Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria

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Maximilian Franz visits with his sister Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI. Painting by Josef Hauzinger.

Maximilian Franz (1756-1801) was the 16th and the last child of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and her husband, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. His siblings included two Holy Roman Emperors (Joseph II and Leopold II), as well as Queen Marie Antoinette of France and Queen Maria Carolina of Naples and Sicily.

In 1780 he succeeded his uncle Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine as Hochmeister (Grand Master) of the Teutonic Knights.

In 1784 he became Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, living in the archbishopric's seat at Bonn. He remained in that office until his death, meaning that he participated as Elector in the election of his brother Leopold II in 1790.

In conspiracy theories, such as the one promoted in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Maximilian Franz was alleged to be the twenty-second Grand Master of the Priory of Sion

Maximilian Franz played an important role in the early career of Ludwig van Beethoven. The young Beethoven was an employee in his court's musical establishment (where his grandfather, also named Ludwig van Beethoven, had been Kapellmeister), and when the young Beethoven showed obvious talent, the Archduke paid for him to receive musical training in Vienna, starting in 1791. The Archduke anticipated that Beethoven would return to Bonn and continue working for him, but in fact Beethoven never returned, choosing to pursue his career in Vienna.

Maximilian Franz's political rule over the Archbishopric met with disaster in 1794, when his domains were overrun by the troops of Revolutionary France. The Archbishop's court was dissolved, and the Archbishopric lost its independence forever, being ruled first by France, then Prussia; and ultimately becoming part of unified Germany.^{[citation needed]}

Monarchical styles of Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria
Reference style	His Imperial and Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Imperial and Royal Highness
Alternative style	Sir

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