ARCHDUKE FERDINAND GUN STARTED WORLD WAR I
The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand comes to life in a unique display at a military museum in Vienna although now some 101 years after the event.
An action on that day in June 1914 by Gavrilo Princip changed the world but many of the items that were there on that very Sunday can be seen at the Museum of Military History in the city today.
The car in which Archduke Ferdinand was killed.
Although the killing of Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie Duchess of Hohenberg took place in Sarajevo the museum in Vienna has them on permanent display.
Archduke Ferdinand Was Heir Apparent
The car in which the Archduke Ferdinand and the Duchess were traveling, a 32-horsepower, open top Double Phaeton built was by the Viennese firm of Gräf & Sift was driven slowly in the wrong direction and the young gun toting student managed to fire several shots from his pistol and with devastating consequences for the couple and the world.
Bullet hole in the car that Archduke Ferdinand was killed in.
Today you can see the car, the clothes and the some of the weapons that were seized at the time of the shooting as the young student was not acting alone and was part of a Serbian independence organisation called The Black Hand.
The blood stained uniform worn by the Archduke Ferdinand can be seen laid out on the sofa that he was placed after being shot in the neck. His wife was shot in the abdomen but her bullet had passed through the bodywork of the car before fatally injuring her.
Blood stained uniform worn by Archduke Ferdinand
They both died slumped in the back seat of the car as it was being driven to the Governors office in order to try to get medical assistance for them. “Sophie, Sophie! Don’t die! Live for our children!” were the last words uttered to his wife by Archduke Ferdinand.
The gun used to kill the couple a 9mm FN Browning model serial number 19074 and the other items are all on display together in a gallery on the second floor of the museum.
