Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full German name: ''Maximilian Karl Fürst von Thurn und Taxis'' (3 November 1802 – 10 November 1871) was the sixth Prince of Thurn and Taxis, head of the Thurn-und-Taxis-Post, and Head of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis from 15 July 1827 until his death on 10 November 1871.

Early life, education, and military career

Maximilian Karl was the fourth child of

Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full German language, German name: ''Karl Alexander Fürst von Thurn und Taxis'' (22 February 1770 – 15 July 1827) was the fifth Thurn und Taxis, Prince of Thurn and Taxis, head of the Thurn-und-Ta ...

and his wife Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, sister of Queen Louise of Prussia and niece of

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her death in 1818. The Acts of Un ...

. He was born on 3 November 1802 in the so-called Inner Palace of

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 ...

. At the age of nine, Maximilian Karl became Under Lieutenant in Bayer's Fourth Bayerrischen Cheveaulegers-Regiment König. After four years of education at Bildungsinstitut Hofwyl, a Swiss educational institution, he joined the

Bavarian army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...

on 25 August 1822. After the death of his father in 1827, Maximilian Karl asked for his dismissal from the army. Afterwards, he continued with his new role as head of the House of Thurn and Taxis, with the advisement and support of his mother.

Marriage and family

Maximilian Karl married Baroness Wilhelmine of Dörnberg, younger daughter of Ernst, Baron of Dörnberg (1769-1828), Director of the royal chamber of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his wife, Baroness Wilhelmine Henriette Maximiliane of

Glauburg Glauburg is a municipality in the Wetteraukreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 33 kilometers northeast of Frankfurt am Main. Glauburg is a municipality of Glauberg and Stockheim. The city hall of Glauburg is in Stockheim. The muni ...

(1775-1835), on 24 August 1828 in

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 ...

. Maximilian Karl and Wilhelmine had five children: *Prince Karl Wilhelm of Thurn and Taxis (14 April 1829 – 21 July 1829) *Princess Therese Mathilde of Thurn and Taxis (31 August 1830 – 10 September 1883), married firstly Duke Alfred von Beaufort-Spontin (1816-1888), married secondly Wilhelm von Pirch (d. 1881) * Maximilian Anton Lamoral, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis (28 September 1831 – 26 June 1867), married Duchess Helene in Bavaria and had issue *Prince Egon of Thurn and Taxis (17 November 1832 – 8 February 1892), married Viktoria Edelspacher de Gyorok (1841-1895) and had issue *Prince Theodor of Thurn and Taxis (9 February 1834 – 1 March 1876), married Baroness Melanie von Seckendorff (1841-1919) and had issue In their seventh year of marriage, Wilhelmine died at the age of 32. Maximilian Karl mourned her death greatly and constructed the

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

for her. Maximilian Karl married secondly to Princess Mathilde Sophie of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg, daughter of Johannes Aloysius III, Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg (1788-1855) and his wife, Princess Amalie Auguste of Wrede (1796-1871), on 24 January 1839 in Oettingen in Bayern. Maximilian Karl and Mathilde Sophie had twelve children: *Prince Otto of Thurn and Taxis (28 May 1840 – 6 July 1876), married Maria de Fontelive-Vergne (1842-1878), created Baroness von Pernstein by the

King of Bavaria The King of Bavaria () was a title held by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria in the state known as the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1805 until 1918, when the kingdom was abolished. It was the second time Bavaria was a kingdom, almost a t ...

on 1 August 1867 and had issue *Prince Georg of Thurn and Taxis (11 July 1841 – 22 December 1874), married morganatically Anna Frühwirth (1841-1884), no issue * Prince Paul of Thurn and Taxis (27 May 1843 – 10 March 1879), married morganatically Elize Kreutzer and had issue *Princess Amalie of Thurn and Taxis (12 May 1844 – 12 February 1867), married Count Otto von Rechberg und Rothenlöwen zu Hohenrechberg (1833-1918) *Prince Hugo of Thurn and Taxis (24 November 1845 – 15 May 1873) * Prince Gustav of Thurn and Taxis (23 February 1848 – 9 July 1914), married Princess Karoline von

Thurn und Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (, ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the mail, postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and ...

(1846-1931), no issue *Prince Wilhelm of Thurn and Taxis (20 February 1849 – 11 December 1849) *Prince Adolf of Thurn and Taxis (26 May 1850 – 3 January 1890), married Countess Franziska Grimaud von Orsay (1857-1919) and had issue *Prince Franz of Thurn and Taxis (2 March 1852 – 4 May 1897), married Countess Theresia Grimaud von Orsay (1861-1947) and had issue *Prince Nikolaus of Thurn and Taxis (2 August 1853 – 26 May 1874) *Prince Alfred of Thurn and Taxis (11 June 1856 – 9 February 1886) *Princess Marie Georgine of Thurn and Taxis (25 December 1857 – 13 February 1909), who married, as his second wife, Wilhelm, 4th Prince of Waldburg-Zeil. In 1843, Maximilian Karl and his family moved to the newly constructed Donaustauf palace of the Thurn and Taxis family in

Donaustauf Donaustauf is a market town in Bavaria, east of Regensburg at the foothills of the Bavarian Forest. The ruins of a medieval castle, presumably erected between 914 and 930, tower above the small town. Situated nearby on a hill rising from the Da ...

, which was completed in the same year as the nearby Walhalla. The Donaustauf palace was completely destroyed during a blaze on 4 March 1880.

Postal career

In 1827, Maximilian Karl was his father's successor as head of the private Thurn-und-Taxis-Post which had its headquarters in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. With the annexation of the

Free City of Frankfurt Frankfurt was a major city of the Holy Roman Empire, being the seat of imperial elections since 885 and the city for Coronation of the Holy Roman emperor, imperial coronations from 1562 (previously in Free Imperial City of Aachen) until 1792. F ...

by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

in 1866 and the forced sale of Thurn-und-Taxis-Post for three million

Thalers A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...

ended the era of the Thurn and Taxis family's postal monopoly. The handover took place on 1 July 1867.

Death

Prince Maximilian Karl died in Regensburg, on 10 November 1871, at the age of 69. His second wife Mathilde Sophie survived him by 15 years, dying in 1886. Maximilian's body was buried in the Gruftkapelle, St.Emmeram, Regensburg, Germany, alongside both his wives.

Orders and decorations

: Knight of the Black Eagle, ''23 August 1851''''Liste der Ritter des Königlich Preußischen Hohen Ordens vom Schwarzen Adler'' (1851), "Von Seiner Majestät dem Könige Friedrich Wilhelm IV. ernannte Ritter
p. 24
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Ancestry

References

*Martin Dallmeier / Martha Schad: ''The Princely House of Thurn und Taxis'', Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, Germany 1996 .

External links

, - ! colspan="3" style="background: #bebebe; color: #000000" , Postal offices {{DEFAULTSORT:Maximilian Karl Of Thurn And Taxis, Prince 1802 births 1871 deaths People from Regensburg Hereditary princes of Thurn and Taxis 19th-century German landowners German Roman Catholics Members of the Bavarian Reichsrat Members of the Prussian House of Lords Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Members of the Württembergian Chamber of Lords Burials at the Gruftkapelle, St. Emmeram's Abbey Military personnel of Bavaria