Karl, Erzherzog von Österreich#
b. Florence (Italy), Sept. 5, 1771, d. Vienna, April 30, 1847, Duke of Teschen, 3rd son of Grand Duke of Tuscany and the future Emperor Leopold II, brother of Emperor Franz II (I). 1793/1794 governor general of the Austrian Netherlands, 1796-1800 commander of the Austrian armies in Southern Germany and Switzerland, 1801 president of the Supreme War Council and important reformer of the imperial army (abolition of lifelong military service, 1808 establishment of the Austrian militia and of army corps). Generalissimo in the war of 1809, victory over Napoleon in the battle of Aspern on May 21/22, 1809, but defeated in the battle of Wagram on July 5/6, 1809, signed the armistice of Znaim (Znojmo). Released from the command by his brother Emperor Franz I, he retired from public life (Weilburg bei Baden). Equestrian statue by A. D. von Fernkorn (1860) on the Heldenplatz in Vienna.
Literature#
O. Criste, Erzherzog Carl von Oesterreich, 3 vols., 1912; H. Hertenberger and F. Wiltschek, Erzhzg. K. Der Sieger von Aspern, 1983.