Archduke Joseph Ferdinand of Austria, full name Joseph Ferdinand Salvator Maria Franz Leopold Anton Albert Johann Baptist Karl Ludwig Rupert Maria Auxilatrix; 24 May 1872 – 28 August 1942, was an Austro-Hungarian Archduke, military commander, from 1916 Generaloberst, and early advocate of air power.

As the fourth child and second son, he assumed the mantle of heir after his elder brother gave up the claim following numerous scandals.

[1] Joseph Ferdinand nonetheless succeeded his father as grand duke and subsequently conferred the title of Prince and Princess of Florence on the son and daughter of his second, non-dynastic marriage.

Following the accession of Emperor Charles I in November 1916, Archduke Joseph Ferdinand was offered the post of Inspector General of the Imperial Air Force.

Theodore von Kármán, then an Oberleutnant in the Austro-Hungarian Luftarsenal, found Joseph Ferdinand to be an "ignorant and pompous fellow."

In his autobiography von Kármán relates an exchange between Joseph Ferdinand and Porsche: He was married at Maria Plain on 2 May 1921 to Rosa Kaltenbrunner (Linz, 27 February 1878 – Salzburg, 9 December 1929), who was not a noble; the marriage lasted until their divorce in 1928, without issue.

In Vienna on 27 January 1929, Joseph Ferdinand married again, this time to Gertrude Tomanek, Edle von Beyerfels-Mondsee (Brünn, 13 April 1902 – Salzburg, 15 February 1997).

Joseph Ferdinand was released by the petition of Albert and Olga Göring[4] and lived an isolated existence thereafter, under continual observation by the Gestapo.