Austria-Hungary Archduke and General Peter Ferdinand of Austria

[new world]

I am looking for any information and photographs on Archduke Peter Ferdinand from royal Habsburgh dynasty.

Born: 12 MAY 1874 Salzburg, AUSTRIA

Died: 8 NOV 1948 Sankt Gilgen, AUSTRIA

He was also a General in Austrian Army during WWI.

Thank you,

William

[922F]

I am looking for any information and photographs on Archduke Peter Ferdinand from royal Habsburgh dynasty.

Born: 12 MAY 1874 Salzburg, AUSTRIA

Died: 8 NOV 1948 Sankt Gilgen, AUSTRIA

He was also a General in Austrian Army during WWI.

Thank you,

William

FROM http://worldroots.com/brigitte/famous/p/pe...riabio1874.html

Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria, Prince of Tuscany (1874-1948)

Born 12 May 1874 Salzburg

Died 8 November 1948 Sankt Gilgen

Married 8 November 1900 Cannes

Princess Maria Cristina of The Two Sicilies, daughter of

Prince Alfonso of The Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta and

Princess Maria Antonietta of The Two Sicilies

Born 10 April 1877 Cannes

Died 4 October 1947 Sankt Gilgen

A member of the Grand Ducal House of Tuscany, he was born and grew up in Salzburg. On 8 November 1900 in Cannes, he married Princess Maria Cristina of The Two Sicilies and they became the parents of four children. Having entered a military career, in 1914 he was appointed a Feldmarschallleutnant. However, in June 1914, he asked to be taken off his command and later General Auffenberg, in his memoirs, accused him of having made bad tactical decisions and therefor it had not been possible to surround "Einkesselung", the Russian 5th Army led by Komarow. Archduke Peter Ferdinand was a first cousin of Empress Zita and, in 1917, Emperor Karl made him a General of the Infantry and he went to the Tyrolian westfront. In 1918, after the fall of the Austrian monarchy, he moved with his family to Switzerland but went back to Austria under Schuschnigg, where the former Archduke received a very small honorary pension. On 8 November 1948, aged seventy-four, he died at Sankt Gilgen.

Source: Leo van de Pas

SEE ALSO: 49.Infanteriebrigade :Wien - II. Korps - 25. Infanterie Truppendivision Kommandeur: Generalmajor Erzherzog Peter Ferdinand

Photos and career data may be located in Austrian military archives

Edited April 5, 2007 by 922F

[new world]

FROM http://worldroots.com/brigitte/famous/p/pe...riabio1874.html

Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria, Prince of Tuscany (1874-1948)

Born 12 May 1874 Salzburg

Died 8 November 1948 Sankt Gilgen

Married 8 November 1900 Cannes

Princess Maria Cristina of The Two Sicilies, daughter of

Prince Alfonso of The Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta and

Princess Maria Antonietta of The Two Sicilies

Born 10 April 1877 Cannes

Died 4 October 1947 Sankt Gilgen

A member of the Grand Ducal House of Tuscany, he was born and grew up in Salzburg. On 8 November 1900 in Cannes, he married Princess Maria Cristina of The Two Sicilies and they became the parents of four children. Having entered a military career, in 1914 he was appointed a Feldmarschallleutnant. However, in June 1914, he asked to be taken off his command and later General Auffenberg, in his memoirs, accused him of having made bad tactical decisions and therefor it had not been possible to surround "Einkesselung", the Russian 5th Army led by Komarow. Archduke Peter Ferdinand was a first cousin of Empress Zita and, in 1917, Emperor Karl made him a General of the Infantry and he went to the Tyrolian westfront. In 1918, after the fall of the Austrian monarchy, he moved with his family to Switzerland but went back to Austria under Schuschnigg, where the former Archduke received a very small honorary pension. On 8 November 1948, aged seventy-four, he died at Sankt Gilgen.

Source: Leo van de Pas

SEE ALSO: 49.Infanteriebrigade :Wien - II. Korps - 25. Infanterie Truppendivision Kommandeur: Generalmajor Erzherzog Peter Ferdinand

Photos and career data may be located in Austrian military archives

Thank you!

How do I request data from Austrian military archives?

William

[Christian Zulus]

Dear William,

besides some serious research at our "Staatsarchiv" in Vienna - and maybe at the grandchildren of Archduke Peter Ferdinand ? - here some basic facts, I found in the www:

Promoted at 17.04.1917 to General der Infanterie - his last and highest rank.

His CO-functions in WW I:

August 1914 - Juli 1915: Kmdt. 25. ID

April 1917 - August 1918: Kmdt. Gruppe EH Peter Ferdinand

August - Oktober 1918: Kmdt. V. Korps

A comprehensive link about him in English: http://www.geocities.com/veldes1/peterferdinand.html .

The figure of that special Archduke played also a major role in the movie of Hans Wolff "Im Prater bl?h'n wieder die B?ume" http://www.amazon.de/Prater-bl%C3%BChn-wie...e/dp/B00004RMHJ .

Do you have an order of his "Imperial and Royal Highness" Peter Ferdinand von ?sterreich-Toskana in your collection ?

Best regards from old Vienna

Christian

Edited April 8, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[new world]

Christian, thank you!

I already searched the web for info about him, I hope military archives will provide more interesting data.

William

Edited April 8, 2007 by new world

[Josef Rietveld]

as addition the list og his austrian orders and decorations:

Golden Vleeche

Order of Leopold 1st Class (not GC) with Wardecoration and Swords

Order of the Iron Crown 1st Class (GC) with Wardecoration and Swords

Order of Leopold knights Cross with Wardecoration and Swords

Military merit Cross 3rd Class

Service Cross for Officers 3rd Class (25 years)

Signum Memorieae-medal

1908 Cross

Mobilisation-Cross 1912/13

haynau

[new world]

as addition the list og his austrian orders and decorations:

Golden Vleeche

Order of Leopold 1st Class (not GC) with Wardecoration and Swords

Order of the Iron Crown 1st Class (GC) with Wardecoration and Swords

Order of Leopold knights Cross with Wardecoration and Swords

Military merit Cross 3rd Class

Service Cross for Officers 3rd Class (25 years)

Signum Memorieae-medal

1908 Cross

Mobilisation-Cross 1912/13

haynau

Thank you!

Where did this info come from?

William

[new world]

Here's a photograph of the recepient with his family.

He's wearing some awards - would it be possible to identify some?

[new world]

Another shot of peter Ferdinand - in uniform

[Josef Rietveld]

Where did this info come from?

William

The AH-Empire published every year (exept 1915/16 as far as i know) the socalled Schematismus, a huge book of 1500 plus pages about active army and navy officers, their ranks, their regiments and units and some short details on general history about the army. For 1918 exist only the lists for the rank colonel and above. this list dating from 31st December 1918 was published by J?rg C. Steiner in a small book in 1992. This book was my source.

haynau

[Glenn J]

Hi Haynau,

There is an official k.?.k. Rangliste for 1918 that was published around May 1918 which lists all active and reserve officers and military officials. It has some 2200 pages. I have a copy. I believe J?rg used this as the basis for his work on the Generals and Colonels.

Regards

Glenn

[Josef Rietveld]

Thanks Glen, i 'am shure you know better. after all I'am just collecting. you are, same as J?rg, much more in details, structure and military history.

josef (haynau)

[new world]

as addition the list og his austrian orders and decorations:

Golden Vleeche

Order of Leopold 1st Class (not GC) with Wardecoration and Swords

Order of the Iron Crown 1st Class (GC) with Wardecoration and Swords

Order of Leopold knights Cross with Wardecoration and Swords

Military merit Cross 3rd Class

Service Cross for Officers 3rd Class (25 years)

Signum Memorieae-medal

1908 Cross

Mobilisation-Cross 1912/13

haynau

Josef,

would it be too much to ask to get a scan of the page where these awards are listed?

Many thanks,

William

[Josef Rietveld]

Sorry Wiliam no scanner but i added two pics. one from steiners book, the other from the 1904 schematismus.

haynau

[Josef Rietveld]

2nd pic

[Glenn J]

Josef, William,

I will do a scan when I get home.

Regards

Glenn

[Glenn J]

Erzherzog Peter Ferdinand's entry in the 1918 K.u.k. Army List.

Regards

Glenn

Edited April 12, 2007 by Glenn J

[new world]

Glenn & Josef,

Thank you very much for the scans!!!

William

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

Here's a photograph of the recepient with his family.

He's wearing some awards - would it be possible to identify some?

1. MVK 3rd Class

2. Jubilee Medal, 1898

3. Jubilee Cross, 1908

4. ??

5. Marianer-Kreuz

The ribbon in the buttonhole of his tunic on the second picture is of Prussian EK II.

Lukasz

[Christian Zulus]

1. MVK 3rd Class

2. Jubilee Medal, 1898

3. Jubilee Cross, 1908

4. ??

5. Marianer-Kreuz

The ribbon in the buttonhole of his tunic on the second picture is of Prussian EK II.

Lukasz

Dear Lukasz,

you can also see a miniature of the "Golden Fleece" at his tunic.

The No. 4 at his left chest might be a miniature of a high ranking foreign order .

Maybe from the Kingdom of Bulgaria ?

Best regards

Christian

[922F]

Dear Lukasz,

you can also see a miniature of the "Golden Fleece" at his tunic.

The No. 4 at his left chest might be a miniature of a high ranking foreign order .

Maybe from the Kingdom of Bulgaria ?

Best regards

Christian

Sorry, William, I've been away for a while. There are many places in Vienna where one can research Austrian personalities. There is a general state archive, the Army archive, parts of the Imperial Household archive, and so on. In my experience, all of these places have very courteous staff many of whom speak quite good English. They also have very limited public access hours for the most part. If a trip to Vienna is not in the offing, the BDOS journal formerly contained ads by people who undertake research at set rates. I have not subscribed to that journal for some years but would guess that possibility still exists.

Based on family connections and general practice at the time, l expect he would have had and worn a Tuscan award or two plus other high rank foreign decorations including some from the other Central Powers.

[Christian Zulus]

Sorry, William, I've been away for a while. There are many places in Vienna where one can research Austrian personalities. There is a general state archive, the Army archive, parts of the Imperial Household archive, and so on. In my experience, all of these places have very courteous staff many of whom speak quite good English. They also have very limited public access hours for the most part. If a trip to Vienna is not in the offing, the BDOS journal formerly contained ads by people who undertake research at set rates. I have not subscribed to that journal for some years but would guess that possibility still exists.

Based on family connections and general practice at the time, l expect he would have had and worn a Tuscan award or two plus other high rank foreign decorations including some from the other Central Powers.

That's true: Vienna has maybe the best organized archives in the world .

Well, I don't think Tuscany, because Austria lost that country to the new Italian Kingdom in the mid of the 19th century.

Are there no listings of the foreign awards of the Austrian Military ?

Best regards

Christian

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

Dear Lukasz,

you can also see a miniature of the "Golden Fleece" at his tunic.

The No. 4 at his left chest might be a miniature of a high ranking foreign order .

Maybe from the Kingdom of Bulgaria ?

Best regards

Christian

The photo is small, so I shall not insist, but I think due to its placement that #4 can be the Tirol Gentry Decoration (Matrikelabzeichen des landst?ndischen Tiroler Adels).

Lukasz

[Christian Zulus]

The photo is small, so I shall not insist, but I think due to its placement that #4 can be the Tirol Gentry Decoration (Matrikelabzeichen des landst?ndischen Tiroler Adels).

Lukasz

Dear Lukasz,

do you think, that our Archdukes & Generals did actually had the "Matrikelabzeichen des landesst?ndischen Tiroler Adels" on their uniform ?

In my feeling, that's more a decoration for some "von", "Edler" or "Ritter", but not for a prominent member of our imperial & royal "Erzhaus" ???

It seems to me to be more an order with a grand star + sash - so the minature and not the full decoration .

Best regards

Christian

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

Dear Christian,

I think it is possible. Furthermore, I figure it was likely for a member of the k.u.k. Erzhaus to be an honorary member of it. The extended badge looks like the Matrikelzeichen too. I was trying to find a photo of this decoration on the Net, but I wasn't able to find any. I will make a scan and will post it on the forum.

I think that a member of the imperial house that the Archduke was must have had a variety of foreign orders. Notice, however, that he is not wearing any other ones on his tunic. He may have chosen to wear only his Austrian decorations. Well, as I said the photo is not clear, so I am not insisting.

Best regards,

Lukasz