Above left: Johann Loschek (1846-1932), "Keeper of the Outer Door" and Rudolf's valet at age 34 in Court uniform.
Source: Judtmann following page 80.
Source: Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library)
Above right: Johann Loschek in his 80s (detail).
14. The Next Morning
The next morning a few minutes after six Rudolf appeared at Johann Loschek's door and instructed him to call him for breakfast at 7:30 and to tell Josef to have his cab ready.for the same time.
Rudolf went back to his bedroom whistling but an hour later when Loschek knocked there was no answer. The two doors into Rudolf's room were both locked from the inside so Loschek continued knocking and then banged on the door with a piece of firewood.
Shortly after eight o'clock Count Hoyos was walking across the courtyard from his own quarters to meet Rudolf for breakfast when a servant told him that the Crown Prince could not be roused.
Hoyos rushed to Rudolf's door where Loschek told him the startling news that Mary Vetsera was also present. At that point Prince Philipp arrived, having returned from the royal family dinner in Vienna. The two men ordered Loschek to smash through the door panels.
When Loschek had broken a large enough hole in the door to see the two bodies, Count Hoyos and Prince Philipp ordered him to enter the room to see if there were any signs of life. Such was their respect for imperial privacy that Rudolf's two friends could not bring themselves to enter the bedroom without permission. Only Loschek, as Rudolf's valet, had license to do so.
Unfortunately, Loschek made only a cursory examination of the darkened bedroom and despite the obvious bullet wound to Rudolf's head jumped to the conclusion that the couple had been poisoned. Loschek, Hoyos and Prince Philipp were all under the mistaken impression that cyanide or strychnine poisoning caused massive hemorrhaging and the pools of blood seemed to confirm this diagnosis.
Without investigating further Count Hoyos left Prince Philipp to guard the room and immediately set off for Baden with Josef. Meanwhile Loschek sent a telegram to Franz Josef's personal physician, Dr. Hermann Widerhofer, asking him to come to Mayerling as soon as possible but without telling him why.