Karl II, Prince of Isenburg-Büdingen in Birstein (full name: ''Karl Viktor Amadeus Wolfgang Kasimir Adolf Bodo'') (29 July 1838 – 2 April 1899) was head of the mediatised German house of Isenburg and Büdingen.

Biography

Karl was born in

Birstein Birstein is a municipality on the northeastern edge of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis in Hesse, Germany with approximately 6,600 inhabitants. It was the home of the former principality of Isenburg-Birstein. Geography Location The town lies at the souther ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, as the second child of Victor Alexander, Prince of

Isenburg-Büdingen Isenburg-Büdingen was a County of southern Hesse, Germany, located in Büdingen. It was originally a part of the County of Isenburg. History There were two different Counties of the same name. The first (1341–1511) was a partition of Isenbur ...

, son of Karl, last sovereign Prince of Isenburg, and his wife, Princess Maria of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XIII. "Isenburg/Ysenburg". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1987, pp. 237-239. (German). After the early death of his father in 1843, Karl was placed in the charge of his uncle, Wolfgang Ernst III, Prince of Isenburg-Birstein, who had him raised in his Protestant denomination, but he was exposed to the Catholic faith by his mother and in 1861, converted to Catholicism. On May 31, 1865, at the age of twenty-seven, he married Archduchess Maria Luisa of Austria (1845–1917), daughter

Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II, , English: ''Leopold John Joseph Francis Ferdinand Charles''. (3 October 1797 – 29 January 1870) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1824 to 1859. He married twice; first to Maria Anna of Saxony, and after her death in 1832, to Mari ...

and his second wife,

Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies () (19 December 1814 – 7 November 1898), was a princess of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies by birth and Grand Duchess of Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Tuscany from 1833 to 1859 as the consort of Leopold II ...

. The couple had nine children. In 1866, after the death of his uncle, Karl succeeded him as Prince of Isenburg-Birstein. Karl died at the age of sixty in 1899, and his wife Maria Luisa died in 1917. They are the ancestors of

Sophie, Princess of Prussia Sophie, Princess of Prussia (born Princess Sophie Johanna Maria of Isenburg; 7 March 1978) is married to Georg Friedrich Prinz von Preussen, head of the formerly-ruling House of Hohenzollern. Early life and education Sophie Johanna Maria of Ise ...

, wife of Georg Friedrich, head of the House of Prussia which reigned as

German emperor The German Emperor (, ) was the official title of the head of state and Hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the abdicati ...

s until 1918.

Issue

Karl and Maria Luisa had nine children: * Prince Leopold Wolfgang (1866–1933), succeeded his father as Prince of Isenburg. In 1902 he wed Princess Olga of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1869–1924), daughter of Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and had issue. He married secondly in 1924 Countess Marie von Dürckheim-Montmartin (1880–1937), without issue. * Princess Maria Antonia (1867–1943). * Princess Maria Michaele (1868–1919). * Prince Franz Joseph (1869–1939), married Princess Friederike of

Solms-Braunfels Solms-Braunfels was a County and later Principality with Imperial immediacy in what is today the federal Land of Hesse in Germany. History Solms-Braunfels was a partition of Solms, ruled by the House of Solms, and was raised to a Princi ...

, and had issue. They are the great-grandparents of

. * Prince Karl Joseph (1871–1951), married morganatically Bertha Lewis. * Prince Victor Salvator (1872–1946), married Leontine Rohrer. * Prince Alfonso Maria (1875–1951), married in 1900 Countess Pauline Marie of Beaufort-Spontin (1876–1955), and had issue. * Princess Marie Elizabeth (1877–1943), married Georg Beyer * Princess Adelaide Maria (1878–1936).

Orders and decorations

* : Grand Cross of the Grand Ducal Hessian Order of Ludwig, ''12 January 1881'' * : Knight of the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

, ''1867'' * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle () was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, o ...

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

: Grand Cross of the

Order of Saint Joseph The Order of Saint Joseph was instituted on 9 March 1807 by Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany during his reign as Grand Duke of Würzburg. It was transformed into a Tuscan Roman Catholic Dynastic Order in 1817. The constitution of the Orde ...

References

Bibliography

* ''Das katholische Deutschland, repräsentirt durch seine Wortführer. Porträts hervorragender Katholiken in Lichtdruck ausgeführt mit kurzen Character- und Lebensbeschreibungen.'' 2. Serie, 1. Heft, Verlag Leo Woerl, Würzburg 1878. * Manfred Hermanns: Weltweiter Dienst am Menschen unterwegs. Auswandererberatung und Auswandererfürsorge durch das Raphaels-Werk 1871-2011. Friedberg 2011, , hier S. 25, 26, 39, 53, 84. * David August Rosenthal:
Fürst Karl zu Isenburg-Birstein.
' In: ders.: ''Konvertitenbilder aus den neunzehnten Jahrhundert.'' Band 1: ''Deutschland'', Teil 3, Manz Verlag, 3. Auflage, Regensburg 1901, S. 431–433. {{DEFAULTSORT:Karl II, Prince of Isenburg-Birstein 1838 births 1899 deaths People from Main-Kinzig-Kreis House of Isenburg Members of the First Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria