| Maximilian Karl | |
| Full Name: | German: Maximilian Karl |
| Prince of Thurn and Taxis | |
| Reign: | 15 July 1827 – 10 November 1871 |
| Reign-Type: | Period |
| Predecessor: | Karl Alexander |
| Successor: | Maximilian Maria |
| Succession: | Head of the House of Thurn and Taxis |
| Spouse: | Baroness Wilhelmine of Dörnberg Princess Mathilde Sophie of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg |
| Issue: | Prince Karl Wilhelm Princess Therese Mathilde Maximilian Anton, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis Prince Egon Prince Theodor Prince Otto Prince Georg Prince Paul Princess Amalie Prince Hugo Prince Gustav Prince Wilhelm Prince Adolf Prince Franz Prince Nikolaus Prince Alfred Princess Marie Georgine |
| House: | Thurn and Taxis |
| Father: | Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis |
| Mother: | Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz |
| Birth Date: | 3 November 1802 |
| Birth Place: | Regensburg, Electorate of Bavaria, Kingdom of Germany, Holy Roman Empire |
| Death Place: | Regensburg, Kingdom of Bavaria |
| Burial Place: | Gruftkapelle, Saint Emmeram's Abbey, Regensburg |
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.
Maximilian Karl was the fourth child of Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his wife Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, sister of Queen Louise of Prussia. 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.[1]
Maximilian Karl married Baroness Wilhelmine of Dörnberg, daughter of Ernst, Baron of Dörnberg and his wife Baroness Wilhelmine Henriette Maximiliane of Glauburg, on 24 August 1828 in Regensburg.[2] Maximilian Karl and Wilhelmine had five children:[3]
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-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg, daughter of Johannes Aloysius III, Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg and his wife Princess Amalie Auguste of Wrede, on 24 January 1839 in Oettingen in Bayern.[4] Maximilian Karl and Mathilde Sophie had twelve children:
In 1843, Maximilian Karl and his family moved to the newly constructed Donaustauf palace of the Thurn and Taxis family in Donaustauf, which was completed in the same year as the nearby Walhalla. The Donaustauf palace was completely destroyed during a blaze on 4 March 1880.
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.[6]
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