Max Egon II of Fürstenberg

Maximilian Egon II. Zu Fürstenberg (full name: Maximilian Egon II. Christian Karl Aloys Emil Leo Richard Anton Fürst zu Fürstenberg, Landgrave in the Baar and Stühlingen, Count of Heiligenberg and Werdenberg , born October 13, 1863 in Lana , Bohemia ; † August 11, 1941 at Heiligenberg Castle on Lake Constance ) was an Austrian or German noble landowner and politician as well as close confidante of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Max Egon Prince of Fürstenberg

Life

Max Egon II zu Fürstenberg (medal obverse )		... from 1933 ( reverse )

Maximilian Egon II. Was the son of Prince Maximilian Egon I zu Fürstenberg (1822–1873) and Princess Leontina, nee. Countess von Khevenhüller -Metsch (1843–1914). As a child he attended a grammar school in Prague . He then studied law at the Universities of Bonn and Vienna . In 1884, like his friend Crown Prince Wilhelm, he became a member of the Corps Borussia Bonn . His father died early, so that at a young age in 1886 he took over the manorial rights and possessions, the Secondogeniturfideikommiss in Pürglitz . At the same time he became a member of the Austrian manor house . In the early 1890s he joined the liberal-centralist constitution -loyal large estates and became one of the most important representatives of this party.

Lány Castle

In 1896 the Swabian lineage of the Fürstenberg Princely House died out with Carl Egon zu Fürstenberg , whereby Max Egon II became head of the now united Princely House of Fürstenberg. He lived alternately at Lány Castle (today the summer residence of the Presidents of the Czech Republic ) in his Bohemian possessions, at Heiligenberg Castle, in Vienna or in Berlin . For the numerous trips he used a luxurious saloon car that was attached to the express trains. In Austria he still had great influence in the party of large landowners loyal to the constitution. In 1906 he took over the chairmanship, but was rarely in Vienna and tried to pursue politics by means of extensive correspondence. Politically, he belonged to the German Whigs , that is, to the group of aristocrats who represented moderately liberal views. In 1908 he became Vice President of the Austrian Manor House.

Max Egon was not only since the Eulenburg crisis of 1907 one of the closest friends of the German Emperor Wilhelm II , who stayed 14 times as a hunting guest at his castle in Donaueschingen . However, historians disagree about the scope and impact of his political influence. Because of his good relationship with Archduke Franz Ferdinand , he was called the living link between the allied powers Austria-Hungary and Germany .

Fürstenberg was Knight of Honor of the Order of Malta , Knight of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece and the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle . The Prussian court, he held the honorary rank of colonel marshal , making it the Hofrangreglement ranked fourth (of 62) - even before its all peers. He also became a member of the Prussian manor house and the first chamber of both Württemberg and Baden . Because of his extensive possessions, especially since the inheritance, he was one of the richest private individuals in the German Empire.

During the First World War , Fürstenberg served both in the German army and in the Austro-Hungarian army as major general (since April 4, 1918), mostly as a mounted or traveling orderly officer .

Heiligenberg Castle

After the end of the World War he sold his possessions in the newly formed Czechoslovakia and limited himself to his German goods. In 1921 in Donaueschingen he founded the “Chamber Music Performances for the Promotion of Contemporary Music”, today the Donaueschinger Musiktage , where composers such as Bartók , Hindemith , Schönberg , Webern and Alban Berg premiered. He sponsored the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , for which they made him an honorary member in 1934. Politically, Fürstenberg joined the Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten . After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists , it was he who transferred the Stahlhelm to the SA and the NSDAP as part of the " Gleichschaltung " process . After a meeting with Hitler in November 1933, he expressed himself enthusiastically: "It was wonderful to be able to face this one great man." Fürstenberg joined the NSDAP and the SA in mid-1933 and was appointed SA Standartenführer in 1938. "In addition to opportunistic adjustments based on rational cost-benefit calculations, the aging prince had apparently also grasped the emotional side of the general awakening."

family

Prince Max Egon II zu Fürstenberg was married to Irma Countess von Schönborn-Buchheim (1867–1948). Their marriage had five children:

• Karl Egon V of Fürstenberg (1891–1973)
• Princess Léontine zu Fürstenberg (1892–1979)
• Anna Princess zu Fürstenberg (1894–1928) ∞ Franz Eduard Fürst zu Khevenhüller-Metsch (1889–1977)
• Maximilian Egon zu Fürstenberg (1896–1959)
• Friedrich Eduard zu Fürstenberg (1898–1916)

literature

• Karl Siegfried Bader:  Fürstenberg. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 695 f. ( Digitized version ). (Family item)
• Festschrift for the 70th birthday of His Highness the Prince Max Egon zu Fürstenberg . In: Writings of the Association for History and Natural History of the Baar and the adjacent parts of the country in Donaueschingen (Volume 19), Verlag Meder, Donaueschingen 1933.
• Isabel Hull : The Entourage of Kaiser Wilhelm II. 1888-1918. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1982, ISBN 0-521-53321-X .
• Frank Raberg : Biographical handbook of the Württemberg state parliament members 1815-1933. On behalf of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-17-016604-2 , pp. 231-232.
• Stephan Malinowski : From King to Leader. German nobility and National Socialism , Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 3rd edition, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-596-16365-6 , pp. 581-583.
• Christian Bommarius: The prince's trust . Emperors, nobility, speculators. Berenberg Verlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-946334-14-9 .
• Heinrich Fürst zu Fürstenberg / Andreas Wilts (ed.): Max Egon II. Zu Fürstenberg - Prince, soldier, patron. Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2019, ISBN 978-3-7995-1369-2 .

Web links

Commons : Max Egon II. Zu Fürstenberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Portrait photo as kuk colonel in the picture archive Austria
• Max Egon Fürst zu Fürstenberg in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Casimir Bumiller (ed.): Adel im Wandel. 200 years of mediation in Upper Swabia. Catalog for the exhibition in Sigmaringen from May 13 to October 29, 2006. Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2006, ISBN 978-3-7995-0216-0 , p. 250; Kösener corps lists 1910, 19 , 585.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Ernst Rutkowski: Letters and documents on the history of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy . Volume 1: The Constitutionally Loyal Large Estate 1880–1899 . Verlag Oldenbourg, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-486-51831-3 , p. 27 ff.
3. ↑ "... the precision and the great effect of this small orchestra". Music with the princes of Fürstenberg in Donaueschingen. ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Baden State Library 
4. ↑ Harald Derschka : The association for the history of Lake Constance and its surroundings. A look back at one hundred and fifty years of club history 1868–2018. In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 136, 2018, pp. 1–303, here: p. 112.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Ernst Klee : The culture lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 170.
6. ↑ Stephan Malinowski , Sven Reichardt : The ranks firmly closed? Nobles in the leader corps of the SA until 1934. In: Eckart Conze , Monika Wienfort : Adel und Moderne. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2004, ISBN 3-41218-603-1 , pp. 119–150, here: pp. 136 f.