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Friday, March 23, 2012

Archduke Josef Ferdinand charged with slurring Nazis

March 23, 1938

Archduke Josef Ferdinand of Austria was arrested earlier today at Mondsee, near Salzburg, and charged with "insulting the Nazi regime of greater Germany."

According to an United Press report, based on Nazi sources, the archduke  "had made insulting remarks to villagers of Mondsee."   But when he was arrested he tried to deny the remarks.

The archduke, 65, lives at Mondsee.  He is a son of the late Grand Duke Ferdinando IV of Tuscany and Princess Alice of Bourbon-Parma. 

During the World war,  Archduke Josef Ferdinand served as a colonel general in the Austro-Hungarian war.   

It is not known how long the archduke will be held by the Nazis.

The archduke succeeded his father as head of the house on January 17, 1908.  Although he was the second son, Josef Ferdinand became the heir after his brother, Archduke Leopold, renounced his rights in 1902, when he took the name Leopold Wölfing. 

Archduke Josef Ferdinand gave up his position as the de jure Grand Duke of Tuscany, when he married in 1921 Rosa Kaltenbrunner, a commoner.  He was succeeded by his youngest brother, Archduke Peter Ferdinand who was married to Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

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