Emperor of Austria in 1875. As Ferdinand I had no sons, his brother Francis Charles would have become emperor, but was persuaded by his wife to pass over the right of succession to their son, Francis Joseph. He accepted the duty of the Emperor of Austria without having been Crown Prince or "Thronfolger" before. Francis Joseph's only son Rudolf committed suicide in 1889, Francis Joseph's brother Karl Ludwig died in 1896. Karl Ludwig's son Franz Ferdinand became heir presumptive to the throne. He was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia in 1914; due to his morganatic marriage, his son had no rights to the throne.
Archduke Franz Karl of Austria at the time of his brother's abdication on 2 December 1848, allowing their eldest son Franz Joseph I to take the throne. Archduke Franz Karl died in Vienna in 1878, six years after the death of his wife. He is buried at the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church. Franz Karl was the last Habsburg whose viscera were entombed at the Ducal Crypt of St. Stephen's Cathedral and whose heart was placed at the Herzgruft of the Augustinian Church according to a centuries-long family rite. He received: Archduke Franz Karl of Austria Archduke Franz Karl Joseph of Austria (17 December