To Descendants of: Mrs. Clara (Bach) BOHM

By: Arthur S. Klimes - January 14th, 1997

As the subject of the Imperial Habsburg family once came up in a conversation with my Grossmama, Mrs. Leonie (Bohm) Freeman, she mentioned that her mother's, Mrs. Clara Bohm's, doctor also treated the Royal family. Grossmama remembered (she was then 5 years old) that when her brother, Mr. Victor Bohm, was born (at home, as all children at that time) on Sunday, January 27th, 1889, in Vienna, her doctor (Dr. Herman von Wiederhofen?) came to the house on one of his visits in considerable agitation and told them in confidence that he is just coming from Mayerling, 25 km. (16 miles) from Vienna near Baden, where Archduke Rudolf, the 50 year old successor to the Habsburg throne, had just been found dead.

I recently checked out the chronology of these events and found that indeed Archduke Rudolf, after having been seen alive and well at 6:50 AM on Wednesday morning, January 50th, 1889, and decided not to go hunting as planned due to very icy conditions, was found dead of gunshot wounds at 8:50 AM, together with Marie Vetsera (18 years old). Rudolf had arrived by horse-drawn coach over icy roads in Mayerling from Vienna the previous day, on Tuesday the 29th and met there 2 companions for a week of hunting and writing a book he was working on at the time. Marie had arrived separately by train from Vienna to Baden Tuesday afternoon unbeknownst to Rudolf, apparently, and from Baden to Mayerling by hired coach.

On finding the two bodies on Wednesday morning, Rudolf's companions Count Hoyos and his brother-in-law Prince Phillipe of Couburg telegraphed (no phones yet at that time) Dr. Herman von Wiederhofer (in his mid-forties at that time) in Vienna to come immediately as there has been an "accident". Dr. Wiederfofer took the next train at Vienna's Sudbahhof to Baden and from there a horse drawn coach to the Mayerling hunting lodge where he arrived at 12:15 PM. After examining the two bodies he returned to Vienna during the afternoon. Count Hoyos had taken a train from Baden at 9:50 that morning to inform the Emperor Franz Joseph of his son's death. The following day there was a post-mortem examination at the Hofburg, at which there were also present in addition to Dr. Herman von Wiederhofer a Dr. Franz Auchenthaler, another bur considerably older Imperial doctor, assisted by a Dr. Kerzl.

There were attempts initially to keep this event quiet in view of the political ramifications. On Thursday, it was announced that the Archduke Rudolf had died of a heart-attack, which, however, most people did not believe. Graf Taaffe, the prime minister held a cabinet meeting on Friday, February 1st, after which it was announced that Rudolf had committed suicide. The funeral was on Tuesday, February 5th. No members of European Royalty, with many of whom Rudolf was related, were invited except his wife's parents, the King and Queen of Belgium.

There is considerable circumstantial evidence that the Archduke and Marie were murdered by 4 German (Prussian) agents on the instructions of Bismark, the then German chancellor, in view of Rudolf's known liberal outlook and his desire to form an alliance with France and England against Germany once he ascended to the throne. King Ludwig of Bavaria was dealt with in a similar manner when he proved unwilling to cede command of his army to the Prussians. His death was also called a mysterious suicide.

The romantic aspects of the Mayerling story, as related in two films on this event, the first with Charles Eoyer and a more recent one, about 1970, with Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve, are apparently far from actual events. Rudolf's and Marie's relationship was a very recent one, only 5 weeks old and not very serious at that.

To anyone interested in these events I recommend the book The Mayerling Murder by Victor Wolfson, 1969. I do not know the English publisher as I read a French translation printed in Paris.

If anyone can remember the name of Grossmama Clara's doctor or perhaps find it on a birth certificate, I would appreciate
any confirmation that it was Dr. Herman von Wiederhofen, as I suspect.