A Habsburg Happening

An obscure German nobleman named Rudolf of Habsburg was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1273 when an assemblage at Aachen shouted "Fiat!"

(So be it). He promptly proved his worth by storming Vienna and conquering two rich Austrian duchies for himself. His latest descendant is not so bold. Banished when his father Karl I was toppled from power after World War I, the current pretender to the throne of Austria-Hungary last week came home to his domains as plain Dr.

Otto Habsburg, and not with a Fiat but a Mercedes 220.

The visit lasted less than four hours.

An aide drove Otto across the Bavarian border to the alpine city of Innsbruck.

He prayed at the tomb of his greatuncle Eugen, toured historic parts of the city and had lunch in an old Tyrolean inn, then sped back to Germany. Though his public-relations man later reported that "His Imperial Highness was recognized and greeted with friendliness," few recalled seeing him. In fact, the only ones who seemed to care were secret policemen in two cars, who trailed him wherever he went and were relieved when he departed.

Inconspicuous as it was, Otto's return brought a shrill outcry from the Austrian Socialist Party, which sponsored a three-hour strike by some 250,000 Austrian production and office workers, and then blamed "the unrest caused by Otto Habsburg's provocative entry." The Socialists have long talked darkly of the "threat" of a Habsburg restoration, though even the Habsburgs themselves are not expecting a royal comeback. Otto was exiled at the age of six. In the early years, his proud and persistent mother, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, tried every scheme to regain Habsburg honors for her son, even plotted unsuccessfully in the 1930s to marry him to Princess Maria of Italy in the hope that // Duce would present him with the Austrian throne. Of late, Otto has pledged loyalty to the republic. But after he won a battle in Austria's highest court last June, allowing him to travel in Austria, Socialist pickets rallied in the streets, warning passersby: "We won't have any more Sunday afternoon walks in the Schonbrunn Palace parks."

When news of his visit spread, the government said simply that Otto had a valid passport and was exercising his right to use it. Dr. Hans Kronhuber, strategist of the Peoples' Party, the majority party since the Socialists' defeat in last spring's elections, charged them with inciting the workers in "an old trade union tactic tied up with the current demand for higher wages." A leading Austrian author contends that the whole Habsburg fright reflects "the inferiority complex of republicans in a republic, an inner insecurity." After his trip, Otto, now 53 and living near Munich, said that he wished to establish a "precedent" for his right to travel in Austria. Wistfully, he added: "It was the journey of a man who loves his homeland although he does not know it." Did he plan to repeat the visit? Certainly, he replied. In fact, he planned one day to make his home in the land his ancestor conquered.

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