liaisons. Stéphanie and Rudolph Love In March 1880, Rudolph, Crown Prince of Austria (son of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi)) was invited to the Belgian court. Rudolph arriv

coat of arms of the House of Habsburg - Source picture: Wikipedia   God Save Emperor Francis or in German: Got herhalte Franz den Kaiser were the first words of the Emperor's Hymn 'Kaiserhymne'. The Lyrics were made by Lorenz Leopold Haschka and the melody was written by Joseph Haydn. The premiere of this song took place at the Burgtheater in Vienna on  February 12th. 1797. Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, Unsern guten Kaiser Franz, Hoch als Herrscher, hoch als Weiser, Steht er in des Ruhmes Glanz; Liebe windet Lorbeerreiser Ihm zum ewig grünen Kranz. Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, Unsern guten Kaiser Franz! On next Youtube link you'll hear the performance at the funeral of the last Otto von Habsburg.