100th anniversary of death - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2016 - 68 Euro Cent

On November 21, 1916, when the First World War was raging all over Europe and beyond, the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I passed away in Schönbrunn Palace from pneumonia. He was 86 years old and ruled for nearly 68 years. The commemorative stamp commemorating the centenary of his death is based on one of the anniversary stamps Koloman Moser designed in 1908 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the emperor's jubilee. Franz Joseph was born on 18 August 1830 in Schönbrunn Palace. In the revolutionary year of 1848, his uncle Ferdinand I, called the Kind, resigned his government office, and the 18-year-old Franz Joseph took over the imperial crown. In 1854 he married his only 16-year-old cousin Elizabeth of Bavaria, called Sisi, from the house Wittelsbach. The marriage does not seem to have been particularly happy, Elisabeth did not feel well at the Vienna court and traveled as often as possible. Franz Joseph is said to have cultivated long-term affairs with Anna Nahowski and actress Katharina Schratt. His mother Princess Sophie Friederike of Bavaria played a major role in the life of the future Emperor "by the grace of God". From childhood on, Franz Joseph had been educated and trained to once ascend the throne. With great discipline and conscientiousness, he then took over the office and led his kingdom as a monarch in an effort to keep the multi-ethnic state together. However, he did not recognize many signs of the times in time and neglected important reforms. After the assassination of the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, he declared war on Serbia and thus triggered the First World War.