Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria themselves after him. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Este (Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria; 18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was a member of the imperial Habsburg dynasty, and from 1896 until his death the heir presumptive ("Thronfolger") to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia, which in turn triggered a series of events that resulted in Austria-Hungary's allies and Serbia's declaring war on each other, starting World War I. Franz Ferdinand was born in Graz, Austria, the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria
Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria the emperor's knowledge or consent, having eloped two years before the marriage was revealed publicly. On 6 August 1911 he renounced his rights and titles as a dynast of the House of Habsburg and assumed the name of "Ferdinand Burg", at the demand of Emperor Franz Joseph. Henceforth he absented himself from the Viennese court and lived in Tyrol. By then Ferdinand Karl was suffering from tuberculosis, of which he died in 1915. He and his wife had no children. Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria, later known as Ferdinand Burg (Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Johann