Franz Josef Altenburg

Franz Josef Georg Clemens Maria Leopold Salvator, Prince of Altenburg (15 March 1941 – 18 August 2021) was an Austrian ceramicist and sculptor. He was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (Austria-Tuscany branch). He was regarded as a leading modern ceramicist of Austria, and received awards including the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.

Life and career Altenburg was born into the nobility at the Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl, the seventh of nine children of Clemens Salvator, Prince of Altenburg, and his wife Elisabeth. He studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Graz, the school of applied arts from 1958 to 1962, with Hans Adametz. He created ceramics for Stations of the Cross and a holy-water font for the Am Schöpfwerk Church in Vienna, a ceramic Cross for an exterior wall of the Schlosskapelle Mitterberg, and an altar for Schiedlberg Parish Church.

Altenburg lived and worked in Breitenschützing, in the municipality of Schlatt. In 2021, Block, Haus, Turm, Gerüst, Rahmen (Block, house, tower, scaffolding, frame) was the name of the last MAK exhibition. On the occasion of his 80th birthday in 2021, he was awarded the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria. He died on 18 August 2021 at age 80. 1989: Kulturpreis des Landes Oberösterreich for sculpture (Bildende Kunst) 2010: Heinrich Gleißner Prize 2021: Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria

Marriage and issue Source:

Altenburg was the seventh of nine children of Clemens Salvator, Prince of Altenburg, formerly Archduke of Austria-Tuscany, and his morganatic wife Elisabeth, , paternal grandson of Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria and his wife Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria and maternal grandson of Friedrich Bernard, Graf Rességuier de Miremont, and wife Christiane, Gräfin von Wolkenstein-Trostburg.

Altenburg married Christa, Baronin von Haerdtl (Sankt Veit an der Glan, 29 January 1945) in Klagenfurt on 3 May 1969. She was the daughter of Thomas, Baron von Haerdtl, and his wife Ilse von Burger-Scheidlin. They had four children: Maria Caecilia Elisabeth Therese Margarete, Princess of Altenburg (Gmunden, 2 April 1970), married in 2011 Peter Putschek; they have one daughter Maria Putschek (2012) Augustin Franz Josef Maria Clemens Georg Salvator, Prince of Altenburg (Gmunden, 27 October 1971 – Vienna, 22 July 2006), married in Neukirchen bei Lambach on 16 August 2003 Nikzad Zihai (Tehran, Iran, 28 July 1972), without issue Amalia Maria Elisabeth, Princess of Altenburg (Vöcklabruck, 13 January 1979), married in 2011 Fábio Coutinho Geraldo (Brazil) Elisabeth Maria Caecilia Amalia Katharina, Princess of Altenburg (Vöcklabruck, 9 June 1983), unmarried and without issue

Publications Edition Cuturi (ed.), Franz Josef Altenburg – Keramik, Linz 1991, Peter Noever, Franz Josef Czernin, Bodo Hell: Elemente, Objekte: Keramiken von Franz Josef Altenburg. Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, 2001. Martin Hochleitner: Aus der Sammlung: Franz Josef Altenburg. Ausstellungskatalog, Landesgalerie Linz, Weitra 2006.

Karl Muhr (ed.), Franz Josef Altenburg – Ein Leben für die Keramik, Neukirchen 2019, Alfred Weidinger, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Rainald Franz (eds.), Franz Josef Altenburg – Ton und Form/Clay and Form, arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2021,