Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria 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 (the younger brother
Archduke Joseph Franz of Austria place of his siblings Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, Ferdinand I of Austria, Archduchess Marie Caroline of Austria, Archduchess Caroline Ludovika of Austria, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, Archduke Johann Nepomuk of Austria, Archduchess Amalie Theresa of Austria, and (possibly) Archduke Franz Karl of Austria. His parents, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, and his great-grandmother, Maria Theresa of Austria, are also buried there. Archduke Joseph Franz of Austria Archduke Joseph Franz Leopold of Austria (9 April 1799 – 30 June 1807) was the second son and seventh child of Francis II, the last