Austria 100 Schilling Silver Coin 1999 Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Series: Habsburg TragediesObverse: Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, 3/4 right.
Reverse: The Royal couple getting into the car.
Composition: Silver
Fineness: 0.9000
Weight: 20.0000g
ASW: 0.5787oz
Diameter: 34mm
The reverse shows a simplified representation of the scene minutes before the assassination, as the wife emerge from the Town Hall, to climb into her car. Local dignitaries standing on the stairs trellis. Count Franz von Harrach climbs on the running board of the car, in order to protect against further assassination attempts. The inscription reads "Sarajevo 1914".
Franz Ferdinand (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1896 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne.
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg (Czech: Žofie Marie Josefína Albína hraběnka Chotková z Chotkova a Vojnína, German: Sophie Maria Josephine Albina Gräfin Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin), born Sophie Maria Josephine Albina Countess Chotek of Chotkov and Wognin (1 March 1868 – 28 June 1914) was a Bohemian (Czech) aristocrat from the then-Kingdom of Bohemia, the morganatic wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. She was granted the title of Duchess of Hohenberg with the style of Highness in 1909.
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
On Sunday, 28 June 1914, at approximately 10:45 am, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Gavrilo Princip, 19 at the time, a member of Young Bosnia and one of a group of assassins organized and armed by the Black Hand. The event led to a chain of events that eventually triggered World War I.
Earlier in the day, the couple had been attacked by Nedeljko Čabrinović, who had thrown a grenade at their car. However, the bomb detonated behind them, hurting the occupants in the following car. On arriving at the Governor's residence, Franz angrily shouted, "So this is how you welcome your guests — with bombs?!"
After a short rest at the Governor's residence, the royal couple insisted on seeing all those who had been injured by the bomb at the local hospital. However, no one told the drivers that the itinerary had been changed. When the error was discovered, the drivers had to turn around. As the cars backed down the street and onto a side street, the line of cars stalled. At this same time, Princip was sitting at a cafe across the street. He instantly seized his opportunity and walked across the street and shot the royal couple. He first shot Sophie in the abdomen and then shot Franz Ferdinand in the neck. Franz leaned over his wife crying. He was still alive when witnesses arrived to render aid. His dying words to Sophie were, 'Don't die darling, live for our children.' Princip's weapon was the pocket-sized FN Model 1910 pistol chambered for the .380 ACP cartridge provided him by Serbian Army Colonel and Black Hand member Dragutin Dimitrijević The archduke's aides attempted to undo his coat but realized they needed scissors to cut it open. It was too late; he died within minutes. Sophie also died en route to the hospital.
The assassinations, along with the arms race, nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and the alliance system all contributed to the origins of World War I, which began a month after Franz Ferdinand's death, with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. The assassination of Ferdinand is considered the most immediate cause of World War I.
Franz Ferdinand is interred with his wife Sophie in Artstetten Castle, Austria.