Figure 1.--Here the children of Emperor Karl I and Emperess Zita are playing happily in a garden of a royal palace. Otto appears to be writing on a chair.

The royal family raised their eight children in a deeply religious Catholic environment. The family had to deal with war, revolution, and exile which would fundamentlly change the Hapsburg family and Austria itself. Religion was an important part of the royal family's life. Karl and Zita held family devotions, including the Rosary, novenas, and Scripture readings. There were family catechism lessons, daily Mass, and various pious practices that had been developed by the Habsburg family over its long history. These included Pietas Austriaca (devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Cross, the Immaculate Conception, and Corpus Christi). It was a close family with the Emperor and Empress deeply devoted to their children. The photographic record provide some tendender images of the parents with their children and of the children playing hapily together.

Created: March 25, 2004
Last updated: March 25, 2004