Franz Joseph Maximilian Maria Antonius Ignatius Lamoral, 9th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full German name: ''Franz Josef Maximilian Maria Antonius Ignatius Lamoral Fürst von Thurn und Taxis'' (21 December 1893,

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

– 13 July 1971,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany) was the ninth Prince of Thurn and Taxis and Head of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis from 22 January 1952 until his death on 13 July 1971.

Early life

Franz Joseph was the eldest son of

Albert, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis Albert Maria Joseph Maximilian Lamoral, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis (full German name: ''Albert Maria Joseph Maximilian Lamoral Fürst von Thurn und Taxis''; 8 May 1867 – 22 January 1952) was the eighth Prince of Thurn and Taxis and Head ...

and his wife

Archduchess Margarethe Klementine of Austria Archduchess Margarethe Klementine Maria of Austria (in German: ''Margarethe Klementine Maria, Erzherzogin von Österreich''; in Hungarian: ''Habsburg–Toscanai Margit Klementina Mária főhercegnő''; 6 July 1870, Alcsút, Austria-Hungary– ...

. His christening was attended by

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

. Franz Joseph had six younger brothers and a sister. One of his brothers was Prince Max Emanuel of Thurn and Taxis (1902–1994), a member of the

Order of Saint Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

known as Pater Emmeram.

Education and World War I service

Franz Joseph received a humanistic education by private teachers. Beginning in the winter semester of 1912, Franz Joseph studied at both the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

and

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. Because of the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he could not complete his studies. On 6 August 1914, Franz Joseph joined the Prussian Elite Regiment Gardes du Corps. During the war, he was promoted to lieutenant. After the war's end in January 1919, Franz Joseph returned to Regensburg.Angaben nach Dallmeier, Schad, a. a. O., S. 156.

Marriage and family

Franz Joseph married

Princess Isabel Maria of Braganza Princess Isabel Maria of Braganza, (Isabel Maria Alberta Josefa Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Francisca de Paula e de Assis Teresa Adelaide Eulália Sofia Carolina; 19 November 1894, Kleinheubach, Kingdom of Bavaria – 12 January 1970, Regensburg ...

, daughter of

Miguel, Duke of Braganza Prince Miguel Januário of Braganza (; full name Miguel Maria Carlos Egídio Constantino Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga Francisco de Paula e de Assis Januário de Bragança; 19 September 1853 – 11 October 1927) was the Miguelist claimant to the throne ...

and his wife Princess Maria Theresa of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, on 23 November 1920 at Schloss Bronnbach,

Bronnbach Wertheim (; East Franconian: ''Wärde'') is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of around 23,400. It is located on the confluence of the rivers Tauber and Main. Wertheim is best known for its l ...

, Wertheim,

, Germany. Franz Joseph and Isabel Maria had five children: * Prince Gabriel of Thurn and Taxis (16 October 1922 – 17 December 1942) *Princess Michaela of Thurn and Taxis (16 October 1922 – 17 October 1922) *Princess Helene of Thurn and Taxis (27 May 1924 – 27 October 1991) *Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis (10 September 1925 – 27 April 1997) *Princess Maria Ferdinande of Thurn and Taxis (19 December 1927 – 9 June 2018); married Prince Franz Josef of Hohenzollern on 15 July 1950, later divorced. Together with his wife, Franz Joseph resided at Schloss Haus in Neueglofsheim (

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (; , , ) is an administrative district in the east of Bavaria, Germany. It consists of seven districts and 226 municipalities, including three cities. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and nume ...

) where he managed the property and its interests. There, he also took an interest in hunting, history, and art. He later bequeathed Schloss Haus's large private library to the Prince Thurn und Taxis Hofbibliothek.

World War II

At the age of 46, Franz Joseph served

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939. By the end of June 1940, he was serving in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

. Subsequently, Franz Joseph was a crew chief stationed in France for two and a half years until he was dismissed due to a decree from

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

on the "inability of the German Defense nobility" retroactive to 31 March 1944 by

Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (; from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire, (''Reichsgeneralfeldmarsch ...

Wilhelm Keitel Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (; 22 September 188216 October 1946) was a German field marshal who held office as chief of the (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's armed forces, during World War II. He signed a number of criminal ...

of the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

. Franz Joseph's son

Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

on 17 December 1942 in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

Later life

Franz Joseph resided for most of the year at Schloss Haus, but spent winters at Schloss Thurn und Taxis in

. In addition to managing the family estate, he dedicated himself increasingly to the preservation of the history of Regensburg and the former

St. Emmeram's Abbey Saint Emmeram's Abbey ( or ''Reichsabtei Sankt Emmeram'') was a Benedictine monastery founded around 739 at Regensburg in Bavaria (modern-day southeastern Germany) at the grave of the itinerant Frankish bishop Saint Emmeram. The original abbe ...

, the residence of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. On 21 December 1963, Franz Joseph was made an Honorary Citizen of the City of Regensburg "in appreciation of the high contribution to the economic, social and cultural issues." He was also made an honorary member of the Roman Catholic student association K.D.St.V. Rupertia Regensburg. Franz Joseph survived his wife Isabel Maria, who died on 12 January 1970, about one and a half years before him. He died after a severe illness on 13 July 1971 and was interred in the burial chapel at

. In Regensburg, the Erbprinz-Franz-Joseph-Straße is named after him.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franz Joseph of Thurn And Taxis, Prince 1893 births 1971 deaths People from Regensburg Princes of Thurn und Taxis 20th-century German landowners German Roman Catholics Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Burials at the Gruftkapelle, St. Emmeram's Abbey Hereditary princes of Thurn and Taxis German Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Regensburg Pretenders