In the first two years of Rudolf's life, the family moved twice, first to Mödling, near Vienna, and then, through the promotion of his father to stationmaster, to Pottschach, located in the foothills of the eastern Austrian Alps in Lower Austria.
Nos dous primeiros anos da vida de Rudolf, a familia mudouse dúas veces, primeiro a Mödling, cerca de Viena, e despois (polo ascenso de seu pai a xefe de estación) a Pottschach, situado nas abas dos Alpes do leste austríaco, na actual Burgenland.