Archduke Karl Albrecht of Austria-Teschen (Karl Albrecht Nikolaus Leo Gratianus von ÃÂsterreich, later Karl Albrecht Habsburg-Lothringen, since 1919 â Karol Olbracht Habsburg-Lotaryà Âski; 18 December 1888 â 17 March 1951) was an Austrian military officer, a member of the Teschen line of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
He was an Austrian archduke, the oldest son of Archduke Charles Stephen and his wife, Archduchess Maria Theresia, Princess of Tuscany. Both of his parents were closely related to Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria.
He was a landowner in à »ywiec, a colonel of artillery in both the Imperial Austro-Hungarian Army (cavalry) and the Polish Army, and the 1,175th knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1910, etc.
In 1918 and again in 1939 he became a volunteer in the Polish army. He fought in the PolishâÂÂSoviet War. In 1920, he commanded the Grudziàdz Fortress. During the German occupation of Poland, he declared Polish nationality and refused to sign the Volksliste. He was imprisoned in November 1939, kept in Cieszyn and tortured by the Gestapo. His wife was interned in Wisà Âa. He emerged from prison with a loss of vision in one eye and limited mobility. In October 1942, Albrecht and his family were taken to Strausberg and confined to a forced labor camp. After liberation, he moved to Kraków and then to Sweden. His estate was confiscated in 1939 by the invading Germans, and again in 1945 by the Polish People's Republic.
On 8 November 1920 he married morganatically Alice Elisabeth Ankarcrona (born at Tullgarn, near Trosa, 18 December 1889 and died at Saltsjöbaden, near Stockholm, 26 November 1985) in the castle of à »ywiec Poland. She was a daughter of Oscar Carl Gustav Ankarcrona and his wife, Anna Elisabeth Aurora Carleson (b. 1867), daughter of Edvard Henrik Carleson (1820âÂÂ1912), Councilor of State of the Kingdom of Sweden. She was the widow of Count Ludwik Badeni (1873-1916), a diplomat working at the Austro-Hungarian legation in Stockholm. On 15 December 1949, Otto von Habsburg, as the Head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine accorded her the hereditary title of "Princess of Altenburg".
Their children were: