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The Road to Mayerling: Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria
This superbly factual account of the life and death of Austria's Prince Rudolph reads like a fast-paced thriller. The colorful and controversial Prince--the last and most talented of the Hapsburg line--was discovered dead on January 30, 1889, in the royal hunting lodge at Mayerling. Beside him, also dead, lay his mistress, the beautiful young Baroness Mary Vetsera. What happened that day remains a mystery that has evoked endless speculation and countless dramatic re-creations--none more engrossing and entertaining than Barkeley's vivid telling.
324 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 15, 2016
This book highlights the parts of Crown Prince Rudolf’s life that may have led to his eventual suicide. It describes a distant and formal father, a distant but sympathetic mother and a tutor who may have been ahead of his time in giving him the tools to think.
Rudolf was a Liberal (author uses the upper case and its usage seems to connote something specific to the time). He understood the weak position of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whose leadership he would one day inherit. He envisioned its demise. He wrote on various topics, and anonymously published material against his father’s administration’s policies. He advocated war with Russia which saw itself as “protector” of the Slavs (Rudolf saw it as meddling) in the A-H Empire and worried about the loyalty of Austria’s German population since war with the newly unified Germany was considered inevitable. Rudolph may have been involved in a plan to make himself King of Hungary.
The author focuses on Rudolph’s political and journalistic work and suggests that the image of Rudolf as a playboy was created by his enemies. The establishment considered him a danger. He was spied on by this father’s staff as well as foreign governments. Despite his reservations about Germany and Russia, he had to meet their leaders at official functions. Before his death a diplomatic trip to Russia was planned.
The characterizations in this book are different than those in a newer bio of his mother, The Lonely Empress: Elizabeth of Austria by Joan Haslip who mentions Rudolf's achievements but stays with the playboy image. Barkeley presents the serious side of Rudolph and makes quite a bit of the mental illness in his mother’s family. He has Rudolf wondering if he has inherited it. Barkeley has Elisabeth as a distant but competent mother, who once had an interest in state affairs. Haslip has her not just a neglectful mother, but one who undermined Rudolf and her oldest daughter. Barkeley draws an initially happy marriage with wife, Stephanie, whom he shows as a warm but selfish child bride, neither educated nor interested in state affairs. Haslip has her cold, selfish and temperamental and the marriage unhappy from almost the start . Both portray suicide partner Marie Vetsera as young and romantic; Barkeley stresses how deeply in love with the Prince she was.
The days leading up to the suicide and the events following such as how the bodies were found, the royals notified and the clumsy way the info was twisted for public consumption are covered. There were politics with the church surrounding the burial. The view held by some that this was a murder is explained, but shown to be a weak theory.
I only recommend this for those interested in the topic and have background on this place and time. While the book is informative, there are generalizations about the politics of Austria and its foreign policies that assume understanding. There was something about the sentence structure that had me re-reading paragraphs.
Rudolf was a Liberal (author uses the upper case and its usage seems to connote something specific to the time). He understood the weak position of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whose leadership he would one day inherit. He envisioned its demise. He wrote on various topics, and anonymously published material against his father’s administration’s policies. He advocated war with Russia which saw itself as “protector” of the Slavs (Rudolf saw it as meddling) in the A-H Empire and worried about the loyalty of Austria’s German population since war with the newly unified Germany was considered inevitable. Rudolph may have been involved in a plan to make himself King of Hungary.
The author focuses on Rudolph’s political and journalistic work and suggests that the image of Rudolf as a playboy was created by his enemies. The establishment considered him a danger. He was spied on by this father’s staff as well as foreign governments. Despite his reservations about Germany and Russia, he had to meet their leaders at official functions. Before his death a diplomatic trip to Russia was planned.
The characterizations in this book are different than those in a newer bio of his mother, The Lonely Empress: Elizabeth of Austria by Joan Haslip who mentions Rudolf's achievements but stays with the playboy image. Barkeley presents the serious side of Rudolph and makes quite a bit of the mental illness in his mother’s family. He has Rudolf wondering if he has inherited it. Barkeley has Elisabeth as a distant but competent mother, who once had an interest in state affairs. Haslip has her not just a neglectful mother, but one who undermined Rudolf and her oldest daughter. Barkeley draws an initially happy marriage with wife, Stephanie, whom he shows as a warm but selfish child bride, neither educated nor interested in state affairs. Haslip has her cold, selfish and temperamental and the marriage unhappy from almost the start . Both portray suicide partner Marie Vetsera as young and romantic; Barkeley stresses how deeply in love with the Prince she was.
The days leading up to the suicide and the events following such as how the bodies were found, the royals notified and the clumsy way the info was twisted for public consumption are covered. There were politics with the church surrounding the burial. The view held by some that this was a murder is explained, but shown to be a weak theory.
I only recommend this for those interested in the topic and have background on this place and time. While the book is informative, there are generalizations about the politics of Austria and its foreign policies that assume understanding. There was something about the sentence structure that had me re-reading paragraphs.
March 29, 2024
Great Topic
The Mayerling matter may now be an obscure moment in Central European history, but it certainly was a massive story at the time. This is shown in the book through great historical research.
The author throughly investigates the incident and provides a succinct summery of the murder-suicide.
It is a fast moving narrative illuminating the life of Rudolph from birth to death.
As an amateur historian with a BA in modern European history I recall briefly reading a passing reference to this event in my studies.
It is great this work is now available to dig deeper. I have read a newer history of this matter, but this book was still very illuminating and provided new facts.
The Mayerling matter may now be an obscure moment in Central European history, but it certainly was a massive story at the time. This is shown in the book through great historical research.
The author throughly investigates the incident and provides a succinct summery of the murder-suicide.
It is a fast moving narrative illuminating the life of Rudolph from birth to death.
As an amateur historian with a BA in modern European history I recall briefly reading a passing reference to this event in my studies.
It is great this work is now available to dig deeper. I have read a newer history of this matter, but this book was still very illuminating and provided new facts.
Read
March 18, 2021I have read over 9 books about the Hapsburg Empire in the 19th century. Started with a fascination about the ‘magic’ Diana and Siri comparison. After a few more books became more fascinated with the ‘suicide’ of Rudolf. Just finished this book and started maybe my last one, The Mayerling Murder by Victor Wolfson. My current conclusion is he was murdered because of his liberalism and resistance to the power of his father OR by Bismarck, OR because of his involvement with the Hungarians, OR, and very likely, by the Roman Catholic Church that has a long history of doing away with anyone in their way or threatening their dogmatic power over people.
May 10, 2023
As I am revisiting Austria this summer, I decided to "brush up" on my Austrian history. This book gives another historical account of what happened to Crown Prince Rudolph and his young mistress at his hunting lodge. Was it murder or suicide? I felt this was the most accurate account using historical fact as its basis.
September 13, 2021
Very informative
Sometimes a bit repetitive, but overall a thorough look at the tragedy at Mayerling. Wish there had been some discussion of how surviving participants faired afterwards.
Sometimes a bit repetitive, but overall a thorough look at the tragedy at Mayerling. Wish there had been some discussion of how surviving participants faired afterwards.
December 10, 2022
Great! Another obscure topic I've researched for way too long and now can talk about way too in-depth to anyone I deem too cowardly to run away! Hooray for term papers!
March 5, 2024
Some interesting reading on the late 1800s Austria Hungary Empire, in the years leading up to World War 1.
July 13, 2008
A good biography of the Crown Prince Rudolf, if a little outdated. It is from the 1950s, and the author obviously likes Rudolf and believes it would have been good for Europe if he had lived. I don't disagree with him, but the bias sometimes shows as he is a little too eager to deny any parts of Rudolf's conduct that could not be considered appropriate. However, he also tells all the arguments that have been used against Rudolf, which makes it easier for the reader to form a balanced picture and to decide what to think.
It's a good, factual account of Rudolf's life and death - and very good in that it does indeed focus on his life, not only the last few months of romance with Mary Vetsera and their scandalous double suicide. The book also shows other aspects of Rudolf's life and his thoughts, devoting a lot of attention to his political thoughts which were very progressive for his time.
There are newer books with more up-to-date research, but as those tend to be available mainly in German (and those that are in English mostly lack footnotes to determine which facts there are credible sources for and which are made up by the author), I recommend this for someone interested in Rudolf and unable to read German. It has been a while since I read this and I have read more about Rudolf since then, so I should reread this book sometime to see what I think of it now. But I have tried to re-evaluate it in my mind as I have read other sources, so probably this review is not too far from what I would think if I read it now.
The tendency to write the royal family members' names in Anglicized spellings (Rudolf, Francis Joseph etc.) irritates me, but I think it was normal at the time of writing.
It's a good, factual account of Rudolf's life and death - and very good in that it does indeed focus on his life, not only the last few months of romance with Mary Vetsera and their scandalous double suicide. The book also shows other aspects of Rudolf's life and his thoughts, devoting a lot of attention to his political thoughts which were very progressive for his time.
There are newer books with more up-to-date research, but as those tend to be available mainly in German (and those that are in English mostly lack footnotes to determine which facts there are credible sources for and which are made up by the author), I recommend this for someone interested in Rudolf and unable to read German. It has been a while since I read this and I have read more about Rudolf since then, so I should reread this book sometime to see what I think of it now. But I have tried to re-evaluate it in my mind as I have read other sources, so probably this review is not too far from what I would think if I read it now.
The tendency to write the royal family members' names in Anglicized spellings (Rudolf, Francis Joseph etc.) irritates me, but I think it was normal at the time of writing.
July 25, 2012
I'm sure I would have appreciated this book more had it been among the first I read about Rudolf and this period. Unfortunately, this account suffers from being rather incomplete and with a strong bias towards exalting liberalism by redeeming the reputation of the crown prince. I appreciate that aim, since I find Rudolf a fascinating character, but I think his inconsistencies and blemishes make him all the more interesting. Perhaps I'm underestimating the ill-feeling towards Rudolf's memory - Barkeley claims that it was rampant in Vienna and the former empire even as he wrote this book. And maybe that's why this redemptive and romanticised account was necessary. Perhaps also in 1958, when this book was first published, acknowledging his infidelities, poor sportsmanship, and periods of recklessness would have been damning indeed. As a modern reader, I find the insistence that he had a happy home life not only unlikely, but dull. And I find Barkeley's insistence that he could have been saved by a single positive word from Elisabeth, "as was her duty", naive and a bit insulting. From other accounts I've read, the situation that pushed Rudolf to his extreme end was not so simple as to be resolved by a smile from Mummy.
Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable if obviously ideologically biased account with an interesting focus on the political situations of the time. In fact, in terms of the Balkans, this is perhaps the clearest description of what was happening in these days. This was almost enough to bring the book up to 3 stars, which it would have done if I wasn't so disappointed by the extreme whitewashing.
Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable if obviously ideologically biased account with an interesting focus on the political situations of the time. In fact, in terms of the Balkans, this is perhaps the clearest description of what was happening in these days. This was almost enough to bring the book up to 3 stars, which it would have done if I wasn't so disappointed by the extreme whitewashing.
May 2, 2012
My major in college was history so I'm bit obsessed with all things historical. I accidentally happened upon Crown Prince Rudolph and Baroness Mary, I saw a recent German biopic and then listened to the beautiful soundtrack to the musical based on their tragic story. Although every historian seem to have a different opinion on what transpired between them. All I know is that if poor Rudolph had lived our world would no doubt be different, because Austria/Hungary would have been altered. Remember, it is Austria/Hungary that sparks WWI (Rudolph's cousin gets the throne upon both Franz Joseph I and Rudolph's deaths). Nevertheless, the story is tragically enthralling.
August 5, 2014
What an interesting biography of a pivotal 20th century figure. It's amazing to think what could have been, but also really sad to know the chain of events that led to Rudolph's ultimate suicide. This book is good about giving some key insights into the political structures working in and around Austria from the 1860s to the 1890s. It has been crucial for the research I am currently undertaking, and I hope to see things through. A great resource and a very good read.
February 4, 2019
If only I were similarly motivated while at school: A crush on Omar Sharif in the movie Mayerling led me to pursue this book and The Twilight of the Hapsburgs. My general impression: before we had a Prince Harry, there was Austria's crown Prince Rudolph.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews