Habsburg
Habsburg, family name of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire (see Deutsches Reich, Altes) from 1438 to 1806, and emperors of Austria from 1804 to 1918. The family is of Swiss origin, and its earliest seat is the Habsburg, a castle not far from Aarau in Canton Aargau. The Habsburgs were already a powerful family in the 10th c. and possessed extensive lands. Count Rudolf was elected German King (see Rudolf I) in 1273, and acquired the duchies of Austria and Styria through his victory over Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1278. Rudolf's grandson failed to secure election, and the control of the Empire passed to the Luxemburg family. In the 14th c. revolts deprived the Habsburgs of their Swiss territories. From Albrecht II until the end of the Holy Roman Empire the imperial dignity was virtually hereditary in the Habsburg dynasty. By astute political marriages the family became the most powerful in Europe.
In the 18th c. the marriage of Maria Theresia and the Duke of Lorraine inaugurated the line of Habsburg-Lothringen, the first representative of which was her son, the Emperor Joseph II. The last Habsburg was the Emperor Karl who abdicated in 1918 See also Karl V, Franz Joseph, Franz Ferdinand.
