Austro-Hungarian – autograph of Erzherzog Joseph

A full bio can be found here – it is in German though! He was an important member of the Hungarian branch of the Austro-Hungarian royal family of Habsburg -Lotharingen.

Born in 1872 in Hungary he had a military career spanning form lieutenant in 1890 up to full Field Marshall and the royal representative for Hungary in 1918.

The collecting of autographs is not a new trend but already existed in the late 19th and early 20th century and even before. This autograph was send to a Austrian collector, Fritz Wölfler, of autographs of public people of the Austro-Hungarian empire in the early 20th century. The collection was sold by a dealer in 2007 on Ebay in Austria.

In 1916 he was General of the Cavalary, in 1918 shortly before the end of WW1 he was promoted to Feldmarshall. The last of the Austro-Hungarian empire!

FH Joseph GdK (föherceg Joseph General der Kavelerie)

Recently I added also a photo and letter with his signature to my collection! Both signed as Fieldmarshall (fm) the letter is from 1953 and the photo from 1938, his last picture in the uniform of a Field Marshall by the Hungarian photo studio Rozgonyi