View source for Karl von Habsburg

{{Short description|Austrian politician (born 1961)}}
{{about|the living politician|other uses|Archduke Charles of Austria (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Karl von Habsburg
| image               = Karl Habsburg-Lothringen (2022).jpg
| office              = [[Member of the European Parliament]] for [[Austria (European Parliament constituency)|Austria]]
| term_start          = 1996
| term_end            = 1999
{{Infobox royalty
| embed               = yes
| succession          = Head of the [[House of Habsburg-Lorraine]]
| predecessor         = [[Otto von Habsburg]]
| reign               = 1 January 2007 – present
}}
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1961|01|11|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Starnberg]], [[Bavaria]], [[West Germany]]
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza|Francesca von Thyssen-Bornemisza]]|31 January 1993|2017|reason=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Christian Nicolau de Almeida Reid<br>|2022}}
}}
| children            = 3, including [[Eleonore von Habsburg|Eleonore]] and [[Ferdinand Habsburg (racing driver)|Ferdinand]]
| party               = [[Austrian People's Party]]
| father              = [[Otto von Habsburg]]
| mother              = [[Regina von Habsburg|Regina von Sachsen-Meiningen]]
| website             = {{URL|karlvonhabsburg.at}}
| caption             = Habsburg-Lothringen in 2022
}}

'''Karl von Habsburg''' (given names: ''Karl Thomas Robert Maria Franziskus Georg Bahnam''; born 11 January 1961) is an [[Austria]]n politician and the head of the [[House of Habsburg-Lorraine]], the former royal house of the defunct Austro-Hungarian thrones. As a citizen of the Republic of Austria, his legal name is '''Karl Habsburg-Lothringen'''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Karl Habsburg-Lothringen, Biografie {{!}} Parlament Österreich |url=https://www.parlament.gv.at/WWER/PAD_04276/index.shtml# |access-date=2022-06-02 |website=www.parlament.gv.at |language=de}}</ref>

Karl is the son of [[Otto von Habsburg]] and [[Regina von Habsburg|Regina von Sachsen-Meiningen]], and the grandson of the last [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] emperor, [[Charles I of Austria|Charles I]]. He is head and sovereign of the Austrian [[Order of the Golden Fleece]]. Karl Habsburg served as a [[member of the European Parliament]] for the [[Austrian People's Party]] (1996–1999). He is known for being [[pro-European]] and is also an advocate for the [[Pan-European movement]].

Karl Habsburg's career has focused on the issue of protecting [[cultural heritage]] from threats such as armed conflict and natural disasters. He was president of the cultural protection organization [[Blue Shield International]] from 2008 until August 2020.<ref name="Blue Shield General Assembly">{{cite web |title=Blue Shield General Assembly |url=https://theblueshield.org/bsi-general-assembly-2020/ |website=The Blue Shield |date=23 September 2020 |publisher=Blue Shield International |access-date=12 January 2021 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114141542/https://theblueshield.org/bsi-general-assembly-2020/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1992/1993, he hosted a TV [[game show]] with Austrian public TV broadcaster [[ORF (broadcaster)|ORF]], called ''Who Is Who''.<ref name=berufenkel>{{citation |url=http://diepresse.com/home/meinung/portraitdestages/647306/Beruf_Enkel |title=Beruf: Enkel |journal=Die Presse |date=3 April 2011 |access-date=5 June 2011 |archive-date=8 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408003359/http://diepresse.com/home/meinung/portraitdestages/647306/Beruf_Enkel |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="derstandard.at">[http://derstandard.at/1918444?sap=2&_slideNumber=5 Ansichtssache: Ranking der Absonderlichkeiten im ORF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011091233/http://derstandard.at/1918444?sap=2&_slideNumber=5 |date=11 October 2012 }}, 27 December 2005</ref>

==Early life and background==
Karl Habsburg was born on 11 January 1961 in [[Starnberg]], [[Bavaria]]. He was baptised in [[Pöcking]], Bavaria, as Archduke Karl of Austria ({{lang|de|Erzherzog Karl von Österreich}}), the name entered in the baptismal records.<ref name="diepresse">{{cite web|url=http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/675151/Habsburgs-Erbe-zerfiel-und-erlebte-dennoch-eine-Renaissance?_vl_backlink=/home/politik/innenpolitik/index.do|publisher=diepresse.com|title=Habsburgs Erbe zerfiel und erlebte dennoch eine Renaissance « DiePresse.com|access-date=13 November 2016|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211255/http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/675151/Habsburgs-Erbe-zerfiel-und-erlebte-dennoch-eine-Renaissance?_vl_backlink=%2Fhome%2Fpolitik%2Finnenpolitik%2Findex.do|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At the time of his birth, his father was ''de facto'' [[statelessness|stateless]] and possessed a Spanish [[diplomatic passport]] (he had grown up in Spain), while his mother was a German citizen. Like his father and siblings, he was [[banishment|banished]] from Austria for the first years of his life. However, the administrative court of Austria later ruled that applying to return to the country was legal, and his family was granted visa entrance in June 1966.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Habsburg#ref32094|title=House of Habsburg {{!}} European dynasty|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-08-01|language=en|archive-date=1 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801095024/https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Habsburg#ref32094|url-status=live}}</ref>

===House of Habsburg titles and issues===
In 1961, Karl's father, [[Otto von Habsburg]], renounced all claims to the defunct Austrian throne, as a necessary legal condition to being allowed to [[repatriation|return]] to Austria. Karl does not use his ancestral titles, because unlike most European countries, even the unofficial use of such titles is not permitted in Hungary and Austria.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10000038|title=RIS - Gesamte Rechtsvorschrift für Habsburgergesetz - Bundesrecht konsolidiert, Fassung vom 09.08.2015|work=bka.gv.at|access-date=7 May 2011|archive-date=30 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930002328/https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10000038|url-status=live}}</ref> Habsburg says: <blockquote>I don't refer to titles, I'm not that vain. People use these titles out of respect for history and the role of my family in history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.krone.at/1649757|title=Ist der Adel passé, Herr Habsburg?|website=Kronen Zeitung|date=25 February 2018 |access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=3 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303014347/https://www.krone.at/1649757|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>Although the [[Austrian nobility#Abolition of nobility in 1919|Adelsaufhebungsgesetz]] (Law on the Abolition of the Nobility) abolished all Austrian and Hungarian noble, royal, and imperial titles in 1919,<ref>{{cite web|title=Law of April 3, 1919, on the referral from the state and the takeover of the assets of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine|website=Rechtsinformationssystems des Bundes|url=http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10000038|access-date=7 May 2011|archive-date=30 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930002328/https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10000038|url-status=live}}</ref> and their usage is still illegal in those countries,<ref>{{cite book|first1=Philipp|last1=Korom|first2=Jaap|last2=Dronkers|date=2015|chapter=Nobles among the Austrian economic elite in the early twenty-first century|title=Nobilities in Europe in the Twentieth Century: Reconversion Strategies, Memory Culture and Elite Formation|chapter-url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8338/2a575b27f54f8407823612939eb40b5adf3f.pdf|publisher=Peeters|pages=281–304|s2cid=148519346|access-date=7 July 2020|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212162904/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8338/2a575b27f54f8407823612939eb40b5adf3f.pdf|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> media elsewhere occasionally refer to Karl Habsburg by his [[royal titles|ancestral titles]]<ref name="harmonische Wahlkapitulation">{{cite book|title=Kaiser Joseph II. harmonische Wahlkapitulation mit allen den vorhergehenden Wahlkapitulationen der vorigen Kaiser und Könige}}</ref><ref name="Croatian Coronation Oath">{{cite book|title=Croatian Coronation Oath of 1916|pages=2–4}} ''Emperor of Austria, Hungary and Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia Apostolic king''</ref> of Archduke of Austria, Royal Prince of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia.{{refn|For some examples of this usage, see ''Burke's Guide to the Royal Family'', edited by [[Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd]], published by Burke's Peerage, London, 1973, p. 240. {{ISBN|0-220-66222-3}}; Nicolas Enache's ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg'', published by ICC, Paris, 1996. pp. 44, 50; Chantal de Badts de Cugnac and Guy Coutant de Saisseval's ''Le Petit Gotha'', published by Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, pp. 201–202. {{ISBN|2-9507974-3-1}}; the ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' Vol. XVI, published by C.A. Starke Verlag, 2001, pp. 87–90. {{ISBN|3-79800824-8}}{{#tag:ref|The family name of Karl Habsburg's father was declared to be ''Habsburg-Lothringen'' by an Austrian ministerial decision in 1957 [http://www-classic.uni-graz.at/sozwww/agsoe/soz/oes/oes_h.htm] and by a German court (Landgericht Würzburg) on 16 July 1958. Otto was, however, at the time ''de facto'' stateless, living in Germany with a Spanish diplomatic passport, and was denied both entry to Austria and an Austrian passport. Otto's official name as a German citizen from 1978 was ''Otto von Habsburg''.|group=fn}}}}

At the request of the [[USSR]], which was wary of a restoration of the monarchy, the anti-Habsburg laws became mandatory international and constitutional components of the [[Austrian State Treaty]] in 1955.<ref>A Habsburg monarchy or Danube federation, as aimed by the British side, was seen by the Soviet politicians as an instrument of an anti-Soviet policy. (Wolfgang Mueller "Die sowjetische Besatzung in Österreich 1945-1955 und ihre politische Mission" (German - "The Soviet occupation in Austria 1945-1955 and its political mission"), 2005, p 24.</ref><ref>Gerald Stourzh "Geschichte des Staatsvertrages 1945 - 1955" (1975) p 2.</ref><ref>Robert J. Gannon "The Cardinal Spellman Story" (1962), p 222–224.</ref> The family tried to get their former property returned under rules for victims of the Nazi regime. The attempt of Karl Habsburg failed because the law of expropriation still has constitutional status.<ref>[http://derstandard.at/1925306 Karl von Habsburg will Vermögen vor VfGH erkämpfen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011091306/http://derstandard.at/1925306 |date=11 October 2012 }}<br />[http://derstandard.at/2013893 Habsburger mit Entschädigungs-Forderung beim VfGH abgeblitzt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011091339/http://derstandard.at/2013893 |date=11 October 2012 }}.</ref> On 1 January 2007, his father relinquished his position as the [[Pater familias|head]] of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, a status which then devolved on Karl.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Die vielen Pflichten des Adels|url=http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/politik/oesterreich/278334_Die-vielen-Pflichten-des-Adels.html|date=5 July 2011|newspaper=Wiener Zeitung|language=de|access-date=11 July 2011|archive-date=5 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805162729/http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/politik/oesterreich/278334_Die-vielen-Pflichten-des-Adels.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2008, he became the Grand Master of the [[Order of St. George (Habsburg-Lorraine)|Order of Saint George]].<ref name="wiener-schatzkammer">{{cite web|url=http://www.wiener-schatzkammer.at/goldenes-vlies.html|publisher=wiener-schatzkammer.at|title=Wiener Schatzkammer: Schatz des Ordens vom Goldenen Vlies|access-date=13 November 2016|archive-date=12 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012060017/http://www.wiener-schatzkammer.at/goldenes-vlies.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

As head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, Karl undertakes numerous commitments. On the one hand, these are cultural, historical, political, but also tourist events and, on the other hand, commitments to orders of chivalry, associations or military units. Many events, such as the participation in the peace flight in 2018 as a pilot with his plane, concerned the centenary of World War I.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ILF begrüßt Karl Habsburg bei der Landung nach dem Friedensflug|url=https://www.austrianwings.info/2018/05/ilf-begruesst-karl-habsburg-bei-der-landung-nach-dem-friedensflug/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326074530/https://www.austrianwings.info/2018/05/ilf-begruesst-karl-habsburg-bei-der-landung-nach-dem-friedensflug/|archive-date=26 March 2020|access-date=26 March 2020|website=Austrian Wings|date=28 May 2018 }}</ref> In 2019 there were many events in honor of his ancestor [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=GmbH|first=Typoheads|title=Der letzte Ritter|url=https://www.milak.at/news/detail/der-letzte-ritter|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326122922/https://www.milak.at/news/detail/der-letzte-ritter|archive-date=26 March 2020|access-date=26 March 2020|website=www.milak.at}}</ref> He is supported in this work by an 
[[adjutant general]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Generaladjutantur|url=https://generaladjutantur.com/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328062536/https://generaladjutantur.com/|archive-date=28 March 2020|access-date=28 March 2020|website=Generaladjutantur}}</ref>

===Education===
Between 1982 and 1989, Habsburg studied [[law]], [[philosophy]], and [[political science]] at the [[University of Salzburg]], passing his first ''[[staatsexamen]]'' in 1984; while there, he spent a year studying law and philosophy at [[Michigan State University]] in the [[United States]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Karl von Habsburg: Biografie |url=https://www.karlvonhabsburg.at/biografie/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=www.karlvonhabsburg.at}}</ref> He received graduate degrees in business and law from [[Imadec Executive Education|IMADEC University]] in 2012.<ref name=":0" />

==Career==
{{Conservatism in Austria|Politicians}}

===Military service===
Karl Habsburg did his military service in 1981 as a platoon commander of a [[Jäger (infantry)]] platoon as a [[one-year volunteer]] with the [[Austrian Armed Forces]], where he later also completed his pilot training, He is a reserve {{lang|de|[[Hauptmann]]}} (captain) in the [[Austrian Air Force]]. He is also an Austrian Army Cultural Property Protection Officer, first with the staff of the Military Command of Salzburg, later with the Armed Forces High Command, currently with IHSW at Staff College. As a paratrooper, he was elected President of the European Military Paratroopers Association (Europäischer Militär- Fallschirmsprungverband e.V.) in 2001 - a role that he still holds today.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.european-paratrooper.de/navid.15/vorstand.htm|title=Vorstand|website=www.european-paratrooper.de|access-date=23 March 2020|archive-date=23 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323120233/http://www.european-paratrooper.de/navid.15/vorstand.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Activism===
Since 1986, Karl Habsburg has been president of the Austrian branch of the [[Paneuropean Union]], which co-organised the [[Pan-European Picnic]]. In May 1990, Habsburg personally led an aid convoy to [[Vilnius]] with food, medicine and clothing as a representative of the Paneuropean Union, in response to the Soviet Union's blockade of raw materials following the proclamation of Lithuanian independence in March 1990. In 1991 he organized international aid against the destruction in [[Dubrovnik]] and in the former Yugoslavia.<ref name="WienerZeitung-20120629">Hans Haider: [https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/reflexionen/zeitgenossen/468860_Karl-Habsburg-Lothringen.html ''Kulturgüterschutz: Karl Habsburg-Lothringen.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006011858/https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/reflexionen/zeitgenossen/468860_Karl-Habsburg-Lothringen.html |date=6 October 2020 }} In: ''[[Wiener Zeitung]],'' 29. Juni 2012, Archived on 9 Februar 2020.</ref>

===European Parliament===
In October 1996, Habsburg was elected as a member of the [[European Parliament]] (MEP) for Austria, representing the [[Austrian People's Party]].

===Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization===
On 19 January 2002, he was appointed Director General of UNPO ([[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]]) by the UNPO Steering Committee.<ref name=unponews132>{{cite web|title=UNPO Steering Committee appoints Karl von Habsburg as the organizations new Director-General|url=http://www.unpo.org/article/132|work=UNPO Website|access-date=23 April 2011|author=UNPO|date=2 November 2009 |author-link=UNPO|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903011451/http://www.unpo.org/article/132|archive-date=3 September 2010}} This position is separate from the "Secretary General" as the UNPO Website explains "This is a newly created senior position within the UNPO, aimed at further enhancing the fundamental rights of its Members world-wide."</ref>

===Blue Shield===
From 7 December 2008, he became the President of the Association of National Committees of the [[International Committee of the Blue Shield|Blue Shield]],<ref name="blueshieldnews">{{cite web|title=ANCBS – An organization for protection of culture in danger|url=http://www.ancbs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60:press-release-1&catid=14:past-news&Itemid=29|work=Blue Shield Website|access-date=23 April 2011|author=Blue Shield|author-link=International Committee of the Blue Shield|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323023201/http://www.ancbs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60:press-release-1&catid=14:past-news&Itemid=29|archive-date=23 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> a cultural protection organisation that later became Blue Shield International. Habsburg was a strong supporter of those who created the "No Strike List" of cultural heritage sites and cultural sites that should be preserved when attacks or flight operations were carried out.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kane |first1=Susan |title=Lessons Learned From Libya |journal=SAA |date=May 2013 |volume=13 |issue=3 |url=http://digitaleditions.sheridan.com/publication/?m=16146&i=160407&view=articleBrowser&article_id=1409619 |access-date=12 January 2021}}</ref> This particularly moved [[NATO]] troops to protect the cultural assets and the economic and cultural basis of the civilian population.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_82441.htm|title=Protecting Libya's heritage|website=NATO|access-date=3 July 2020|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807050905/https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_82441.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Habsburg particularly supports the bringing together of military and civilian personnel and the cooperation of various international organizations for the protection of cultural assets, such as the Blue Shield, [[UNIFIL]] and [[UNESCO]] deployment in Lebanon in 2019, and the cooperation with the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.icrc.org/en/document/icrc-and-blue-shield-signed-memorandum-understanding|title=The ICRC and the Blue Shield signed a Memorandum of Understanding|date=26 February 2020|via=www.icrc.org|access-date=22 March 2020|archive-date=22 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322065528/https://www.icrc.org/en/document/icrc-and-blue-shield-signed-memorandum-understanding|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://unifil.unmissions.org/action-plan-preserve-heritage-sites-during-conflict|title=Action plan to preserve heritage sites during conflict|date=12 April 2019|website=UNIFIL|access-date=22 March 2020|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726081110/https://unifil.unmissions.org/action-plan-preserve-heritage-sites-during-conflict|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.krone.at/1905950|title=Wo Österreichs Soldaten den Osterfrieden sichern|website=Kronen Zeitung|date=18 April 2019 |access-date=9 April 2020|archive-date=26 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226023049/https://www.krone.at/1905950|url-status=live}}</ref> After the [[2020 Beirut explosion|explosion in the port of Beirut]] in Lebanon in summer 2020, Habsburg helped coordinate the reconstruction and aid on site.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.krone.at/2216068 |title=Beirut: Habsburg koordiniert Kulturgüterschutz |date=23 August 2020 |access-date=27 August 2020 |archive-date=27 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200827041040/https://www.krone.at/2216068 |url-status=live }}</ref> He stepped down as President of the Blue Shield at the General Assembly in August 2020.<ref name="Blue Shield General Assembly" />

Since 2010 he has been chairman of the advisory board of the Competence Center for Cultural Heritage and Cultural Property Protection at the [[University of Vienna]]. He delivers lectures and training courses worldwide on the role of the military in protecting cultural property, such as at the [[United States Africa Command]], the [[Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence]] or the [[Theresian Military Academy]].<ref>"Islamic Manuscript Collections in Conflict Zones: Safeguarding Written Heritage" In: The Islamic Manuscript Association, 5 October 2015.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cimic-coe.org/news/news/|title=Interview with Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen - CIMIC-COE|website=Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence|access-date=14 May 2020|archive-date=6 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006011900/https://www.cimic-coe.org/news/news/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.milak.at/news/detail/die-rolle-des-militaers-beim-schutz-von-kulturguetern|title=Die Rolle des Militärs beim Schutz von Kulturgütern|first=Typoheads|last=GmbH|website=www.milak.at|access-date=25 March 2020|archive-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111151232/https://www.milak.at/news/detail/die-rolle-des-militaers-beim-schutz-von-kulturguetern|url-status=live}}</ref> He emphasizes that it is crucial for cultural property protection to be on the spot quickly: "We know the importance to be fast and in a place where there is a potential conflict or an actual conflict; you have to be there really fast to make an assessment and to see what you can do to immediately help."<ref>''Protecting Libya's heritage.'' NATO-News, 4 Januar 2012.

Von Habsburg propagates vehemently worldwide through on-site missions, lectures, workshops and interviews on the protection of archaeological finds and archaeological sites, in addition to the establishment of rules, documentation and lists, and the training of the police, the military, civil administration and international organizations, but with particular importance the strong involvement of the local population. It is only through cooperation with the locals that the protection of archaeological finds, exhibits and excavation sites from destruction, looting and robbery can be implemented sustainably. He summed it up with the words: "Without the local community and without the local participants, that would be completely impossible".<nowiki><ref></nowiki>{{Cite web|url=https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-plan-to-preserve-heritage-sites-during-conflict|title=Action plan to preserve heritage sites during conflict|website=United Nations Peacekeeping|access-date=24 March 2020|archive-date=27 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527103531/https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-plan-to-preserve-heritage-sites-during-conflict|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Business and media activities===
In 1992/1993, he hosted a TV [[game show]] with Austrian public TV broadcaster [[ORF (broadcaster)|ORF]], called ''Who Is Who''.<ref name=berufenkel/><ref name="derstandard.at"/>

Since 2009, he has been a shareholder in a media group in the Netherlands, consisting of radio stations, a magazine and a music television channel. He is also one of the three co-founders of BG Privatinvest, a Vienna-based investment company. In December 2010 the company acquired the two most important Bulgarian daily newspapers, ''[[Dneven Trud]]'' and ''[[24 Chasa]]''.<ref>"German media group sells its newspaper and publishing business in Bulgaria", ''Associated Press Newswire'' (15 December 2010).</ref> After ongoing conflicts with Bulgarian partners, BG Privatinvest sold the newspapers in April 2011.<ref>"Sopharma Owner, Partner Win Battle for WAZ Asssets in Bulgaria", ''Novinite'' (18 April 2011).</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Archduke Karl von Habsburg appearing on "After Dark", 21 October 1989.jpg|thumb|Appearing on British television programme ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'' in 1989]]

Habsburg has lived in Austria, since 1981, and resided in ''Casa Austria'', formerly called ''Villa Swoboda'', in [[Anif]], near the city of [[Salzburg]], until 2022.<ref>[http://www.salzburg.com/wiki/index.php/Villa_Swoboda "Villa Swoboda"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721002119/http://www.salzburg.com/wiki/index.php/Villa_Swoboda |date=21 July 2011 }}, ''SalzburgWiki''.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=ttrenkler |date=2022-06-17 |title=Habsburg verkauft Villa: Wohnen wie bei Kaisers |url=https://kurier.at/stars/austropromis/habsburg-verkauft-villa-wohnen-wie-bei-kaisers/402045442 |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=kurier.at |language=de}}</ref> On 31 January 1993 in [[Mariazell Basilica|Mariazell]], he married [[Francesca von Habsburg|Baroness Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza]] (born 7 June 1958 in [[Lausanne]]), the only daughter of [[Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza|Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon]], a European industrialist, and his third wife, the fashion model [[Fiona Campbell-Walter|Fiona Frances Elaine Campbell-Walter]].<ref name="ghda">''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' vol. 16. C.A. Starke Verlag, 2001, pp. 87–90. (German). {{ISBN|3-79800824-8}}.</ref> The marriage received the [[Dynasty#Dynasts|dynastic]] authorization of Karl's father, as head of the House of Habsburg, despite objections from some members of the family as the bride, although a [[baron]]ess in the [[Hungarian nobility|nobility]] of pre-republican Hungary and Transylvania, did not descend in the [[canon law|canonically]] legitimate male line from a family of dynastic (ruling or formerly ruling or [[German mediatisation|mediatised]]) status.<ref name="enache">Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg''. ICC, Paris, 1996, p. 50. (French). {{ISBN|2-908003-04-X}}</ref><ref name="petit">de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal and Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. ''Le Petit Gotha''. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, pp. 201–202 (French). {{ISBN|2-9507974-3-1}}.</ref>

After 10 years of marriage, the couple separated in 2003.<ref>Shaw, William, "[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/magazine/25stylefrancesca.t.html We Are Not a Muse] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227193615/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/magazine/25stylefrancesca.t.html |date=27 February 2017 }}", ''New York Times'', 25 February 2007.</ref> They divorced in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/878f7352-f641-11e9-bbe1-4db3476c5ff0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227103947/https://www.ft.com/content/878f7352-f641-11e9-bbe1-4db3476c5ff0 |archive-date=27 February 2021 |url-access=subscription |url-status=bot: unknown |title=Collector Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza on artists being advocates for change |work=[[Financial Times]] |date=1 November 2019 |access-date=5 May 2021 }}</ref>

Karl and Francesca have three children:
* [[Eleonore Habsburg|Eleonore Maria del Pilar Iona Christina Jelena]] (born 28 February 1994 in Salzburg). Married civilly to [[Jérôme d'Ambrosio]] on 20 July 2020.
* [[Ferdinand Habsburg (racing driver)|Ferdinand Zvonimir Maria Balthus Keith Michael Otto Antal Bahnam Leonhard]] (born 21 June 1997 in Salzburg).
* Gloria Maria Bogdana Paloma Regina Fiona Gabriela (born 15 October 1999 in Salzburg), her godmother is [[Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis]].<ref>"le baptême de Gloria, archiduchesse d'Autriche", ''Point de Vue'', no. 2688 (26 janvier au 1 fevrier 2000): 32–35.</ref>

In the spring of 2022 in Portugal, Karl married Christian Nicolau de Almeida Reid, a woman of Portuguese descent.<ref>{{cite news | title = Karl Habsburg hat sich in Portugal getraut | url = https://www.krone.at/2113988 | publisher = [[Kronen Zeitung]] | date = 16 June 2022 | language = de | access-date = 17 June 2022 | archive-date = 17 June 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220617133903/https://www.krone.at/2735763 | url-status = live }}</ref>

In March 2020, during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], he tested positive for the virus. Habsburg self-isolated at home.<ref>{{cite news | title = Auch Kaiserenkel Karl mit Coronavirus infiziert | url = https://www.krone.at/2113988 | publisher = [[Kronen Zeitung]] | date = 10 March 2020 | language = de | access-date = 10 March 2020 | archive-date = 12 March 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200312053029/https://www.krone.at/2113988 | url-status = live }}</ref> Karl von Habsburg was officially declared healthy after almost three weeks of quarantine. After his illness, Karl Habsburg encouraged everyone to follow the official protective measures strictly, and asked survivors of the disease to donate blood plasma.<ref>Habsburg in "ZIB -2" and "Mittag in Österreich", in Austrian TV - ORF (German), 30/31 March 2020.</ref>

===Controversies===
In July 1998 an Austrian court fined Karl von Habsburg 180,000 schillings ($14,300); he had failed to declare immediately to customs officials that he had an antique [[diadem]] in his luggage when he crossed the border from [[Switzerland]] in July 1996.<ref>"Member of Habsburg family fined for smuggling", ''Reuters News'' (21 July 1998).</ref> The diadem belonged to his wife who intended to wear it at a [[wedding ceremony]].

Also in 1998, evidence emerged that during Habsburg's election campaign for membership in the European Parliament two years prior, his political party the [[Austrian People's Party|ÖVP]], had benefited from at least 30,000 [[German Mark|Marks]] worth of [[World Vision]] donations via Paneurope Austria while Karl Habsburg sat on the board of World Vision Austria, apparently without noticing the director's dubiously legal activities.<ref name=gelberstern>{{citation |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-8413493.html |last=Martin |first=Hans-Peter |title=Österreich : Gelber Stern |journal=Der Spiegel |number=52 |date=21 December 1998 |access-date=5 June 2011 |archive-date=16 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916070954/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-8413493.html |url-status=live }}</ref> His father exacerbated the controversy when he complained that his son was being attacked unfairly and drew a parallel between the name "Habsburg" and a [[yellow badge]].<ref name=gelberstern/> ÖVP did not nominate Karl von Habsburg again for the 1999 elections.<ref name=berufenkel/><ref name=datum>{{citation |url=http://www.datum.at/1005/stories/1112924 |last=Schüller |first=Rainer |title=25. November 1998: Der Spendenskandal um "World Vision Österreich" bringt den ÖVP-Politiker Karl von Habsburg in Bedrängnis. Volkspartei und Adel: ein schwieriges Verhältnis? |journal=Datum |number=10 |year=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514105014/http://www.datum.at/1005/stories/1112924/ |archive-date=14 May 2007}}.</ref> In 2004, Karl von Habsburg paid 37,000 euros to the new World Vision Austria branch.<ref name=datum/>

==Honours==

===Dynastic===
* {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} [[House of Habsburg-Lorraine]]:
** Sovereign and Grand Master of the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]]<ref name="icoc">{{cite web |title=Registers of the International Commission for Orders of Chivalry |url=https://www.icocregister.com/registers/ |website=icocregister.com |access-date=26 May 2022}}</ref>
** Sovereign of the [[Order of the Starry Cross]]<ref name="icoc" />
** Sovereign and Grand Master of the [[Order of St. George (Habsburg-Lorraine)|Order of Saint George]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Die Ordensregierung |url=https://www.georgsorden.at/de/die-ordensregierung/ |website=georgsorden.at |access-date=26 May 2022}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|Two Sicilies}} [[House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies]]:
** Knight of the [[Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George]]{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

===National===
* {{flagicon|Tonga}} [[Tonga]]: 
** Knight Grand Cross, Special Class of [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Tonga|The Most Devoted Royal Household Order of Tonga]]{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}
** King Tupou VI Coronation Medal
* {{flagicon|SMOM}}: [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta]]
** Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

===Other===
* Grand Master of the Military Order of Saint Sebastian in Europe (''Ritterschaft vom Heiligen Sebastianus in Europa'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://schuetzen.erzbistum-koeln.de/Europa/Fremdsprachen/englisch/index.html|title=Internetseite in englischer Sprache|website=schuetzen.erzbistum-koeln.de|access-date=24 March 2020|archive-date=24 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324170624/https://schuetzen.erzbistum-koeln.de/Europa/Fremdsprachen/englisch/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 
* Supreme Bearer of the [[Couleur]] of the Austrian Catholic Student Fraternities ("katholisch-österreichischen [[Landsmannschaft (Studentenverbindung)|Landsmannschaften]]")<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://koel.at/|title=Katholisch Österreichische Landsmanschaften &#124;|access-date=24 March 2020|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212012922/http://koel.at/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Protector of the Order of Knights of Wine (''Ordo Equestris Vini Europae'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.equesdevino.eu/w/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2.3.pdf|title=ORDO EQUESTRIS VINI EUROPAE|access-date=24 March 2020|archive-date=24 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324170623/http://www.equesdevino.eu/w/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2.3.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Ehrenritter'' of the [[Teutonic Order]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.deutscher-orden.at/site/home/article/856.html | title=Deutscher Orden: Brüder und Schwestern vom Deutschen Haus St. Mariens in Jerusalem }}</ref>

== Ancestry ==
{{Ahnentafel|Karl von Habsburg|[[Otto von Habsburg]]|[[Regina von Sachsen-Meiningen]]|[[Charles I of Austria]]|[[Zita of Bourbon-Parma]]|[[Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen]]|Countess Klara Marie von Korff genannt Schmising-Kerssenbrock|[[Archduke Otto Franz Joseph of Austria]]|[[Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony (1867–1944)|Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony]]|[[Robert I, Duke of Parma]]|[[Infanta Maria Antónia of Portugal]]|[[Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Meiningen]]|[[Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld]]|Alfred von Korff gennant Schmising-Kerssenbrock|Helene von Hilgers|align=center|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;|collapsed=yes}}

==See also==
* [[Heads of former ruling families]]

==Notes==
<references group=fn />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{official website|karlvonhabsburg.at}} {{in lang|de}}
* [https://generaladjutantur.com/ Adjutant General of the House of Habsburg] {{in lang|de}}

{{Austrian archdukes}}
{{Austro-Hungarian claimants}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Habsburg, Karl von}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century House of Habsburg|Karl of Austria, Archduke]]
[[Category:Grand masters of the Order of the Golden Fleece]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria]]
[[Category:Knights of Malta]]
[[Category:Austrian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Austrian expatriates in Germany]]
[[Category:People from Starnberg]]
[[Category:MEPs for Austria 1996–1999]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian politicians]]
[[Category:Honorary knights of the Teutonic Order]]
[[Category:Exiled royalty]]
[[Category:Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]]