The Fall of the Habsburgs

The Fall of the Habsburgs

2018 · ★ 5.5 · Documentary, History, TV Movie

The Habsburg Dynasty had ruled large parts of Europe and the world for 650 years. During World War I, however, the mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire sowed the seeds of its own demise. At the height of World War I, the world of the Habsburgs was on the brink of collapse. Almost exactly 100 years ago to the day, in April 1918, the most sensitive diplomatic mission of the First World War became a Europe-wide scandal: the so-called "Sixtus Affair". Secret negotiations between the Austrian imperial family and France were supposed to bring peace to the Danube monarchy – and their failure caused the war to escalate and the Habsburgs to fall.

Directed by Fritz Kalteis

Your Rating

Cast

Eszter Hollósi Narrator
Dörte Lyssewski Narrator
Dieter Witting Narrator
Leopold Altenburg Kaiser Karl
Daniela Golpashin Kaiserin Zita
Raphael von Bargen Tamás Graf Erdödy
Jens Claßen King George V
Stanislaus Dick Prinz Sixtus von Bourbon-Parma
Thomas Eichhorn Außenminister Graf Ottokar Czernin
Hans Holzbecher Kaiser Wilhelm II
Ludwig Kaschke Paul von Hindenburg
Howard Nightingall Captain Athur Snagge

Make it a double feature

The Fall of the Habsburgs

König Löwenherz - Ein König in der Falle

Both from Fritz Kalteis.

More from Fritz KalteisSee all →

Habsburg gegen Hohenzollern - Die Schlacht bei Königgrätz

Habsburg gegen Hohenzollern - Die Schlacht bei Königgrätz · 2026

Habsburg gegen Hohenzollern - Die Schlacht bei Königgrätz

MovieDocumentary

König Löwenherz - Ein König in der Falle

König Löwenherz - Ein König in der Falle · 2019

König Löwenherz - Ein König in der Falle

MovieDocumentaryHistory

Out of power politics, offended vanity and a desire for revenge, Hohenstaufen Emperor Henry VI and the King of France became accomplices in an unheard-of act: the hostage-taking of the English King Richard the Lionheart. It was the kidnapping of the century.

Der Aufstieg der Habsburger. Die Schlacht am Marchfeld

Der Aufstieg der Habsburger. Die Schlacht am Marchfeld · 2022

Der Aufstieg der Habsburger. Die Schlacht am Marchfeld

MovieDocumentaryHistory

It was the battle that decided the future of Europe: on August 26, 1278, two dynasties faced each other at Marchfeld. On one side was the Roman-German King Rudolf I from the House of Habsburg, on the other Ottokar II from the Bohemian Přemyslid dynasty. Rudolf's victory over Ottokar laid the foundations for the unprecedented rise of the Habsburg Empire, which was to play a decisive role in Europe for more than six centuries.

Maria Theresa’s Dark Side

Maria Theresa’s Dark Side · 2024

Maria Theresa’s Dark Side

MovieDocumentaryHistory

Shortly before Christmas 1744, Vienna, the center of power in the Habsburg Empire, is the scene of a disastrous drama with repercussions for the whole of Europe. Against the spirit of enlightenment and tolerance, the very young Maria Theresa orders the expulsion of the allegedly disloyal Jews from Prague.

Verbotenes Begehren

Verbotenes Begehren · 2023

Verbotenes Begehren

SeriesDocumentaryDrama

Egon Schiele: Between Love and Hate

Egon Schiele: Between Love and Hate · 2018

Egon Schiele: Between Love and Hate

MovieDocumentaryHistory

An account of the short life and the astonishing and provocative work of the Austrian painter Egon Schiele (1890-1918), seen through the peculiar point of view and the critic voices of the women who defined the paramount milestones of his existence: Gerti, his sister; Wally, his main model and lover; and Edith, his wife. A brief story of love, hate, betrayal and misfortune.

1278: The Battle for Europe

1278: The Battle for Europe · 2021

1278: The Battle for Europe

Charts a detailed analysis of the greatest cavalry battle that ever befell the continent of Europe and would decide its fate for centuries.

Die Akte Galilei

Die Akte Galilei · 2014

Die Akte Galilei

MovieDocumentaryHistory

More Like This

Bluebeard

Bluebeard · 1963

MovieDramaCrime

Paris, France, during the First World War. While thousands of soldiers die every day on the battlefields, Henri Landru, a seemingly respectable furniture dealer, married and father of four children, relentlessly feeds his own sinister factory of death.

Fort Saganne

Fort Saganne · 1984

In 1911, a willful and determined man from peasant stock named Charles Saganne enlists in the military and is assigned to the Sahara Desert under the aristocratic Colonel Dubreuilh.

Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence of Arabia · 1962

Lawrence of Arabia

MovieAdventureHistory

During World War I, English officer Thomas Edward 'T.E.' Lawrence sets out to unite and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes to fight the Turks.

Grand Illusion

Grand Illusion · 1937

MovieDramaHistory

A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.

Seven Years in Tibet

Seven Years in Tibet · 1997

Seven Years in Tibet

MovieAdventureDrama

Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Lhasa, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.

Amadeus

Amadeus · 1984

MovieDramaHistory

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress

Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress · 1957

Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress

MovieRomanceDrama

After a wonderful time in Hungary Sissi falls extremely ill and must retreat to a Mediterranean climate to rest. The young empress’ mother takes her from Austria to recover in Madeira.

Sarajevo

Sarajevo · 2014

MovieThrillerHistory

The events in Sarajevo in June 1914 are the backdrop for a thriller directed by Andreas Prochaska and written by Martin Ambrosch, focusing on the examining magistrate Dr. Leo Pfeffer (Florian Teichtmeister) investigating the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Trying to do his job in a time of lawlessness and violence, intrigues and betrayal, Leo struggles to maintain his integrity and save his love, Marija, and her father, prominent Serbian merchant. But the events of Sarajevo have set into motion an inescapable course of events that will escalate to become … the Great War.

In the Basement

In the Basement · 2014

In the Basement

MovieDocumentary

Filmmaker Ulrich Seidl explores of the dark underside of the human psyche by entering Austrian basements fitted out as private domains for secrets and fetishes.

The Trench

The Trench · 1999

MovieWarHistory

The Trench tells the story of a group of young British soldiers on the eve of the Battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916, the worst defeat in British military history. Against this ill-fated backdrop, the movie depicts the soldiers' experience as a mixture of boredom, fear, panic, and restlessness, confined to a trench on the front lines.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter