List of heirs to the Austrian throne

This is a list of people who were heir apparent or heir presumptive to the Archduchy of Austria from when Leopold VI permanently unified the Archduchy in 1665 to the end of the monarchy in Austria-Hungary in 1918. Those heirs who succeeded are shown in bold.

The position of heir to the Empire was often of great importance. More than once a younger brother of the emperor was persuaded to renounce his succession rights in his son's favour to provide a young male heir to the throne. The apparent suicide of the Crown Prince in 1889 and the assassination of the subsequent heir in 1914 (considered one of the great causes of World War I) led to instability in the monarchy, perhaps contributing to its abolition at the end of the War in 1918.

Heirs to the Austrian Archduchy

Archduke	Heir	Relationship to archduke and status	Became heir	Ceased to be heir	Next in line
Leopold VI	none, 1665-1667
	Archduke Ferdinand Wenzel	Son Heir apparent	28 September 1667; born	13 January 1668; died	none
	none, 1668-1670
	Archduke Johann Leopold	Son Heir apparent	20 February 1670; born and died		none
	none, 1670-1678
	Archduke Joseph	Son Heir apparent	26 July 1678; born	5 May 1705; succeeded	none, 1678-1684
					Archduke Leopold Joseph 1682-1684, brother
					none, 1684-1685
					Archduke Charles 1685-1700, brother
					Archduke Leopold Joseph 1700-1701, son
					Archduke Charles 1701-1705, brother
Joseph I	Archduke Charles	Brother Heir presumptive	5 May 1705; brother succeeded	17 April 1711; succeeded	none
Charles III	none, 1711-1713
	Archduchess Maria Josepha	Niece Heir presumptive	19 April 1713; Pragmatic Sanction of 1713	13 April 1716; son born to Archduke	Archduchess Maria Amalia sister
	Archduke Leopold Johann	Son Heir apparent	13 April 1716; born	4 November 1716; died	Archduchess Maria Josepha cousin
	Archduchess Maria Josepha	Niece Heir presumptive	4 November 1716; cousin died	13 May 1717; daughter born to Archduke	Archduchess Maria Amalia sister
	Archduchess Maria Theresa	Daughter Heir presumptive	13 May 1717; born	20 October 1740; succeeded	Archduchess Maria Josepha 1717–1718, cousin
					Archduchess Maria Anna 1718–1737, sister
					Archduchess Maria Elisabeth 1737–1740, daughter
					Archduchess Maria Anna 1740, daughter
Maria Theresa and Francis I	Archduchess Maria Anna	Daughter Heir presumptive	20 October 1740; mother succeeded	13 March 1741; son born to Archduchess	Archduchess Maria Carolina 1740–1741, sister
					Archduchess Maria Anna 1741, aunt
	Archduke Joseph	Son Heir apparent	13 March 1741; born	18 August 1765; succeeded	Archduchess Maria Anna 1741–1745, sister
					Archduke Charles Joseph 1745–1761, brother
					Archduke Leopold 1761–1765, brother
Maria Theresa and Joseph II	Pietro Leopoldo I of Tuscany	Son and Brother Heir presumptive	18 August 1765; brother succeeded	20 February 1790; succeeded	Archduke Ferdinand 1765–1768, brother
Joseph II					Archduke Francis 1768–1790, son
Leopold VII	Archduke Francis	Son Heir apparent	20 February 1790; father succeeded	1 March 1792; succeeded	Ferdinando III of Tuscany brother
Francis II	Ferdinando III of Tuscany	Brother Heir presumptive	1 March 1792; brother succeeded	19 April 1793; son born to Archduke	Archduke Charles brother
	Archduke Ferdinand	Son Heir apparent	19 April 1793; born	11 August 1804; Archduchy replaced by Empire	Ferdinando III of Tuscany 1793–1799, uncle
					Archduke Joseph Franz 1799–1804, brother

Heirs to the Austrian Empire

Heirs to the Austrian throne

Monarch	Heir	Relationship to monarch	Became heir (Date; Reason)	Ceased to be heir (Date; Reason)	Next in line of succession
Franz I	Crown Prince Ferdinand	Son	11 August 1804 Father proclaimed emperor of Austria	2 March 1835 Father died, became emperor	Archduke Joseph Franz, 1804–1807, brother
					Archduke Franz Karl, 1807–1835, brother
Ferdinand I	Archduke Franz Karl	Brother	2 March 1835 Brother became emperor	2 December 1848 Brother abdicated, renounced his own claim to the throne	Archduke Franz Joseph, son
Franz Joseph I	Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian	Brother	2 December 1848 Brother became emperor	21 August 1858 Son born to emperor	Archduke Karl Ludwig, brother
	Crown Prince Rudolf	Son	21 August 1858 Born	30 January 1889 Died	Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, 1858–1864, uncle
					Archduke Karl Ludwig, 1864–1889, uncle
	Archduke Karl Ludwig	Brother	30 January 1889 Nephew died	19 May 1896 Died	Archduke Franz Ferdinand, son
	Archduke Franz Ferdinand	Nephew	19 May 1896 Father died	28 June 1914 Assassinated	Archduke Otto Franz, 1896–1906, brother
					Archduke Karl, 1906–1914, nephew
	Archduke Karl	Grandnephew	28 June 1914 Uncle assassinated	21 November 1916 Granduncle died, became emperor	Archduke Otto, son
Karl I	Crown Prince Otto	Son	21 November 1916 Father became emperor	12 November 1918 Monarchy abolished, after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary	Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este, brother