JOSEPH II. (1741–1790)
Life and reign
Joseph II was born on 13 March 1741 in Vienna as the son of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I Stephen of Lorraine. After the death of his father in 1765 he was elected Holy Roman Emperor and became co-ruler of the Habsburg monarchy alongside his mother.
Following the death of Maria Theresa in 1780 he assumed full rule as sovereign.
Reforms
Joseph II was one of the leading representatives of enlightened absolutism. During his reign he introduced a series of major reforms intended to modernize and centralize the Habsburg monarchy.
Among the most important was the Patent of Toleration issued in 1781, which granted limited religious freedom to non-Catholic Christian denominations. In the same year he also abolished serfdom, giving peasants greater personal freedom.
Other reforms concerned state administration, the judiciary, taxation and the army. Joseph II also attempted to limit the influence of the Church on everyday life and to place it under greater state control.
Joseph II in Jáchymov
During his journeys through the Habsburg monarchy Joseph II also visited Jáchymov. He came to the town twice, in 1766 and 1779.
In his honour the Helena Huber mine was renamed the Joseph II shaft, today known as Josefka. The avenue on Turecký vrch (Strážný, popularly called Klobouk) was also named the Imperial Avenue.
Death
Joseph II died on 20 February 1790 in Vienna. His reforms had a lasting influence on the development of the Habsburg monarchy and Central European society.
