Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis

Early life, education, and military career

Maximilian Karl was the fourth child of Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his mother Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, sister of Queen Louise of Prussia and niece of Queen Charlotte. He was born on 3 November 1802 in the so-called Inner Palace of St. Emmeram's Abbey.

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 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, Director of the royal chamber of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his wife, Baroness Wilhelmine Henriette Maximiliane of Glauburg, on 24 August 1828 in Regensburg. 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 mausoleum at St. Emmeram's Abbey for her. Maximilian Karl married secondly to Princess Mathilde Sophie of Oettingen-Spielberg, daughter of Johannes Aloysius III, Prince of Oettingen-Spielberg and his wife, Princess Amalie Auguste of Wrede, 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 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

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. With the annexation of the Free City of Frankfurt by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866 and the forced sale of Thurn-und-Taxis-Post for three million Thalers 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

Kingdom of Hanover: Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, 1831

Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, 23 August 1851