From: Bill D - PM
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 12:14 PM

The inscription says "Fuhrer Franz Joseph" but I have no idea what the date refers to....perhaps just the date of the carving.

That would be strange, because he was an emperor, not a fuhrer". In German, I think it would be, "Kaiser Franz Josef". I think the top word looks like "Kaiser", (look at the dot on the "i"), but "Josef" is clearly spelled "Joseph".   Maybe it wasn't done by an Austrian?