Nevertheless, his teachers preferred the cheerful Otto more than his grumpy and irascible older brother. Otto was not interested in learning and often played pranks on his teachers. Otto and his elder brother Franz Ferdinand were taught by Alfred Ludwig, Baron of Degenfeld. Otto's mother died when he was six years old. Charles inherited the throne two years later. In 1914, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by the Serbian nationalist terrorist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, and Otto's son Charles became heir presumptive. However, this did not happen, and Otto was never first in line to the throne. At the time of their father's death, Franz Ferdinand had been ill with tuberculosis and there was speculation that Franz Ferdinand would renounce his rights, which would have made his brother, Otto, heir presumptive. On the death of Karl Ludwig in May 1896, Otto's brother Franz Ferdinand did indeed become heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Although a newspaper account claimed that Karl Ludwig renounced his rights to the throne that same year (1889) in favour of his eldest son, Franz Ferdinand, that story is not certain. Otto's father, Karl Ludwig, was a younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Karl Ludwig became heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne when his cousin Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide in 1889. Otto was a son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and his wife, Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He was the father of Charles I of Austria, the final Emperor of Austria.īiography Archduchess Maria Annunciata holding the young Archduke in her lap Heirs presumptive Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two SiciliesĪrchduke Otto Franz Joseph Karl Ludwig Maria of Austria (21 April 1865 – 1 November 1906) was the second son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria (younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria) and his second wife, Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. German: Otto Franz Joseph Karl Ludwig MariaĮnglish: Otto Francis Joseph Charles Louis Maria

Otto glott karl franz