 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2020) |
| House of Habsburg-Lorraine Haus Habsburg-Lothringen | |
|---|---|
 Genealogical arms since 6 August 1806 | |
| Parent house | House of Habsburg (enatic) House of Lorraine (agnatic) |
| Country | |
| Founded | 1736 |
| Founder | Maria Theresa and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Current head | Karl von Habsburg |
| Final ruler |
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| Titles | List of titles
|
| Style(s) | |
| Motto | A.E.I.O.U. and Viribus Unitis |
| Deposition | Austria-Hungary: 1918 (Charles I & IV relinquished participation in state affairs following the end of World War I) |
| Cadet branches |
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The House of Habsburg-Lorraine (German: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen) originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Austria, later successively Queen of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia and Archduchess of Austria. Its members form the legitimate surviving line of both the House of Habsburg and the House of Lorraine, and they inherited their patrimonial possessions from the female line of the House of Habsburg and from the male line of the House of Lorraine.
The House of Lorraine's branch of Vaudémont and Guise become the main branch after a brief interlude in 1453–1473, when the duchy passed in right of Charles de Bourbon's daughter to her husband, John of Calabria, a Capetian. Lorraine reverted to the House of Vaudémont, a junior branch of the House of Lorraine, in the person of René II, who later added to his titles that of Duke of Bar.
The House of Habsburg takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a fortress built in the 1020s by Count Radbot of Klettgau in Aargau (now in Switzerland). His grandson, Otto II, was the first to take on the name of the fortress as his own, adding Graf von Habsburg ("Count of Habsburg") to his title. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, and in 1273, Radbot's seventh-generation descendant, Rudolph of Habsburg, became Roman-German King. He moved the family's power base to the Duchy of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918.
The House of Habsburg-Lorraine still exists today, and the head of the family is Karl von Habsburg.[1] The current house orders are the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Imperial and Royal Order of Saint George and the Order of the Starry Cross.
- ^ "Kaiser zu sein, ist kein Job, den man anstrebt"[full citation needed] (German: "To be emperor is not a job to strive for")