Newspaper Page Text
The Secret of Crown Prince Rudolph’s Tragic Death Revealed at Last
Countess Marie Larisch, Niece of the Late Austrian
Empress Elizabeth, Tells the True Story of ^The
Tragedy of Meyerling” in Which the Heir to the
Austrian Throne and the Beautiful Baroness Vetsera
Met Mysterious Deaths Together.
T HE Countess Marie Larisch, niece of the
murdered Empress Elizabeth of Aus
tria, has written an extraordinarily in
teresting volume entitled "My Past,” which
Is about to be published by G. P. Putnam's
Sons, of New York, to whom we are Indebted
far advance sheets.
, This story of court life from the Inside has
all the grip of a great novel.
The Countess was the granddaughter of the
Empress’s brother, Duke Louis, of Bavaria,
through a morganatic marriage. In her early
youth she was a great favorite of the Empress,
who arranged her marriage with the wealthy
Cfrvnt George Larisch.
She fell Into disgrace with the Empress and
was banished from court after the terrible
’ tragedy which occurred at Meyerling, near
Vienna, on January 30, 1839. In this affair
the Empress's only son, the Crown Prince Ru
dolph, and his sweetheart, Baroness Mary
Vetsera, perished mysteriously. The Empress
credited Countess Larisch with having
brought the pair together.
Many versions of the tragedy have been
published In Europe. Some accounts say that
he Crown Prince killed his sweetheart and
himself, others that he was killed by an in
furiated relative of the girl, and still others
that her fiance committed the act. The mys
tery has never been cleared up.
The Countess Marie Larisch here gives her
version of the tragedy and the events that led
up to it. After explaining how the Crown
Prince and the Baroness made her an un
willing agent of their rendezvous, she brings
us to the tragedy. The Crown'Prlnce induced
her to bring the Baroness to his private apart
ments in the Imperial Palace on the pretext
that he wished to break the liaison:
By the Countess Marie Larisch
(In Her New Book “My Past.” Copyright', 1913, by G. P. Putnam’s Sons.)
R UDOLPH led tie way into a cheerful
apartment, which looked as if it were
“lived in,” for there was an abundance
of illustrated papers, plenty of books and flow
ers, and a grand piano, which was strewn with
new music. A pair of spectacles was lying on
the writing-table, and I wondered why Ste
phanie (the Crown Princess) had left her
glasses there, since she and Rudolph were not
popularly supposed to be on visiting terms.
“Now,” said my cousin, in a most prosaic
tone, “I want to have this little interview alone
with Mary in the smoking room. Will you
permit this, Marie?”
I was powerless to interfere, and walked over
to the windows to see if 1 could discover in what
part of the Burg 1 was. To my surprise I saw
that the windows looked out over the Amallen-
hof, and that immediately opposite me were the
Empress’s apartments, which X knew so well.
V 1 could see the big clock, and I heard the rum-
% hie of the carriages which passed and repassed
T vthrough the courtyard below.
| ' f watched the busy scene for a little time,
I then glanced at the clock—the ten minutes had
I already passed.
\ I went to the mirror and smoothed my hair,
A Uhieh had been disarranged by the raven's sud-
Lied swoop, and as I did so I heard the sound
I f, r military music, it was the hour for changing
the guard. The room was unpleasantly warm,
and I took off my jacket, but hardly had I done
so when my cousin entered. He icus alone.
\ 1 stared at Rudolph in dismay, and could only
stammer. '^Where’s Mao • .
H™ smiled, but took no notice of my question
aud then proceeded- to lock all the doors in the
r °"Sneak to me.” T cried; "for goodness sake
tell me what has happened. Rudolph, expla
y °r r was''so terrified that I c-^avefand
The blood rushed to my head; I >waved aim
trembled, and the room swam before W
The Crown Prince took my band. dhere
'‘^afy^C^wh-is she? Oh.^teii
me what you have w, * d lle f liten to me .
N0 w a don't y inrerrnpt: Von will have to return
"•r the ne-Xafa
t0 .‘Nev P er M mind h where 1 intend to keep,Mary;
• rrAra *...
nf, ‘v S ° *must W Mary l^not in the Burg.”
-Vrs 1 —
w.& ‘ 1 tha* Mary* lias
* direct to th ® trough locked doors.”
Trushedtolhe window, tried to tbrowjt open,
» 0 p U rB. d ce f0 vio h ie 1 m.y put
90 mouth and *«*»**.
; to hurt you?
In his voice ' . h fable man,” I panted, “you
“ph, you d ™ ( won - t i„, silent, I will
•a aA lost to all sha - * « • you must
V tell the Empress, let me go
look P ^m it a little black revo.ver. He came
l °“Do e yot want me to shoot you?”
me by the . throat and pressed t
against “I; '.'me” l answered miserably. “It
wou^fbe a kind thing to do now that you have
rU TI^Crown f Prince put down the revolver, and
looked at me. “At any
■ourage.” he observed.
, egeu me u B v.. "Do you want me
he asked with dreadful meaning
He caugiit
the weapon
rate, you have some
devils
i he brave when I have to face
M I can . (>d „ For vou al - fi nothing but a
4 li^y 0 you brought me here under a solemn
4 deal with me in an honorable way;
■ promise the meanfcg of the word. Yes,
■ t°?epeat it. you do not know the •meaning of
W h °n"he rrowu Prince glanced at me with mingled
F !l,fv and cynicism. "Since when, may I ask.
/ Ciueltj a been considered rit lo play the
f Ma y You arc a fine one to talk of honor or
f , fv You have been the go-between for my
since you were a girl. And yet you dare
' IT) 0 mention morality to me. when you have not
scrujfled to stand by and see my father de-
^‘T^’is a monstrous lie. I’ll not listen —you
shall not traduce your mother. I love her.”
Then I burst into tears, and cried as if my
heart would break. Whereupon Rudolph said
very quietly.
"Marie, do you really love mamma? Well, If
you do, save her from the shame which a
scandal will cause her."
To my great surprise, he led me over to the
couch and sat down beside me.
“(live me one last chance,” he pleaded.
“Well, I can but hear what you wish me
to do.”
‘"I want you to go back to your fiacre, and
tell the man to drive you to some shop where
you are well known as a customer. Once you
are inside send an assistant out to the fiacre
with a message from you to the Baroness Mary
Vetsera. Naturally, he will return, and say
the Baroness is not there. You will thus be
able to produce a witness to testify that you
thought she was.”
"But the coachman will know that I came
out of the Burg alone.”
The Crown Prince opened a leather wallet and
took from it a roll of ^otes. “Here's five hun
dred florins,” he said; “give them to the coach
man with the message that I sent them, and
that if any trouble arises he must go to Brat-
fiseh, who will tell him what to do.”
“And I am to tell her mother that Mary ran
away when I was inside the shop?”
“Yes,” replied Rudolph, “it will serve for two
days, and then I shall see her myself.”
“You will not find her difficult to persuade," I
said, and I repeated the conversation which I
had had with Madame Vetsera.
The Crown Prince laughed. "What an ac
commodating mother Mary possesses,” he ob
served. "Now, Marie, you must go * • *
Will you have some wine? • * * My poor
cousin, you look a complete wreck.”
I refused the wine. I was still crying, but I
longed to be gone. I was in a dreadful state
of nervous exhaustion, and my faculties were
completely numbed; my one wish was to get
away.
Rudolph suddenly took pay band. “Don't, let
us part in anger, Marie,” he entreated. “Oh, If
you only knew how unhappy I am. • •
Perhaps it will come all right * * * one
day. Promise me you will be true to your trust."
“I promise,” I answered in a stifled voice.
The Crown Prince drew me to him, and took
me in his arms. Then he kissed me for the first
and last time.
• * •
(The Countess spent the day consoling the
Vetsera family and the next day went away
to her country seat. The morning afterward
she was astounded to learn from the papers
that the Crown Prince had died at Meyer
ling. She returned to Vienna and immedi- ■
ately received a visit from the Empress's
physician, who told her that the Baroness
Vetsera was dead also.)
My eye met the calnt gaze of my old friend
and physician, Dr. Wiederhofer. He pressed my
hand reassuringly. “Calm yourself, dear Coun
tess,” lie said, “for you must listen attentively to
what I have to say. I am sent here by the
Empress.”
"Does Aunt Cissi wish to see me?” I asked.
“No, siie wishes you to answer a question.
What do you know about this affair?"
"I know nothing. I'm nearly dead with
anxiety. For pity's sake tell me something.
“You are certain that you are speaking the
truth.”
! I swear It.”
"Then, my poor friend * * * prepare your
self. * * * Mary is dead.”
"Oh. my God!” I cried. “How did she die?”
"With the Crown Prince. Counfess * * *
a little fortitude * * * you are shaking like
a leaf. * * * So—that's better. Yes, they
are both dead; and the Empress thinks it is
owing lo you. I pity you, my poor child, for
you are in a dreadful predicament,” said the
doctor, and his voice fallered as he spoke.
"But I am innocent.” I cried.
' “Everything is known at the Burg,” he said
gravely. “The secret police have discovered
that you were in Rudolph's.confidence, and that
you took Mary Vetsera to the Hofburg. The
man who drove yoi* there has confessed all.
But. I beseech you, tell me what the Empress
chiefly wishes to know. Was the Crown Prince
perfectly normal at your last interview?”
I nerved myself to reply. “No. he was not.”
Then my pent-up misery burst forth. “You's.iy
they know all at the Burg. Do the Emperor
ant! Empress realize that I have been treated
shamefully? I have been the cat’s paw in this
affair. T’ve t/eou deceived throughout. * * *
I’ll see the Empress. I won't be condemned un
justly.” My voice rose to a scream and died
away in convulsive sobbing.
Air. Wiederhpfer let me cry for some moments.
^Courage, .courage, dear Countess’; I am con
vinced that you have spoken tile truth. I had
better tell you all that has happened. But it Is
a dreadful story.
"The Crown Prince wrote to Laxenburg. It
appears." said the doctor, “and told his wife he
was going for three days’ shooting to Meyerling,
hut that he would return for the family dinner
on January 30th. There was consequently no
Photograph of the Countess Larisch
(on the Left) with the Baroness
Vetsera (on the Right), Taken
Three Days Before the Latter’s
Death.
anxiety felt about his movements, and the
Prince left Vienna two hours after Mary Vet.
sera, who was drlvcir to the shooting lodge by
Bratflsch. The unhappy girl went in unnoticed
by the private entrance, and Loschek took her
to the little dresslng-rom in the apartments
which the Crown I’rlnce occupied. She re
mained that day and night alone with her
lover, and on the 29th some of Rudolph's friends
came for the shooting.”
“Was Philip of Coburg among them?"
“He was. Philip,” continued Dr. Wiederhofer,
“knew that a woman was at Meyerling (It was
no rare event), because on such occasions Ru
dolph never sat long at dinner. The- Crown
Prince, who pleaded a bad cold, did not go out
with the guns, and that evening he sat at table
with his throat muffled in a silk handkerchief.
“Supper was served to the Prince and Mary
in their apartments, and Loschek received in
structions to awaken his master at 7 o’clock
the next morning.
"Downstairs a drunken orgy prevailed, but
those two sinful souls spent their last night
undisturbed.”
“Oh. for pity’s sake be brief, I cannot bear
It!” I sobbed.
“l'ou must hear everything.” replied my
friend. “Loschek came to waken his master at
seven o’clock, and the Crown Prince told him to
return in half an hour. He did so, but as there
was no answer to his repeated knocking, he be
came alarmed and sent for Count Hoyos, who
was at breakfast.”
“And • * * what happened?”
"They broke open the door, and I hope they
may never see such a sight again. There was
blood everywhere. It stained the pillows. It
bespattered the walls, and it had flowed In a
sluggish stream from the bed to the floor, where
it had made a horrible pool. Rudolph lay on his
side, his hand still holding the revolver, and
the top of his head was almost completely
shattered.”
"I cannot listen * * • ”
“Countess? * * * it is imperative that you
should hear all. The bed bulged a little and
Count Hoyos lifted the coverings. Mary Vet
sera lay under them—dead; she, too, had been
shot in the head.”
-'Oh, Mary, Hary! Pjor Mary!” I cried in
agony.
"Count lioyos told Loschek to take the body
of the girl Into another room, and to lock all the
doors oT the death chamber. The Count then
went downstairs and Informed the shooters that
the Crown Prince had bpen suddenly taken 111,
nnd that he must leave for Vienna at once to
acquaint the Emperor, and to bring a doctor
back to Meyerling. He despatched a telegram
to me. and I arrived at the Hofburg almost at
the same time as he did.
“We saw the Empress first; she had just
finished her gymnastics. * * * It was dread
ful to find her so unprepared. I cannot tell you
how we broke the news to her. * * * ”
“Oh, my poor, poor aunt!”
“The Empress seemed like a woman suddenly
turned to stone. She sliPd no tears; all she snid
was, ‘How can we tell the Emperor?’ ”
“I found strength to say, ‘You must tell him.
Your Majesty—you alone can.' The Empress
stared at me almost without comprehension.
Then she stiirled. and shivered a little. ‘Well,
let us go’ she said. ^
“We walked with the Empress to the Emppr
or’s apartments, and waited outside. I do not
know what passed between the bereaved parents.
l,n 1 when we were called in Francis-Joseph sat
by the table with his face hidden in his hands,
and the Empress stood beside him.
"I received toy order to go to Meyeriing at
once. Count Hoyos gave me the key of the
room on my arrival.”
"What of the Empress?"
"When the Empress onmo back Madame Fe-
renzy told her that tho Baroness Vetsera begged
for an audience.- The Baroness insisted that
the Crown Prince had abducted her daughter
and implored the Empress to help her.
“Elizabeth hesitated, aud then told Madame
Ferenzy that she would receive Madame Vetsera.
The Empress stood in the middle of the ante
room; her whole aspect was terrible in its un
natural calm, and the Baroness was brought
into her presence. The two mothers looked at
each other in silence; then Madame Vetsera
fell on her knees with a despairing cry, ‘Mary—
my daughter ’
“Elizabeth shrank back from the poor
woman's outstretched arms. She examined her
with pitiless curiosity, and then said coldly and
cruelly: ‘CVest trop tard. I Is sont morts tons les
deux.’
"Madame Vetsera fainted. The Empress
looked at her unmoved, and walked nway with
out a word.”
I had listened to this terrible narration with
Indescribable emotions. I knew that my fate
was sealed with regard to Aunt Cissi; she would
liAver listen to any explanations of mine. I
asked the doctor to continue his story, hardly
knowing whether I siioujd have strength to lis
ten to It.
Wiederhofer went on to say that lie had gone
to Meyerling, nnd was taken immediately to the
apartments occupied by the Crown Prince. Here
he found every thing touch as Count Hoyos had
described. The remains of supper were still
on the table in the little salon; there were
some empty champagne bottles, and one chair
had been overturned.
A decanter half full of brandy lay on the car
pet near the bed. and Wiederhofer ordered it to
he removed to prevent the Emperor from seeing
it. He then temporarily bandaged the shattered
:*7
r'L t
//•
'f ifj;?
The Favorite Photograph of the Baroness Vetsera. The German Words Be
low, Meaning “True Till Death,” Were Written on the Photograph She Gave to
Countess Larisch.
head and washed the face and neck of the
Crown Prince. With the aid of Loschek he cov
ered up the bloodstained bed. and made the
body somewhat presentable; all else was left un
touched to await the arrival of the Emperor.
"And now.” said Loschek to Dr. Wiederhofer,
“now you must see the woman.” He preceded
the doctor, nnd led the way down a corridor: lie
opened a door, and Wiederhofer found himself
In a small room which was lit by a skylight. It
was very difficult at first to distinguish the va
rious objects around him, but at last tho doctor
saw a large linen basket. On the top of this was
a hat (rimmed with ostrich feathers, and the
floor was strewn with various articles of
woman's clothing.
Wiederhofer was well accustomed to horrible
sights in the exercise of his profession, “but."
he said, “for the first time in my career I felt
faint when Loschek threw aside the sheet which
covered the basket.
"There I saw the body. I told Loschek that
it was too dark for me to examine the
corpse where it was lying, so he carried it into
the adjoining room and placed it on the billiard
table.
"Then I began my examination. I parted the
long hair away from the face, which was almost
completely hidden, and then .... Oh,
Countess! .... then I recognized Mary
Velsera—the girl I had known ever since she
was a child.”
The voice of the good doctor trembled with
emotion. "Poor child,” he said, “for she was
little more than a child!”
Mary was not so terribly disfigured as Ru
dolph; part of her face was badly wounded and
an eye had fallen out of its socket, but the unin
jured side preserved all its beauty and her ex
pression was almot peaceful.
Professor Wiederhofer tore the lawn chemise
Into strips for bandages; he then replaced the
eye and bandaged the head; he washed Mary’s
face, and after wrapping the poor dead girl in
a sheet he told Loschek to take her back to the
linen room.
The scene in the chamber of death after tho
Emperor arrived at Meyerling was agonizing.
Francis Joseph leaned against the wall aud cried
ns if ids heart would break; then he listened to
all that there was to tell, and afterward re
turned to Vienna for the last home-coming of
the Crown Prince.
• • •
Ttie uncles of the Baroness Vetsera were told
that the orders were that the corpse of the Bar
oness Mary was to be fully dressed and taken
to the carriage which was waiting. "And,” said
the policeman, "you ure to support the body be
tween you in such a way as to make it appear
1hat. the Baroness still lives.”
Then began the dreadful task of dressing the
dead. Mary's hair was smoothed and pinned up
In one heavy twist, aud the uncles, who loved
her tenderly, washed away the 'fresh stains on
the once beautiful face. Then a ghastly thing
occurred. Wlederliofer’s lawn bandage broke.
, . . But much endurance was mercifully
given to the two gentlemen, and Count Stoekau
bound up the wound with his black silk cravat.
Mary was dressed tn her underline!! and cor
sets; her silk stockings and dainty boots were
put on, and then came the pretty gown she had
"t’Wias ">
I u
p jL±
viiil! I
; :Sli
'
- < ~ 9 ~-gs$
■ ■■
'An
w'orn on that disastrous day nt the Hofburg.
Her hat and veil were next placed on her head,
and the body was set In a chair until her
uncles could nerve themselves to wrap her In
her sealskin coat.
It must have been nn awful experience for
those who assisted at this last toilette of Mary
Vetsera, for as her uncles were preparing to put
on tho coat her head drooped heavily on her
breast and she could not, of course, be taken out
like jfnat.
The police officer nt once thought of an ex
pedient, and he slipped a walking-stick down
the dend girl s back and bound her neck to the
stick with n handkerchief. Count Stoekau nnd
Alexandre Baltazzi then put on the fur coat
and lifted the corpse off the chair.
The (wo men supported their niece’s body be
tween them, and half carried it and half dragged
it out of the room, along the dimly lit corridor
and down the principal staircase to the waiting
carriage. I
Tho dead girl was placed on the back scat
nnd her uncles sat opposite. Count Stoekau
told me that occasionally the Jolting threw Mary
almost upon them, nnd he said that her close
contact during this sinister journey was almost
more than they could bear.
It was a cold, windy night; from time to time
the face of the moon was hidden by tho flying
clouds, and as the Trost quite obscured the win
dows, it was impossible to see in what direction
they were proceeding. At last the carriage
stopped before a dark iron-barred door, which
was immediately Bung open, and two monks,
lanterns in hand, came forward.
There was no occasion now to force the corpse
Into that horrible mockery of life. The monks
lifted Mary from the carriage and placed her
upon a stretcher; then, with a gesture, they
Invited tlie gentlemen to follow Ihpm.
The policeman shut the gates noiselessly, and
Count Stoekau and his brother-in-law found
themselves inside a graveyard, where crosses
and monuments gleamed ghostlike from the
darkness ns the sad cortege passed. This
the burial-ground of the Cistercian Abbey of
Heiligenkreuz, and here Mary Vetsera was to
find her last resting-place.
The monks entered a Uttle building apparent
ly used for lumber, as it was littered with all
kinds of fragments of masonry, odd pieces of
wood and bricks. But a space had been cleared
where stood nn open coffin of common white
wood. .
There was no shroud In which to wrap the
dead, and the beautiful young body was some
what roughly placed inside the unlincd burial-
chest. Boor Mary! What an awful ending to a
life which. bn<l seemed so full of promise! Ru
dolph lay honored in state, but his victim's only
requiem was sung by the mournful wind as it
sighed among the graves—better far to have
laid her uncofflned in the kindly earth than to
have pushed her inside the rough Itox, which in
Itself was an outrage on decency.
Count Stoekau doubled Maty’s hat into a
pillow and reeled the sleeper's hhud upon It; he
then took off a gold cross which she wore round
her neck aud placed the symbol of lu*e aud for
giveness between the stiff fingers.
Mary's parentage, hut it nver concerned the
Emperor or any princes of the imperial house.
Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria, Who
Perished Mysteriously with the Baron
ess Vetsera at Meyerling.
These Illustrations are from "My Past,” by
Countess Marie Larisch. Copyright, 1913,
G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
The monks thereupon put the lid on the
coffin and carried it out.
Close to the wall was an open grave. The
body was consigned to it without a religious
service of any description, and the earth was
shovelled in upon the dead with almost feverish
haste.
Mary Vetsera, whose only crime was love, was
burled like a dog. and her uncles who knelt by
the grave were allowed to pray for only a few
seconds beside it, for the policeman tapped
them on the shoulder and told them they must
not Unger.
• • •
(The Countess tells a very romantic
story to the effect that Rudolph left a
steel box with her, to be delivered only to
a man who should give a certain signal.
She concludes that' the box contained
papers showing that the Crown Prince aud
her cousin, Archduke- John, were engaged
in a conspiracy to put the Prince on the
throne of Hungary in the lifetime of his
father. The Countess has something to say
of the connection between this episode aud
the tragedy in the following passage.)
The story which has found most credence
in circles which count is that Rudolph fell a
victim to Mary's uncle, who avenged his niece’s
dishonor. My narrative disproves this; the
last thing which the Haltazzis desired was any
kind of scandal, and the thought of murder
never entered their minds. The shattered con
dition of the Crown Prince’s head gave rise to
the rumor that it was smashed in by the butt
end of a gun. but the unimpeachable testimony
of Dr. Wiederhofer, who saw the body and
dressed tho wounds, proves this to he untrue.
What actually happened during the time that
Mary and Rudolph were alone at Meyerling is
entirely a matter for conjecture. There Is not
the slightest doubt that the Prince anticipated
a crisis of some sort, and It is unquestionable
that he and the Archduke John had planned a
coup d'etat together. Something transpired to
make Rudolph afraid of the consequences
should his plans be discovered, and rightly or
wrongly he miscalculated the extent of his
father's displeasure. He may have felt that
flight or a return to Vienna was equally im
possible, and. rendered desperate through fear,
inflamed by brandy, he made up his mind to
kill himBelf. In my opinion the worst that
could have happened to the Crown Prince, had
it been discovered he was plotting for the
throne of Hungary, would have been incarcera
tion “owing to unsound mind." Count Andras-
sy said plainly that something beyond a love
drama was responsible for the tragedy; the
Archduke John corroborated this statement,
and the affair of the steel box makes me abso
lutely certain of it.
The world may well wonder why Rudolph,
the heir-apparent to the thrones of Austria and
Hungary, should have Involved himself in the
schemes of men who were striving for the sep
aration of Hungary from Austria.
Was the Prince tired of waiting to be king,
and did some subtle brain assume that the
Emperor, when the crisis came, would shrink
from the horror of a conflict with his son, and
that the independence of Hungary would be
achieved without the firing of a shot?
I cannot tell, and I doubt If the time wK?
ever come when Rudolph's motives will be
revealed.
Far too much secrecy has hitherto been pre
served about the tragedy at Meyerling. and the
mystery arose becaus every one in authority
aL first completely lost ills head. The proper
course would have been to tell the truth im
mediately about the death of the Crown Prince.
It would doubtless have been a ninety-nine
days’ wonder, but it would not have been ac
tively remembered. Rudolph never had a rep
utation for morality and little was expected of
him.