Zita Bourbon-Parma

Childhood and Youth

Zita was born on May 9, 1892 at Villa Piano in the province of Lucca . It received its unusual name in honor of the famous Italian saint who lived in Tuscany in the 13th century ^[4] . She was the third daughter and fifth child in a family of a deprived of the throne during the Risorgimento ruler of Parma Roberto I and his second wife Maria Anthony of Portugal . Maria Anthony's father, Miguel, was expelled from Portugal and stripped of all titles due to an attempt to usurp power. Roberto I himself was deposed from the throne during revolutionary events when he was still a child. From his first marriage with Maria Pia Bourbon-Sicilian , he left nine children, six of whom were mentally retarded.

Despite the loss of the throne, Roberto remained a fairly wealthy man. Zita’s childhood was spent at Villa Pianore and in the Schwarzau am Steinfeld castle near Vienna. A special train was transported between them, transporting the family and their property. Zita, her brothers and sisters, spoke French, Portuguese, Spanish, English, German and Italian. According to her recollections: “ We grew up in different countries. My father considered himself a Frenchman, and we spent several weeks in the year at our Chambord castle. Once I asked him how to position ourselves. He replied: “Like the French princes ruling on Italian soil.” In fact, out of his twenty-four children, only three, including me, were born in Italy . ”

At the age of 10, Zita entered the school of the Salesian Order in Zanberg in Upper Bavaria. Education in it was quite strict and with a religious orientation. The curriculum included courses in mathematics, geography, history, science and music. In addition, children were taught to independently repair, darn and sew clothes and engage in physical education. Particular emphasis on education was placed on modesty, devotion to duty and discipline. She was at school until the fall of 1907, when her father died. The maternal grandmother, Adelaide Lowenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg , sent Tsita and her sister Francesca to complete their education at St. Cecily’s Benedictine Monastery on the Isle of Wight. There the princesses studied theology and philosophy, improved their knowledge of English. Zita began to sing in the choir and learned to play the organ.

At home, brought up as good Catholics, the children of the Duke of Parma regularly took part in charity events for the poor. Zita herself distributed clothing, food, and medicine to the poor. Three of the sisters became nuns, she herself for some time also believed that this was her way. However, noticing how her health worsened after being in a harsh British climate, her family advised her to stay for two years in the medical resort of Franzensbad .

Wedding and Children

Not far from the Schwarzau Castle was Villa Vartolz, the residence of Aunt Zita, Maria Teresa of Portugal . Archduke Karl Franz often visited her. With Zita, they saw them as children, before starting training. In 1909, his dragoon regiment was stationed in Brandes an der Elbe , from where the young man went to visit Aunt Maria Annunziat in Franzensbad . There he restored his acquaintance with Zita. At that time, he felt pressure from the family in connection with the unorganized marriage of Uncle Franz Ferdinand , since his children did not have the right to inherit the Austrian throne. Zita was a girl from the “right family”, her genealogy suited everyone. She herself recalled: “Of course, we were glad to meet again and became close friends. For my part, feelings developed gradually over the next two years. He also wanted to make things faster. In the fall of 1910, rumors began of my engagement with Jaime of Madrid . Karl he found his grandmother and asked if it was really just rumors. Having received an affirmative answer, he said: "Anyway, I better hurry anyway, otherwise it will go to someone else . "

The Archduke went to Villa Piano and asked for the hand of Zita. On June 13, 1911, their engagement was announced at the Austrian court.

The wedding of Karl and Zita took place on October 21, 1911 in the castle of Schwarzau am Steinfeld. Of the top guests, Emperor Franz Joseph I , who raised a toast to the newlyweds, and heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand , who witnessed the groom, were present.

November 20, 1912 in the villa Vartolts was born the first son of the couple, Otto . In total, eight children were born to the spouses:

• Otto (1912–2011) - Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, Archduke of Austria, head of the House of Habsburg (1922 — 2011), member of the CSU , deputy of the European Parliament , was married to Regina Saxe-Meiningenskaya , had seven children;
• Adelaide (1914-1971) - was not married, had no children;
• Robert (1915-1996) - Archduke of Austria-Este, banker, public figure and publicist; He was married to Margarita of Savoy-Aosta, had three sons and two daughters;
• Felix (1916–2011) - Archduke of Austria, was married to Anna Eugenia Arenberg, had seven children;
• Karl Ludwig (1918-2007) - Archduke of Austria, was married to Yolanda de Lin, had four children;
• Rudolph (1919-2010) - Archduke of Austria, was twice married, had five children from two marriages;
• Charlotte (1921-1989) - was married to the Duke George of Mecklenburg , had no children;
• Elizabeth (1922-1993) - was married to the prince Heinrich Lichtenstein, had four sons and a daughter.

After the birth of the first-born, the emperor invited the family to move to the castle of Getzendorf in Meidling . There they lived until 1914. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, when Karl became the crown prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the family moved to Schönbrunn for security reasons.

Empress

On November 21, 1916, Franz Joseph I died. Karl became emperor, Zita - empress. On December 30, their coronation took place as rulers of Hungary. After the ceremony, a traditional banquet took place, and the celebrations were stopped at this, because the monarchs decided that lengthy celebrations during the war were inappropriate.

At the beginning of his reign, Karl was often in Baden , where the headquarters were located. From there, he called his wife several times a day at Hofburg . Zita had a definite influence on her husband. She attended meetings with the prime minister and military briefings. But especially interested in social issues. Warfare was exclusively the prerogative of Karl. Zita, strong-willed and energetic, accompanied him in the provinces and at the front, was engaged in charity work and visited hospitals for the wounded.

However, the war was lost. Peace talks in 1917 were disrupted. In September 1918, allied Bulgaria capitulated. On November 11, Karl issued a proclamation recognizing the rights of the Austrian people to choose the form of government and removal from government. On the same day, the family left Schönbrunn and moved to Ekartzau . On November 12, the creation of the new state of German Austria was proclaimed.

In exile

On March 24, 1919, Karl and his family left for Switzerland. The train with military honors was escorted into exile. On April 3, parliament passed a law banning entry into Austria for Karl and Zita. Other Habsburgs had the right to return only if they refused claims to the throne and recognized themselves as ordinary citizens of the Austrian Republic .

In Switzerland, the family of the former emperor first lived in Farteg Castle near Rorschach on the shores of Lake Constance . This room was bought in the 1860s by Zita's father. On May 20, 1919, at the request of the Swiss government, the family moved away from the Austrian border and settled in Villa Pranzhen on Lake Geneva .

In 1921, Karl made two attempts at his peaceful return to power in Hungary, but they failed. Spouses were detained in Budapest . Madeira was chosen as the place of their exile. On November 19, on a British ship, Karl and Zita were taken to Funchal . Children were brought to the island in February 1922.

The family lived in Villa Vittoria , then at the Reid's Hotel , and finally at Villa Quinta do Monte overlooking the capital. In March, walking around the city on foot, Carl caught a cold. The common cold turned into bronchitis, and without qualified medical care into severe pneumonia. Having survived two heart attacks, the emperor died on April 1, 1922 from respiratory failure in the presence of his wife, who was in the eighth month of pregnancy, and 9-year-old Otto, retaining consciousness until almost the last moment. ^[5] His last words were addressed to Zita: "I love you so much . " ^[6] Zita, after the death of her husband, wore only black until the end of her life.

After the death of Carl, the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII, through his ambassador to Great Britain, obtained permission for Zita and the children to move to Spain. The warship Infanta Isabel brought the family to Cadiz . Escort escorted them to the Pardo Palace in Madrid . There, Zita soon gave birth to an eighth child, Elizabeth. Alfonso invited relatives to settle in the Uribarren Palace in Lekeitio on the shore of the Bay of Biscay. The next few years, the empress, engaged in the education and upbringing of children, spent in Lekeitio. The family received income from private property in Austria and vineyards in Johannesburg , as well as voluntary donations.

In 1929, several children reached the age required for higher education. In September, the family moved to Ham Castle in the Belgian village of Stenokerzel near Brussels . Otto studied nearby in Louvain . In 1935, he negotiated the restoration of the Habsburgs with Chancellor Schuschnigg . The annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany put an end to all hopes. In May 1940, Zita and her family fled to Spain through Dunkirk , Paris and Bordeaux , and from there to Portugal. On July 9, they received American visas, and on July 27 they arrived in Long Island . For some time, the woman with the youngest children lived in Tuxedo Park, then they moved to Quebec . Not having enough money, finances stretched as much as possible. However, all sons took an active part in hostilities. After the victory, Zita spent two years touring the United States and Canada, raising funds to recover the victims in Austria and Hungary.

Periodically visiting Europe at children's weddings, Zita finally decided to return in 1952. Together with her brother Felix, she took care of her old mother and settled in Luxembourg . Maria Antonia died in 1959 at the age of 96. In 1962, Zita accepted the offer of Bishop Kourou to make Zicersi Castle ^[7] his residence. The room was quite spacious and suitable for accommodating numerous relatives. In addition, there was a chapel nearby, which corresponded to her religious needs.

In 1982, King Juan Carlos I, after negotiations with Austrian Federal Chancellor Bruno Kraisky, was able to agree on the possibility of the return of the former empress to Austria. In November 1982, Zita again set foot on Austrian soil. Over the next years, she periodically paid visits to Austria, and also appeared on television. In an interview with the Vienna Kronen Zeitung, Zita expressed her belief that the death of Crown Prince Rudolph was planned by French or Austrian agents.

After the celebration of the 90th anniversary, Zita's health began to weaken, eye problems appeared. The last big gathering of the family took place at the celebration of her 95th birthday in 1987.

In the summer of 1988, after visiting her daughter, Zita fell ill with pneumonia. She spent most of the fall and winter in bed. In the end, in March 1989, she called her eldest son and said that she was dying. Otto and other family members were with her when she died on the night of March 14th.

The burial took place on April 1 in Vienna. The embalmed body of the empress was buried in the imperial crypt of Capuchinerkirch . The heart is stored in the Loretokapelle of the Monastery of Mure in Switzerland, next to the urn with Karl’s heart.

At the funeral of Zita, the luxurious Habsburg funeral hearse, stored at the Schönbrunn Museum in Vienna, was last used.

On December 10, 2009, under the leadership of Bishop Le Manou, the process of beatification of Zita began.

In honor of Zita, the asteroid Zita , discovered in 1909, is named.

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