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329:(1858–1889), a married man 13 years her senior, after returning from Cairo following the death of her father. In November of that year, she managed to meet him and soon they began an affair. She was 17 and he was 30. Upon finding out, her family reacted negatively: her sister Hanna called her foolish, and her mother was enraged, accusing her of compromising herself and ruining the lives of all of her family members. Historian Lucy Coatman disputes Larisch's claims (who Georg Markus refers to), citing letters by Mary and from within the family which prove Helene and Hanna had no knowledge of Mary's affair with Rudolf until the tragedy occurred.
298:
Institute for
Daughters of the Nobility in the Salesian convent in Vienna's third district. When she came of age, her mother threw parties and tried to be invited to court so that she could find the best husband for her daughters. It seems that Vetsera had a strained relationship with her mother, confiding in a friend that "Mamma has no love for me... Ever since I was a little girl she has treated me like something she means to dispose of to the best advantage". During the winter of 1887, the Vetsera family travelled to
529:
525:, and that Rudolf then shot himself. Lucy Coatman, who is planning a biography of Vetsera, argues against this, citing a letter written by Mary shortly before the Mayerling incident. In it, Mary confirms that she lost her virginity to Rudolf on 13 January 1889. Coatman states that this proves Mary could not have died of a botched abortion, as a pregnancy would not have been evident at the time of their deaths.
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Gerd Holler and a member of the
Vetsera family, accompanied by other specialists, inspected her remains. The bones were in disarray, but shoes and long black hair were found in the coffin. Upon careful examination, Holler found no sign of a bullet wound on the skeleton. The skull cavity showed signs
297:
status she had as the wife of a newly made noble, and for this, she needed her daughters to marry into the best possible families. Vetsera was thus raised in a strict household under the pressure of having to climb socially and fulfill the dreams of her mother. For education, she was sent to the
560:
for further examination. Forensic experts found the bones were indeed 100 years old and those of a young woman aged around 20, but since part of the skull was missing, it could not be determined if there had ever been a bullet hole. Vetsera's bones were re-interred on 28 October 1993.
572:, where they had been placed in 1926. Written in Mayerling shortly before the deaths, they state clearly that Vetsera was preparing to die alongside Rudolf out of love for him. They were made available to scholars and exhibited to the public in 2016.
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Vetsera's maternal uncles were quickly summoned to remove their niece's body and bury it as discreetly as possible. Even her mother was forbidden to attend the ceremony. The body was taken to the closest cemetery, the one at the
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When
Flatzelsteiner approached a journalist to sell both the story and the skeleton, the police became involved. Flatzelsteiner confessed and surrendered Vetsera's remains, which were sent to the Legal Medical Institute in
378:. She wrote: "If I could give him my life I should be glad to do it, for what does life mean for me?" In her farewell note to her sister, she wrote "we are both going blissfully into the uncertain beyond."
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and opened the door from the inside. In the dark room, he found the crown prince sitting motionless by the side of the bed, leaning forward and bleeding from the mouth. Vetsera's body lay on the bed, with
356:, to which she reacted with a laugh. Later, Kaspar went to the police, concerned for the safety of the heir to the throne, but she was dismissed and told not to interfere with imperial affairs.
544:
at his expense, which took place in
February 1993. Flatzelsteiner told the examiners that the remains belonged to a relative killed 100 years earlier who may have been shot in the head or
934:"<italic>Elizabeth, Empress of Austria</italic>. By Count Egon Corti. Translated by Catherine Alison Phillips. (New Haven: Yale University Press. 1936. Pp. xii, 518. $ 4.00.)"
521:, who had found that only one bullet was fired. Lacking forensic evidence of a second bullet, Holler advanced the theory that Vetsera died accidentally, probably as the result of an
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On 16 May 1889, Vetsera's mother had her daughter exhumed. Vetsera's remains were transferred from the original wooden coffin to a copper one and reburied.
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troops had disturbed
Vetsera's grave, and when it was being repaired in 1955, the monks found a small skeleton inside the coffin, with no apparent
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to
Vetsera. While he probably just did not want to die alone, Vetsera seemingly perceived the plans as the dramatic union-in-death of
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401:, Johann Loschek knocked on his door to wake him up early in the morning, he received no answer. Rudolf's hunting companion,
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277:. Mary had three siblings, Ladislaus "Laci" (1865–1881), Johanna "Hanna" (1868–1901), and Franz Albin "Fery" (1872–1915).
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Crime at
Mayerling: The Life and Death of Mary Vetsera: With New Expert Opinions Following the Desecration of Her Grave
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Crime at
Mayerling: The Life and Death of Mary Vetsera: With New Expert Opinions Following the Desecration of Her Grave
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Crime at
Mayerling: The Life and Death of Mary Vetsera: With New Expert Opinions Following the Desecration of Her Grave
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Vetsera appears to have been deeply in love, maybe even thinking that she was a credible threat to her lover's wife,
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obtained copies of
Vetsera's farewell letters to her mother and other family members which had been found in a bank
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499:, or could indicate that Vetsera had died from a blow to her skull and not by the hands of the crown prince.
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having already set in. Later it was determined that the crown prince had first shot Vetsera, then himself.
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The last photograph of Mary (on the right), wearing the dress in which she was buried. On the left is
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On 29 January 1889, the imperial couple hosted a family dinner party before leaving for
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In 1991, Vetsera's remains were disturbed again, this time by Helmut Flatzelsteiner, a
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von Vetsera was born on 19 March 1871 as the third child and second daughter of Albin
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von Vetsera's main goal was to advance socially, for which she had the support of the
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348:(1864–1945). Meanwhile, Rudolf was involved in a long-term relationship with actress
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Baltazzi children and married the eldest daughter. He was raised to the rank of
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on 30 January 1889, following an apparent murder-suicide, which is known as the
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furniture dealer obsessed with the Mayerling incident who removed them for a
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because of the illness of the father. While there, Vetsera supposedly had an
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Austrian noblewoman, mistress to Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria (1871–1889)
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The Mayerling Tragedy: How and Why did Prince Rudolf and Mary Vetsera Die?
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A woman of Vienna, Joachim von KĂĽrenberg, Cassell, 1955, ASIN B001882BM8
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194:. Vetsera and the crown prince were found dead at his hunting lodge in
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After Kaspar had refused to die with him, the crown prince proposed a
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835:"Mayerling Journal; Lurid Truth and Lurid Legend: A Hapsburg Tale"
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Schmemann, Serge; Times, Special To the New York (10 March 1989).
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1049:"Mayerling Revisited: The Short Life and Death of Mary Vetsera"
712:"Mayerling Revisited: The Short Life and Death of Mary Vetsera"
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of the incident, including records of the investigation by an
823:, p. 237: "hat stupid Crown Princess knows I am her rival."
352:(1864–1907). It was to Kaspar that Rudolf first proposed a
794:"Scandal in the House of Habsburg: The Mayerling Incident"
1035:
from the Austrian National Library, 31 July 2015 (German)
670:, The Durham University Journal 84, no. 2, 1992, p. 204.
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Constantinople, Philip Mansel, Penguin Books Ltd, 1997,
389:. The crown prince excused himself and travelled to the
589:
Crime at Mayerling: The Life and Death of Mary Vetsera
287:, even though she did not have the right to visit the
755:(in Hungarian). Budapest: Európa. pp. 139–140.
412:In the end, Loschek smashed in a door panel with a
247:(1847–1925), member of a wealthy noble family from
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495:of trauma, which could have been inflicted by the
1096:Eulogy on Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary
129:Salesian Institute for Daughters of the Nobility
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1062:(1). Illinois Wesleyan University. Article 6.
409:joined him, and they tried to open the door.
180:Baroness Marie Alexandrine "Mary" von Vetsera
8:
751:von Wallersee-Larisch, Marie Louise (2017).
1000:, Volume 58, No. 11, November 2008, p. 67.
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182:(19 March 1871 – 30 January 1889) was an
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325:In 1888, Vetsera became infatuated with
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532:Vetsera's farewell letter to her mother
684:. Riverside, CA: Ariadne. p. 22.
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321:Relationship with Crown Prince Rudolf
223:von Vetsera (1825–1887), an Austrian
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881:"Love is Dead | History Today"
657:, Dodd, Mead & Co, 1916, p. 111
338:Countess Marie Larisch von Moennich
291:. She wanted to break out from the
979:Mayerling: Die Loesung des Ratsels
25:
792:Coatman, Lucy (8 February 2023).
655:The Last Days of Archduke Rudolph
502:Holler claimed he petitioned the
471:was unchallenged until after the
1151:Austrian people of Greek descent
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1136:Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria
1047:Ridley, Chelsea (15 May 2011).
910:Coatman, Lucy (February 2022).
710:Ridley, Chelsea (15 May 2011).
192:Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria
139:Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria
1131:Burials at Heiligenkreuz Abbey
1126:Mistresses of Austrian royalty
938:The American Historical Review
259:). Albin Vetsera had been the
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870:, Penguin Press, 1980, p. 219
779:, Ariadne Press, 1995, p. 30.
591:, Ariadne Press, 1995, p. 23.
897:, Ariadne Press, 1995, p. 28
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1085:The Vetsera Collection
566:Austrian National Library
453:to give permission for a
235:(present day Bratislava,
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631:, Christopher Aidan Long
346:Crown Princess Stéphanie
680:Markus, Georg (1995).
625:The Androom Archives:
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467:The official story of
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239:), and his wife, born
1080:Baroness Mary Vetsera
1056:Constructing the Past
1016:, Ariadne Press, 1995
716:Constructing the Past
564:On 31 July 2015, the
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206:Family and early life
141:, involvement in the
1146:Nobility from Vienna
1082:at Wikimedia Commons
1031:31 July 2015 at the
992:Murder at Mayerling?
946:10.1086/ahr/42.4.764
542:forensic examination
407:Hoyos-Stichstenstein
275:Emperor Franz Joseph
48:Mary Vetsera in 1888
1121:Austrian baronesses
1089:3 July 2013 at the
868:A Nervous Splendour
866:Morton, Frederick,
653:Grant, Hamil, ed.,
642:Baron Albin Vetsera
628:Baltazzi, Alexander
376:star-crossed lovers
327:Crown Prince Rudolf
184:Austrian noblewoman
839:The New York Times
682:Crime at Mayerling
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366:Mayerling incident
350:Mizzi/Mitzi Kaspar
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210:Marie Alexandrine
200:Mayerling incident
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762:978-963-405-820-5
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922:(2): 16–18.
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405:Joseph von
273:in 1870 by
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70:1871-03-19
954:1937-5239
847:0362-4331
736:, p. 241.
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490:In 1959,
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425:Aftermath
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196:Mayerling
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126:Education
100:Mayerling
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504:Holy See
475:. After
459:insanity
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310:with an
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270:Freiherr
265:orphaned
261:guardian
245:Baltazzi
237:Slovakia
225:diplomat
220:Freiherr
188:mistress
186:and the
166:Freiherr
821:My Past
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734:My Past
546:stabbed
315:officer
312:English
294:parvenu
263:of the
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120:Austria
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477:Soviet
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243:Hélène
241:Eleni
215:Freiin
163:Albin
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1052:(pdf)
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485:skull
451:abbot
403:Count
399:valet
360:Death
300:Cairo
289:court
249:Chios
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149:Title
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854:2022
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68:(
20:)
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