Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria and the Flight from Bonn

Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria (Austria, 8th December 1756 - Vienna, Austria, 26th July 1801)

The last Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, Hochmeister of the Teutonic Knights and Archduke of Austria, Maximilian was one of a long and distinguished line, born to Maria Theresa and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. His illustrious siblings included Queens Marie Antoinette and Maria Carolina and Holy Roman Emperors Joseph II and Leopold II whilst he was uncle to Francis II.

In this painting by Archduchess Marie Christine, Duchess of Teschen we see (left to right): Archduchess Marie-Christine, Archduke Ferdinand, Archduchess Marie-Antoinette, Archduke Maximilian, Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I

There are not quite so many royals at Gilflurt family gatherings but like we Covent Garden girls, Maximilian loved his music. The tenor in his court orchestra at Bonn was the father of a certain Ludwig van Beethoven and Maximilian took a very keen interest in the musical development of the young man. Under the tutelage of organist Christian Gottlob Neefe, Ludwig was brought to court and served as Neefe's assistant. Impressed by Beethoven's extraordinary talent, Maximilian became patron to the young musician and when he was seventeen, Beethoven was sent to Vienna to study under Mozart. This first opportunity was to end in tragedy when Beethoven's trip to Austria was cut short by the death of his mother but five years later he returned, this time studying with a variety of famous composers under the patronage of Maximilian.

Archduke Maximilian, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette by Joseph Hauzinger, 1776

Though a keen lover of the arts, Maximilian was not quite as gifted as a strategist and just one year after the execution of his brother-in-law and sister in Paris, French troops began pouring into his territories. The Archbishop fled before the advancing armies and as his court was scattered to the winds, he must have wondered whether he would ever return to Bonn. In fact he was destined never to see the city again; in the year that his former territories were passed to the French as part of the Treaty of Lunéville the last Archbishop-Elector of Cologne died in Vienna, aged just 45 years old.

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