Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria
Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria was Elector of Cologne and Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. He was the youngest child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. He was the last fully functioning Elector of Cologne and the second employer and patron of the young Ludwig van Beethoven.
Portrait by Anton von Maron
Maximilian Franz at the age of 6 in 1762 by Liotard
Maximilian Francis visits with his sister Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI of France. Painting by Josef Hauzinger
Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
The grand master of the Teutonic Order is the supreme head of the Teutonic Order. It is equivalent to the grand master of other military orders and the superior general in non-military Roman Catholic religious orders. Hochmeister, literally "high master", is only used in reference to the Teutonic Order, as Großmeister is used in German to refer to the leaders of other orders of knighthood.
Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
Hermann von Salza, fourth Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, in a Baroque-era portrait
Coats of arms of the 29 grand masters (until 1470, Heinrich Reuß von Plauen) in the St. Gallen armorial (Cod. sang. 1084)
Grand Master Siegfried von Feuchtwangen enters Marienburg with his knights on 14 September 1309, representing the move of the order's main seat to Prussia (1825 history painting)