The royal Habsburg Family of Europe is one of the oldest and most wide-spread oyal dynasties. The origin of the family is obscure, but Guntram the Rich (who lived about 950 and may have been a Carolingian noble) is the earliest acknowledged ancestor. In 1273 Count Rudolf was elected German king and Holy Roman emperor Rudolf I. He took possession of the Babenberg inheritance (Austria) which became the center of the Habsburg domains.
Through royal marriage, the Hapsburg spread their dynasty throughout Europe, inheriting Spain and its overseas empire, parts of Italy, the Netherlands. On his abdication in 1556, Charles left the Hapsburg territories divided between his two sons. In 1700, Spain passed from the Habsburg to the French Bourbons.
The male line of the Austrian Habsburgs ended with Charles VI in 1740. Charles secured the right of suecession for his daughter Maria Theresa. By her marriage to Duke Francis of Lorraine of France in 1736, she created the house of Habsburg-Lorraine. This line continued to rule Austria until 1919, though they were eventually forced out of Italy and Germany in the mid 19th century.
Defeat in World War I led to the final breakup of the Habsburg Empire and the alienation of most of its territory. The last Habsburg. Emperor Charles I, refused to renounce his hereditary title and was banished from Austria in 1919.
The current House of Habsburg. Archduke Otto, Charles's eldest son, is currently a resident of West Germany and one of the elected representatives of that country to the European Parliament.