21 November – The last emperor to die in his own realm

Emperor Francis Joseph I passed away on 21 November 1916. At the age of eighty-six, he had ruled for nearly sixty-eight years.

The old Emperor’s last years were rather sad and lonely. Many of his closest family members had died — his son and wife, all his siblings except one unmarried brother, and almost all his nieces and nephews. Four heirs to the Imperial throne had departed before him, and his two daughters had married far from Vienna. The Emperor’s fourteen grandchildren and nineteen grand-nieces and grand-nephews were seen only on high holidays.

The outbreak of war in 1914 did not significantly alter Francis Joseph’s daily routine. Due to his advanced age, he resided in Schönbrunn during the final two years of his life, where he continued working at his desk from early morning to late night. He retained full clarity of mind until the very end but grew physically weaker. A cold caught while walking in the park developed into pneumonia. On his final day, despite fever, the Emperor followed his usual schedule until weakness confined him to bed. He passed away peacefully in his sleep at 9:05 p.m. A week later, he was buried in the Capuchin Crypt next to his wife and son.