His grandson Radbot of Klettgau founded the Habsburg Castle. The progenitor of the House of Habsburg may have been Guntram the Rich, a count in the Breisgau who lived in the 10th century, and forthwith farther back as the medieval Adalrich, Duke of Alsace, from the Etichonids from which Habsburg derives. History Ĭounts of Habsburg The Habsburg dominions around 1200 in the area of modern-day Switzerland are shown as Habsburg, among the houses of Savoy, Zähringer and Kyburg The name of the dynasty is sometimes spelled in English publications as Hapsburg. Princes and members of the house use the tripartite arms adopted in the 18th century by Francis Stephen. The surname of more recent members of the family such as Otto von Habsburg and Karl von Habsburg is taken to be ' von Habsburg' or more completely 'von Habsburg-Lothringen'. Some younger sons who had no prospects of the throne were given the personal title of 'count of Habsburg'. The arms displayed in their simplest form were those of Austria, which the Habsburgs had made their own, at times impaled with the arms of the Duchy of Burgundy (ancient).Īfter Maria Theresa married Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine, the idea of 'Habsburg' as associated with ancestral Austrian rulership was used to show that the old dynasty continued as did all its inherited rights. In Spain, the dynasty was known as the Casa de Austria, including illegitimate sons such as John of Austria and John Joseph of Austria. When he became king of Spain he was known as Charles of Spain, and after he was elected emperor, as Charles V (in French, Charles Quint). Charles V was known in his youth after his birthplace as Charles of Ghent. Complementarily, in some circumstances the family members were identified by their place of birth. The dynasty was thus long known as the 'House of Austria'.

The Habsburg name was not continuously used by the family members, since they often emphasized their more prestigious princely titles. The first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108. There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg ( hawk castle), or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford, as there is a river with a ford nearby. The origins of Habsburg Castle's name are uncertain.

The current head of the family is Karl von Habsburg. Members of the Habsburg family oversee the Austrian branch of the Order of the Golden Fleece and the Imperial and Royal Order of Saint George. Although they ruled distinct territories, the different branches nevertheless maintained close relations and frequently intermarried. The family split several times into parallel branches, most consequentially in the mid-16th century between its Spanish and Austrian branches following the abdication of Emperor Charles V in 1556. The house also produced kings of Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Spain, Portugal, Lombardy-Venetia and Galicia-Lodomeria, with their respective colonies rulers of several principalities in the Low Countries and Italy numerous Prince-Bishoprics in the Holy Roman Empire, and in the 19th century, emperors of Austria and of Austria-Hungary, as well as one emperor of Mexico. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs from 1440 until their extinction in the male line in 1740, and, as the Habsburg-Lorraines, from 1765 until its dissolution in 1806. Taking advantage of the extinction of the Babenbergs and of his victory over Ottokar II of Bohemia at the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278, he appointed his sons as Dukes of Austria and moved the family's power base to Vienna, where the Habsburg dynasty gained the name of 'House of Austria' and ruled until 1918. In 1273, Count Radbot's seventh-generation descendant, Rudolph of Habsburg, was elected King of the Romans. His grandson Otto II was the first to take the fortress name as his own, adding 'Count of Habsburg' to his title. The house takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a fortress built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland by Radbot of Klettgau, who named his fortress Habsburg. The House of Habsburg ( / ˈ h æ p s b ɜːr ɡ/, German: Haus Habsburg, pronounced ⓘ, also known as the House of Austria, is one of the most prominent and important dynasties in European history.

Queen victoria hapsbuerg family tree