The acid attack

Over 100 years ago, the Danube metropolis of Vienna was the scene of a vicious acid attack that took place among the European aristocracy. The victim of the acid attack was none other than Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a cavalry captain in the imperial and royal army in Vienna. Prince Leopold was a sought-after man who came from the best circles of European aristocracy. He was born on July 9, 1878, in Szent-Antal, Hungary, the son of Prince Philip of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Louise of the Belgian royal family. As he was the only son, he was to inherit the vast Hungarian Koháry estate, which was the third largest property in the monarchy. This would have made Prince Leopold the most important magnate in Hungary. However, everything changed due to a fateful encounter with the Viennese actress Kamilla Rybiczka, whom the prince met at a charity event in 1913. The daughter of the Vienna police councilor immediately enchanted the prince. A passionate relationship ensued, for which Kamilla left her parents’ home to live on the first floor of house no. 13 in Marokkanergasse in Vienna’s 3rd district, Landstraße. This apartment became the love nest of the unlikely couple, who had traveled throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire since their first meeting. Prince Leopold fulfilled Kamilla’s every wish, now financing her entire life. But Kamilla was not content with just being the prince’s lover. Despite being a commoner, she wanted to marry the prince. Of course, this was an impossible request at the time. However, Prince Leopold was so in love that in a letter from Paris dated July 1, 1914, he promised Kamilla that he would take her as his wife within the next six months. To this end, Prince Leopold asked his father for 2 million crowns. As an officer, he had to provide this sum as a marriage deposit before he could obtain a marriage license from his superior. The money served as security for the surviving dependents in case the officer was killed in action. In 1915, Prince Leopold was called to the front. Even before he began his service, Kamilla insisted that he enter into the promised union with her. But Kamilla had not reckoned with the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was strictly opposed to the prince marrying a non-noble. Kamilla was simply not of the right social standing and was to disappear from the prince’s life in exchange for a payment of over 4 million crowns. When Kamilla found out about the gift of money, her world fell apart. Never in her life had she been so humiliated. On October 17, 1915, Prince Leopold visited Kamilla at her apartment at Marokkanergasse 13 to hand her the check. What happened next could have come straight out of a soap opera. Instead of accepting the check, Kamilla pulled out a gun and shot the prince five times before pouring acid on his handsome face. Kamilla then shot herself in the heart with her sixth and last bullet. Residents had meanwhile notified the police due to the screaming and gunshots. They found Kamilla lying dead on the floor in a pool of blood. But miraculously, the prince was still alive, although he was now blind. This was to change six months later on April 27, 1916, when Prince Leopold underwent eye surgery, but died during the operation. His cousin August Leopold thus inherited the immense Koháry estate in Hungary. Prince Leopold was buried in the Koháry crypt in St. Augustine in Coburg.