Otto von Habsburg also known as Archduke Otto of Austria, was born as second in line to the thrones of the former Austria-Hungary, now Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1922 till 1958/1961 he was the Habsburg pretender to the Austrian throne. The eldest son of Charles I, the last Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, and his wife, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Otto was archduke of Austria and crown prince of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia from 1916 to 1918 and since his father's death in 1922, has been the Habsburg claimant to the thrones of Austria-Hungary (which, in addition to Austria and Hungary, also included the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Croatia, as well as other territories).∼Archduke Otto of Austria and Crown Prince of Hungary,eldest son of Karl I,the last Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary(as IV.Károly)and Zita of Bourbon-Parma.After his father's death in exile(Funchal,Madeira)Otto was considered by his large family and Austro-Hungarian royalists and legitimists to be rightful Emperor-King from 1922 on. Otto and his family lived in exile in Spain,Belgium and France.At the age of legal maturity on November 20,1930 he became Head of the Imperial House of Habsburg and worked hard for the restoration. He was one of the earliest protagonists of the European integration and a resolute anti-Nazi and anti-communist.After the Anschluss Otto was sentenced to death by the Nazis and fled to the United States where he continued his political activity.He returned to Europe in 1954 and settled down in Bavaria, West Germany. Otto von Habsburg was one of the founders of the International Paneuropean Union and President of the movement until 2004. He was a member of the European Parliament for the Christian Social Union of Bavaria from 1979 to 1999. He played an important role in the demolition of the Iron Curtain which devided Europe after the World War II. Otto von Habsburg published several books and treatises on historical and political events and affairs. He resigned as Head of the Imperial House in 2007 and lived in Pöcking, Villa Austria until his death in 2011. He was entombed in the Imperial Crypt(Capuchin)in Vienna, his heart lies in Pannonhalma, Hungary.