Kathe's Version

In a hunting lodge at Mayerling not far from Vienna the body of the Archduke Rudolf, only son & heir of the Emperor Franz Josef was found shot through the temple, lying by the side of his dead mistress, the beautiful Baroness Maria Vetsera.

For 42 years the true story of their deaths has been one of the greatest European mysteries, a delight to novelists and playwrights. There were dozens of versions: Rudolf committed suicide. The pair were killed by a jealous husband. It was a political murder inspired by the Czechs, the Poles or one of the other minorities fighting for state's rights. Members of the Vetsera family murdered

Rudolf to avenge their honor. (One version of this story has Archduke Rudolf not shot, but smashed over the head with a champagne bottle. Legend describes the arrival of a surgeon who extracted three-inch slivers of green glass from his skull.)

Last week newsgatherers broke down the reticence of one of the few living people who really know what happened to Archduke Rudolf of Habsburg--a gentle 76-year-old lady, Frau Katharina Schratt.

For more than 30 years the lovely Kathe Schratt was the great & good friend of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Franz Josef. Moreover she remained on the very best of terms with the Empress Elizabeth until the hitter's tragic death.

Kathe Schratt was an actress. The Emperor met her when she was playing leading roles in the old Burgtheater near the Palace in Vienna, but although she played the part many times on the stage Kathe Schratt was no Pompadour. She recognized that Der Alte Kaiser was completely bourgeois at heart. He dearly loved a good schnitzel and a flask of Muskateller, simple things that he could not enjoy at the palace. Kathe Schratt, like a good housewife, provided such homely comforts. At her little house within easy walking distance of the gates of Schonbrunn (the summer palace) the Emperor was known simply as "The Colonel." He dearly loved to come over in the evenings and argue with the cook. Gay Austrian officers called him "Herr Schratt" behind his back. For years he used to play tarok (Austrian whist) with Frau Kathe and two old cronies, Herr Palmer, head of the Austrian Bank and a wealthy Jewish banker.

Frau Kathe never asked for money, but she never saved. Ever since the War she has lived quietly in Vienna, refusing large sums from Austrian and U. S. publishers for her memoirs. Last week the loyal old lady suddenly relented and gave what she insists is the true version of the Mayerling tragedy. Said she:

"Despite all that has since been written, the Crown Prince first shot the unhappy Baroness Vetsera through the temple and then shot himself. All other versions are pure fairy tales. . . . The Crown Prince abandoned life because he saw no hope of permanently uniting with little Maria Vetsera whom he loved uncontrollably.

"During the 30 years I enjoyed the Emperor's friendship I never saw him so broken as on that 31st day of January, which I remember as if it were yesterday. I had gone afoot to Hofburg [the Palace in Vienna] contrary to custom, having been ordered to present myself at 11 o'clock to read aloud to the Emperor and Empress. At the gate I saw to my horror, knowing the habits of the Emperor, for whom punctuality meant arriving a quarter of an hour ahead of time, that it was already five minutes past 11.

"Hurrying in I was admitted immediately to the Empress who flung herself upon me, embracing me and sobbing terribly.

"'The tragedy!' she sobbed. 'If you knew what had happened!'

"In vain I sought to calm her. Tears choked her voice. She could not speak. Finally she regained control of herself, staring at me through tear-filled eyes. 'Rudolf is dead! You alone must break the news to the Emperor!'

"We were still confronting one another when the door was flung open to admit the Emperor himself. A horrible moment. As well as I knew the Emperor I had never seen him so happy and full of life as that morning. . . . The Emperor's breakdown was so terrible that even today I am unable to find words to describe it. But I shall never forget either the heroic behavior in the ensuing weeks of the bereaved mother who thought only of how to restore the Emperor to himself and constantly begged me to do everything to help him forget his pain."

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