Undoing History — Will Heirs of Ferdinand Regain Konopiste Castle?

At the end of World War I, the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye divested the Hapsburg family of their land and titles including the Konopiste Castle.

Now, two of Franz Ferdinand’s children (Sophie Maximilian and Ernst) are making a claim to the castle and the surround 15,000 acres asserting that the land was wrongfully taken because they are not Hapsburgs — their mother had too low of a social status for their children to be considered heirs to the throne.

To read all the details of this interesting “royal story,” see Craig S. Smith, Princess and Heir of Franz Ferdinand Fights to Repeal a Law and Gain a Castle, NY Times, Feb. 19, 2007.

Special thanks to Stephen Fleischer (May 2009 J.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.