Karl August von Thurn and Taxis

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Karl August von Thurn und Taxis and brother Franz Joseph

Karl August Joseph Maria Maximilian Lamoral Antonius Ignatius Benediktus Valentin Prince of Thurn and Taxis , also Carl August , (born July 23, 1898 in Garatshausen Castle ; † April 26, 1982 in Regensburg ) was head of the Thurn and Taxis family from 1971 . As the head of the family he called himself Prince von Thurn und Taxis and was well known from 1971 until his death.

Life

Coat of arms of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis

Karl August was born as the second eldest son of Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis and Archduchess Margarethe of Austria at Garatshausen Castle in the Upper Bavarian district of Starnberg .

After graduating from a high school in Regensburg, he studied natural sciences at the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg .

On August 18, 1921, he married the Portuguese Infanta Maria Anna von Braganza (born September 3, 1899 - June 23, 1971), the sister of the wife of his older brother Franz Joseph, at Taxis Castle near Dischingen .

After the marriage he lived with his wife on Gut Höfling near Regensburg and ran the nearby agricultural estate Burgweinting , where his children grew up. As a staunch opponent of the Nazi regime , he forbade his children after the seizure of power by the Nazis in the Hitler Youth to enter.

During the Second World War he was drafted into the Wehrmacht like his brother Franz Joseph . After a denunciation for listening to enemy radio broadcasts of the BBC was Karl August on August 8, 1944 in courtier from the Gestapo arrested and before the people's court for sedition and violation of the Broadcasting Act charged from 1 September 1939th Despite interventions by the Portuguese embassy in Vienna, he was imprisoned in Landshut Gestapo prison until the end of the war . Since then he has remained an enemy of all forms of totalitarianism , or as he put it himself:

“I've learned to always speak my mind. And I respect everyone's opinion. I just don't like the opportunist. "

After the death of his older brother Franz Joseph in 1971 (whose only son Gabriel was killed in World War II), he became head of the Thurn und Taxis family at the age of 73. During this time he was mainly responsible for the modernization of the Thurn und Taxis agricultural and forestry properties and had houses built there for his workers and employees. In addition, he continued to support the preservation of the cultural and historical heritage of the House of Thurn und Taxis. Above all, he had parts of the interior of St. Emmeram Castle restored, as well as the tapestries from the 17th and 18th centuries.

After his death on April 26, 1982, he was buried in the crypt chapel of St. Emmeram Castle. He was succeeded by his son Johannes von Thurn und Taxis as prince and head of the Thurn and Taxis family.

Honors (selection)

progeny

  • Clothilde Alberta Maria Franziska Xaveria Andrea (1922–2009)
⚭ Prince Johann Moritz von und zu Liechtenstein (1914–2004)
  • Mafalda Theresia Franziska Josepha Maria (1924–1989)
⚭ Franz Prince of Thurn and Taxis (1915–1997)
  • Johannes Baptista de Jesus Maria Louis Miguel Friedrich Bonifazius (1926–1990)
⚭ Mariae Gloria Countess von Schönburg-Glauchau
  • Albert (1930-1935)

ancestors

Pedigree of Karl August von Thurn and Taxis (1898–1982)
Great grandparents

Prince
Maximilian Karl von Thurn and Taxis (1802–1871)
⚭ 1828
women Wilhelmine von Dörnberg (1803–1835)

Duke
Max Joseph in Bavaria (1808–1888)
⚭ 1828
Duchess Ludovika Wilhelmine of Bavaria (1808–1892)
Archduke Joseph Anton Johann of Austria (1776–1847)

⚭ 1819
Archduchess Maria Dorothea of ​​Württemberg (1797–1855)

Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1818–1881)
⚭ 1843
Princess Clementine d'Orléans (1817–1907)
Grandparents

Prince Maximilian Anton von Thurn und Taxis (1831–1867)
⚭ 1858
Duchess Helene in Bavaria (1834–1890)

Archduke Joseph Karl Ludwig of Austria (1833–1905)
⚭ 1864
Princess Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1846–1927)

parents

Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis (1867–1952)
⚭ 1890
Archduchess Margarethe Klementine of Austria (1870–1955)

Karl August von Thurn and Taxis (1898–1982)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article 109 WRV ( Weimar Constitution of August 11, 1919) stipulates that the privileges or disadvantages under public law of birth or status are to be abolished. Denominations of nobility are only [no longer] part of the name and may no longer be awarded. In the case of the descendants of the former Princely House of Thurn and Taxis , all family members have since then carried the family name Prinz or Princess von Thurn und Taxis . The name Fürst von Thurn und Taxis , which goes back to the no longer existing and inheritable primogeniture nobility , using the first-born title "Fürst" as part of the name (only for the heads of the family) was irrelevant under civil status (in this family verifiably since 1982), but becomes in non-official contexts Similar to the provisions of the pseudonym as a form of courtesy based on the tradition of the family, both in literature and in society predominantly used. In some similar cases, title holders authorized under nobility law succeeded after 1945 to have the part of the name Fürst entered in their documents due to the goodwill of the local authorities. See Wilfried Rogasch : crash course nobility. DuMont, Cologne 2004, ISBN 978-3-8321-7617-4 , p. 17 f.
  2. ↑ a b Dallmeier, Schad: The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. P. 159.
  3. ↑ Dallmeier, Schad: The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. P. 174.
  4. ↑ a b c Dallmeier, Schad: The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. P. 160.
  5. ^ Quote from Karl August von Thurn und Taxis, printed by Dallmeier, Schad: Das Fürstliche Haus Thurn und Taxis. P. 160.
  6. ↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 30, No. 194, October 13, 1978.
  7. ^ Honorary citizen of the city of Regensburg
  8. ↑ Karl August Prince of Thurn and Taxis . In: Der Spiegel . No. 18 , 1982 ( online ).

literature

  • Wolfgang Behringer : Thurn and Taxis, the history of their post office and their companies . Munich, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-492-03336-9 .
  • Martin Dallmeier, Martha Schad : The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis, 300 years of history in pictures . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 1996, ISBN 3-7917-1492-9 .
  • Fabian Fiederer: "... hold on to all old traditions". The living environment and self-image of the high nobility using the example of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis in the time of Prince Albert I (1888–1952). In: Thurn und Taxis Studies - New Series No. 5, Publisher: Pustet, F / Pustet, Friedrich GmbH, 2017, ISBN 978-3-7917-2795-0 .

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Franz Joseph Head of Thurn and Taxis
1971–1982 		John
personal data
SURNAME Thurn and Taxis, Karl August von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thurn and Taxis, Karl August Joseph Maria Maximilian Lamoral Antonius Ignatius Benediktus Valentin Prince of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German nobleman, head of the House of Thurn and Taxis (1971–1982)
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Garatshausen Castle
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1982
Place of death regensburg