Francesco Ferdinando d'Asburgo

I am the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Habsburg, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I was born in Graz and lived in the family castles between Bohemia and Upper Austria. I was killed in Sarajevo on June 28th, 1914 with my beloved wife Sophia. I am affectionately bound to Gorizia, where I also spent a period of my youth next to my mother who trusted to recover thanks to the mild climate of the city. I came back here other times. What I most remember is the stop I did during the inaugural voyage of the Transalpine Railway on July 19, 1906. I stayed here, more enthusiastically received than the ceremonial foresaw. Trieste, the terminal, could well wait for the Archduke to admire the Austrian engineering wonders mirroring the blue waters of the Isonzo, and to greet the beautiful Gorizia!