Princess Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Born in France in 1846, she married Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria, with whom she had seven children. A member of the imperial house and its representative in Rijeka, he grew very fond of Crikvenica and persuaded Hungarian capitalists and financiers to invest there. Archduke Joseph bought the former Pauline monastery and converted it into a military sanatorium, which eventually moved to the Villa Mira. The Archduchess then converted the building into the ‘Ladislav Children’s Home’, a hospital, named in memory of their tragically deceased son, for children from all over the country.
As a mark of respect, Ivan Skomerža, member of an enterprising local fishing family, named Crikvenica’s first hotel the ARCHDUCHESS CLOTILDA.
The couple lived for some time in Rijeka, as owners of the present-day State Archives Building. Ulica Clotilde (Clotilda Street) is the City of Rijeka’s tribute to the archduchess, who died in 1927 in Alcsút, Hungary.