*06.07.1832 Vienna  -  †19.06.1867 Querétaro, Mexico

Emperor of Mexico

Archduke of Austria

Maximilian, the son of  Archduke Franz Karl and Sophie Friederike of Wittelsbach, was a brother of Emperor Franz Joseph.  He became rear admiral of the Austrian Navy and governor-general of the Lombardy-Venetia Kingdom from 1857 to 1859.

Due to French interests, he became Emperor of Mexico in 1864, supported by Napoleon III and encouraged by conservative circles in Mexico. Poorly advised, without support, and abandoned by France, Maximilian, a liberal thinker with an interest in science, was unable to quell the unrest in the country. Revolutionaries under the command of Benito Juarez, a Mexican lawyer of Native American descent, first besieged him in the fortress of Querétaro in the highlands of Mexico and finally captured him.

On June 19, 1867, Maximilian was shot together with his loyal followers, Generals Miguel Miramon and Thomas Mejia, as a symbol of the victory of the Mexican independence movement over the interests of European imperialism.  

Shortly before his execution at Cerro de las Campañas, Maximilian allegedly had La Paloma played for him in accordance with an old Mexican tradition. He gave each of the soldiers of the firing squad an ounce of gold and asked them to aim at his chest so that the first volley would kill him. “Long live Mexico, long live independence,” he shouted before dying after the third volley.

His body was brought to Trieste by Admiral Freiherr von Tegetthoff on the Novara, his first command ship, with which he had landed in Vera Cruz in 1864, and was buried in the Imperial Crypt on January 18, 1868, after being posthumously awarded the title of Archduke of Austria once again.

Cölestin Wolfsgruber, an eyewitness to the funeral, reported that wreaths were laid out on black velvet cushions. At the head was a silver laurel wreath dedicated by Charlotte, his unfortunate wife. Three ribbons with inscriptions were attached to a silver laurel wreath with a silver ribbon, dedicated by Emperor Franz Joseph: “To the true Christian” – “To the unforgettable brother” – “To the noble hero.”

A silver laurel wreath with the list of dedications from Mexican noblemen also lay on Maximilian's coffin:

A LA MEMORIA AUGUSTA

DE S. M. EL EMPERADOR MAXIMILIANO

MUERTO POR MEXICO EL 19 DE IUNIO DE 1867

CONSAGRAN

REVERENTES, ACRADECIDOS

DONA MA ANA PEON DE REGIL

DONA LOVETO PEON Y PEON

DONA JOAQUINA PEON Y PEON

DON PEDRO DE REGIL Y PEON

DON ALONSO L. PEON DE REGIL

DON PEDRO M. PEON DE REGIL

DON ALVARO PEON DE REGIL

DON AUGUSTO PEON Y PEON

DON JOSÉ MA PEON Y LOZA

DON RAFAEL PEON Y LOZA

DE YUCATAN

In a poem written by Maximilian, he states:

I do not wish to perish in the valley,

my last view restricted by constraint:

I wish to die on a mountain,

At a golden sunset.

During his imprisonment, Maximilian was convinced that his wife Charlotte had died. In his will, he stipulated that his wife should be buried next to him in the Imperial Crypt.

Charlotte, who had gone mad, did not die until 1927 at Bouchout Castle and was buried in the church at Laeken.