Count Maximilian Carl Theodor von Holnstein aus Bayern (19 October 1835 – 1 February 1895) was a German nobleman who was a playmate of princes
Ludwig and
Otto
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded fro ...
(both later kings of Bavaria), and friend of Ludwig on his accession as Ludwig II. Count Maximilian brought Ludwig's "
Kaiserbrief
The ''Kaiserbrief'' (English: Imperial Letter), is the letter to the German Federal princes signed by North German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck on 27 November 1870 and Bavarian King Ludwig II (born 1845, reign 1864–1886) on 30 November 1870. ...
" to
Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
.
Early life
Holnstein was born on 19 October 1835 in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. He was the eldest surviving son of celebrated beauty
Caroline Maximiliana Maria, Baroness von Spiering (1815–1859) and her first husband, Carl Theodor, Count
Holnstein
Holnstein is part of the community of Neukirchen bei Sulzbach-Rosenberg. It is located in Bavaria, Germany.
History
Most important sight is the castle of Holnstein (Schloss Holnstein), and the brewery that is located since 1502 inside the castle. ...
from Bayern (1797–1857). After her father's death, he mother married Wilhelm, Baron von
Künsberg, with whom she had a daughter, Wilhelmine Maria Caroline von Künsberg (wife of Friedrich von Breidbach-Bürresheim), Max's younger half-sister.
His maternal grandparents were Carl Theodor Baron von Spiering of
Schloss Fronberg
Schloss Fronberg is a castle in Schwandorf in Bavaria.
History
The estate was constructed in 1305. The lords of the castle and bailiffs of Mappenberg rebuilt it after a fire. It partly burned again in 1594. In 1622-1829 the castle and its lan ...
and his wife Johanna Nepumukena (''née'' Baroness von Enzberg). His paternal grandparents were Maximilian Joseph, Count of Holnstein, married to Princess Maria Josepha of
Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst (eldest daughter of
Prince Charles Albert II).
He was the great-grandson of Count Franz Ludwig von Holnstein, the illegitimate son of
Emperor Charles VII of Bavaria and his mistress
Maria Caroline Charlotte von Ingenheim
Countess Maria Caroline Charlotte von Spreti, born Baroness von Ingenheim (1704–1749), was a German courtier and the royal mistress of Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor, from 1719–1723.
Life
Maria Caroline Charlotte von Ingenheim was daugh ...
.
From an early age, Holnstein was playmate and confidants of the Bavarian princes
Ludwig (King Ludwig II from 1864) and
Otto
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded fro ...
(King Otto I from 1886).
Career
Since 1794, the Holnstein family owned extensive estates in
Schwarzenfeld in the
Upper Palatinate
The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria.
Geography
The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...
, where the family seat,
Schwarzenfeld Castle
Schwarzenfeld Castle (german: Schloss Schwarzenfeld) is a historic castle in Schwarzenfeld in the district of Schwandorf in Upper Palatinate of Bavaria, Germany. It was the home of noble Holnstein family, including Count Maximilian von Holnstein, a ...
, was located. After the death of his father, Holnstein became a hereditary member of the
Kammer der Reichsräte (meaning "House of Councillors"). He took over his family's possessions in Schwarzenfeld, Rauberweiherhaus,
Thanstein and Pillmersried in the
Upper Palatinate
The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria.
Geography
The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...
and
Thalhausen and
Palzing in
Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...
.
In 1863, Holnstein was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for a legally forbidden honor duel with pistols, but was pardoned by
Ludwig II
Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...
. In 1866, Ludwig II appointed Holnstein Royal Bavarian
master of the horse ("
Oberstallmeister" in German) as successor to Baron Otto
von Lerchenfeld-Aham, whom Ludwig II had dismissed at the end of 1865 because Lerchenfeld had reported a groom, who was considered the king's lover, for an alleged moral offense to the public prosecutor's office. Holnstein has also been claimed as a lover of the king.
In 1868, he was part of the contingent that established the private commercial bank known as
Bayerische Vereinsbank (today known as
HypoVereinsbank) which was formally established by the King on 11 April 1869.
Holnstein enjoyed Ludwig's confidence and was directly involved in the creation of the "
Kaiserbrief
The ''Kaiserbrief'' (English: Imperial Letter), is the letter to the German Federal princes signed by North German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck on 27 November 1870 and Bavarian King Ludwig II (born 1845, reign 1864–1886) on 30 November 1870. ...
" written at
Hohenschwangau Castle, which offered the
Prussian King
The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...
William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...
the imperial dignity of the newly founded
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
,
likely due to Ludwig II's financial difficulties and debts.
Holnstein eventually lost Ludwig II's confidence three years before the King's incapacitation because of his opposition to the king's increasing expenditures. He was also involved with Ludwig II being declared "mentally disturbed" and "incurable" by Dr.
Bernhard von Gudden
Johann Bernhard Aloys von Gudden (7 June 1824 – 13 June 1886) was a German neuroanatomist and psychiatrist born in Kleve.
Career
In 1848, von Gudden earned his doctorate from the University of Halle and became an intern at the asylum in Siegbu ...
and Dr.
Hubert von Grashey
Hubert von Grashey (30 October 1839 – 24 August 1914) was a German psychiatrist born in Grönenbach. He was son-in-law to psychiatrist Bernhard von Gudden (1824–1886).
He studied medicine at the Universities of Würzburg, Vienna and Berlin ...
and Holnstein was appointed the king's guardian.
After King Ludwig II died, Holnstein remained chief equerry for Prince Regent
Luitpold until 1892.
Later life
Holnstein retired to his castle in Schwarzenfeld in 1893, which he had lived in since 1857. Between 1890 and 1892, he had Julius Hofmann (the engineer behind
Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle (german: Schloss Neuschwanstein, , Southern Bavarian: ''Schloss Neischwanstoa'') is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The pa ...
) extend the castle and construct the outbuilding and the two towers in the historic style. Holnstein lived in the castle until his death in 1895 after which he was buried in the mausoleum, built at his behest between 1882 and 1884, in the Schwarzenfeld cemetery, where his family was also buried.
Personal life
On 18 May 1867, Holnstein was married to Maximiliane, Baroness von Gumppenberg (1850–1937), a daughter of Caroline, Baroness von Bayrstorff and Adolf, Baron von Gumppenberg.
Her maternal grandparents were
Prince Karl Theodor of Bavaria
en, Charles Theodore Maximilian Augustus
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Wittelsbach
, father = Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria
, mother = Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt
, birth_date =
, birth_pl ...
and, his first wife, Marie-Anne-Sophie Petin (who was created Baroness von Bayrstorff in 1823). Her grandfather was the second son of King
Maximilian I of Bavaria and his first wife
Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. His sister,
Princess Charlotte of Bavaria was the wife of
William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...
,
King of Württemberg and, after their divorce,
Franz I, Emperor of Austria.
Together, Maximilian and Maximiliane were the parents of:
* Ludwig Carl, Count von Holnstein aus Bayern (1868–1930), who married Maria Apushckina (1869–1924) in 1894. They divorced in 1903 and he married Anna
von Alvensleben
von Alvensleben may refer to:
* Christian von Alvensleben (born 1941), German photographer
* Constantin von Alvensleben (1809–1892), Prussian general
* Gustav von Alvensleben (1803–1881), Prussian general
* 'Alvo' Gustav Konstantin von Alvens ...
(1865–1945) in 1904.
* Caroline, Countess von Holnstein aus Bayern (1870–1915), who married Baron Otto von Ritter zu Groenesteyn (1864–1940) in 1888.
* Carl, Count von Holnstein aus Bayern (1877–1916), who married American heiress Mildred Harrison (1879–1942), a daughter of
Alfred Craven Harrison, in 1905.
Holnstein died at Schwarzenfeld on 1 February 1895. His widow Maximiliane and his descendants lived moved out in 1907, and the castle remained unused for a long periods apart from several short-term leases. In 1936, financial difficulties forced Maximiliane to sell the castle to the
National Socialist People's Welfare shortly before her death in 1937.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holnstein, Maximilian von
1835 births
1895 deaths
German nobility
Members of the Bavarian Reichsrat