Erzherzogin Walburga von Österreich

Walburga Maria Franziska Helene Elisabeth Habsburg-Lothringen, known since her marriage as Walburga Habsburg Douglas, was born on October 5, 1958, in Berg am Starnberger See, Germany. She is a Swedish lawyer and politician of German origin, as well as a committed European who has engaged for many decades in European and international organizations. She is the fifth daughter of Otto von Habsburg-Lothringen, the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, and Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen. She is therefore a granddaughter of the last Austrian emperor, Charles I. At the time of her birth, her father was stateless, lived in Germany, and held a Spanish diplomatic passport. Walburga and her siblings were banished from the Republic of Austria at birth under a Habsburg law reintroduced by the National Socialists in 1938. Austria later had to repeal the law and lift the ban against the Habsburg-Lorraine family, which was a prerequisite for the country's accession to the European Union. After completing her Abitur in 1977 in Tutzing, Bavaria, Walburga Habsburg-Lothringen studied canon law in Salzburg through doctoral level. During her studies and in the years that followed, she turned to political, journalistic, and European affairs. From 1979 to 1992, she worked periodically as an assistant in the European Parliament. In 1983, she studied at the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C., and worked there in the office of Reader's Digest. From 1985 to 1992, she worked for the Ministry of Information of the Sultanate of Oman. In 2004, she also became a member of the board of the Arab International Media Forum in London. The Pan-European movement played a central role in her life. In 1975 and 1976, she and Bernd Posselt initiated the creation of Pan-European youth organizations in numerous European countries. She became chairwoman of the Bavarian section and deputy national chairwoman of the German Paneuropa-Jugend. In 1977, together with Olaf Kappelt and Bernd Posselt, she founded the Brüsewitz Center, a Christian Pan-European study organization. Its aim was to draw public attention to violations of religious freedom in the German Democratic Republic. Walburga Habsburg-Lothringen became particularly well known through her participation in the Pan-European Picnic on August 19, 1989, at the Hungarian-Austrian border. The event was organized by members of the Hungarian Democratic Forum with the support of reform communist minister Imre Pozsgay and her father, Otto von Habsburg. Walburga cut through the barbed wire, symbolically signaling the opening of the border. More than 660 citizens of the German Democratic Republic crossed to the West without being stopped or shot at by the border guards. The event is regarded as one of the most important symbols of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. A few days before the fall of the Berlin Wall, she also took part in a rally of Pan-European youth in East Berlin protesting the division of Berlin, Germany, and Europe. On December 5, 1992, she married the Swedish Count Carl Douglas, who was born on November 27, 1949, in Stockholm. The couple have one son, Count Mauritz Otto Wenzel Douglas, born on March 30, 1994, in Stockholm. The family lives at Ekensholm Castle in Sweden. Since her marriage, Walburga has used the name Habsburg Douglas. Politically, she joined Sweden's Moderate Party. She ran for the party in elections to the European Parliament in 1999 and 2004 but was not elected. Since 2003, she has led the party's local section in Flen and has served on the board of the party's regional organization in Södermanland. Since 2005, she has also been a member of the board of the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, which is closely associated with the Moderate Party. On September 17, 2006, Walburga Habsburg Douglas was elected to the Swedish Riksdag. The election took place at a time when the Moderates achieved their greatest success since 1928. She was reelected in 2010. After a total of eight years in the Riksdag, she lost her seat in the 2014 election, when her party suffered a significant decline in support. Alongside her parliamentary work, she took on international responsibilities. From 2006 to 2014, she was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. From 2011 to 2014, she served as its vice president. She also led the European People's Party group in the assembly and, from 2011 to 2014, the Swedish delegation. She served on several parliamentary committees and took part in election-observation missions in countries including Ukraine, Moldova, and Kyrgyzstan. In 2009, she was unanimously elected president of the European Union of Women and remained in the position until 2013. The Christian-conservative nongovernmental organization has consultative status with the Council of Europe and is represented at the United Nations and UNESCO. On February 8, 2020, Walburga Habsburg Douglas was elected vice president of the International Paneuropean Union. Since 2018, she has worked at Good Government Affairs, a Swedish consultancy whose members include people connected with the royal household, former ministers, and other experts. She serves on the company's board. She also appeared as herself in the first episode of the television series “Menschen und Mächte” in 2011 and took part in the first episode of the documentary series “Universum History” in 2017. Her honors include the rank of Dame of the Royal and Imperial Order of the Starry Cross, First Class, and the Cross of Honor and Devotion of the Sovereign Order of Malta.