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| @Markgrave of Baden |
HRH Prince Maximilian, the Margrave died today, December 29, 2022, at Schloss Salem. He was 89 years old and was the second of three children of the late HRH Berthold, Margrave of Baden, and HRH Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark.
HRH Prince Maximilian Andreas Friedrich Gustav Ernst August Bernhard was born on July 3, 1933, at Schloss Salem. He had one older sister, Princess Margarita (1932-2013), and one younger brother, Prince Ludwig (1937).
The family lived primarily at Schloss Salem, in Baden-Württemberg. Part of the Schloss was used for the Schule Schloss Salem, which was founded in 1920 by HRH Prince Max of Baden (1867-1929) the last Chancellor of Imperial Germany, and educators Kurt Hahn and Karl Reinhardt. Prince Max was the heir presumptive to Duke Friedrich II of Baden, who died in 1929. Max was married to HRH Princess Marie Louise of Cumberland, Princess of Hannover, one of six children of HRH Prince Ernst August, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, and HRH Princess Thyra of Denmark.
When Prince Max succeeded his cousin Duke Friedrich II in 1928, he assumed the ancestral title of the Baden family, Margrave of Baden, which was first used in 1112 by Hermann II. Following his death, his son Berthold also chose to be styled as Margrave of Baden, as the Grand Duchy of Baden ceased to exist after Friedrich II's abdication in 1918.
Following the death of his father, Berthold, the new Margrave of Baden, continued to support the school. In August 1931, he married his second cousin, Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, the second of five children of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg.
Their first son's name honored Berthold's father who was named for his maternal grandfather, Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, the husband of Grand Duchess Maria Nicolaievna of Russia, the daughter of Emperor Nicholas II.
For two terms, Theodora's younger brother, Prince Philip (1921-2021) attended Schloss Salem school but returned to Britain in 1933, following Kurt Hahn to Gordonstoun School in Scotland. After being arrested in early 1933 for speaking out against Hitler. Hahn, a Jew, spent nearly a week in jail before being freed with the assistance of British Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald. Hahn was forced to leave Germany. He settled in Scotland where he founded Gordonstoun School, based on the principles taught at Schule Schloss Salem.
Although Berthold joined the Wehrmacht, neither he nor his wife supported the Nazi party. He left the Wehrmacht in 1940 after suffering an injury in France. After the end of the second world war, Prince Max was sent to Gordonstoun. Following the premature death of his father, at the age of 57 in 1963, Prince Max became the Margrave of Baden. A businessman, Prince Max focused on the family winery and other enterprises. The Markgraf von Baden wines are produced at Salem Castle on Lake Constance and at Staufenberg Castle in Ortenau, both of which are family properties.
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| Marlene A Eilers Koenig Collection |
In an interview with VDP, the Margrave's eldest son, the then Hereditary Prince said: "I come from a family that has always cultivated and developed wine. It gives us great pleasure to produce Baden wines of the best possible quality. And that remains our task for the future."
In 1961, Prince Max became engaged to his first cousin, Princess Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Their mothers were sisters. Beatrix's brother, Kraft, the Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg announced that the engagement was broken off "by mutual consent" and "ended for personal reasons."
During their State visit to Germany in 1965, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, were able to spend a quiet weekend at Schloss Salem. The dinner was hosted by Philip's widowed sister, Theodora, Margravine of Baden, and the guests included his other two surviving sisters, Margarita, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Georg Wilhelm of Hanover, and their families. Five years earlier, in November 1960, Prince Philip drove from the Netherlands to Zwingenberg, Germany, where he picked up his cousin, Prince Ludwig of Baden. They drove to Schloss Wolfsgarten near Darmstadt, to see Prince and Princess Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, and then it was on to Schloss Salem to spend the weekend with Philip's sister and brother-in-law.
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| The Margravine and Margrave of Baden with Prince Max, Prince Ludwig and Princess Margarita @Margrave of Baden |
Berthold was only 57 years old when he died when he suffered a heart attack while driving a car with his younger son Prince Ludwig in October 1963. Prince Max succeeded as Margrave and head of the house of Baden.
In 1966, the Margrave announced his engagement to HI & RH Archduchess Valerie Isabelle Marie Anna Alfonsa Desideria Brigitte Sophia Thomasia Huberta Josepha Ignatia of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, (1941), the 9th of 13th children of HI &RH Archduke Hubert of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, and HSH Princess Rosemary of Salm-Salm. The couple was wed in a civil ceremony at Schloss Salem on September 23, 1966. A week later, on September 30, a Roman Catholic wedding took place at the bride's home, Schloss Persenbeug in Austria. The new Margravine agreed to raise their children Lutheran.
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| @Maximilian Margrave of Baden |
In 1995, the Margrave had a "king-size yard sale" that sold more than 6000 lots (25,000 objects) of "furniture, crockery, paintings and even hunting trophies to pay off debts," according to the New York Times. The family was in debt for $184 million due to the recession "compounded by mismanagement of its agricultural, and industrial holdings." One of the Margrave's five Schlosser, Neues Schloss, had become a warehouse of family possessions, following the loss of 15 other castles in 1918. Sotheby's experts carefully assessed the treasure trove and found "it contained important collections of 17th and 18th-century German furniture, Flemish tapestries, Meissen porcelain, and myriad art objects."
The Sotheby's 15-day auction realized $21.2 million toward the Margrave's debts. The Margrave also arranged a deal with the regional government, which agreed to pay $31.6 million "for the pick of the collection. The then Hereditary Prince Bernhard told the New York Times that Neues Schloss would also be sold. "It's on the market, but we have no idea of the price. It will depend on who wants it, what restoration has to be done. Perhaps in the medium term, the Government will buy it. Not yet of course. It's a problem we'll worry about after the auction."
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[In 2003, the Kuwaiti Al-Hassawi Group bought the Neues Schloss to convert into a luxury hotel, but the plans eventually fell through. In 2010, the Baden-Baden city government approved new building permits and two years later, the American hotel chain, Hyatt, was brought in to assist with the development. The opening date was scheduled for 2018 but changed again with the proposed sale of 16 condominiums which would finance the conversion. This deal also fell through. In February 2022, the Baden-Baden city government rescinded its approval of the building plans. The schloss is still owned by Fawzia Al-Hassawi.]
https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/karlsruhe/droht-das-aus-fuer-den-bebauungsplan-fuer-das-neue-schloss-baden-baden-100.html]
In May 2006, the Margrave of Baden represented the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the memorial service for Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover at Schloss Salem. Prince Georg Wilhelm, a former headmaster at Schule Schloss Salem, was Prince Philip's brother-in-law.
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| The Margrave and Margravine of Baden at the State Funeral for King Peter II, Queen Alexandra, Queen Marie and Prince Andrej of Yugoslavia, May 2013 @Marlene A. Eilers Koenig |
When the Margrave turned 65 in 1998, he turned over the "economic responsibility" of the Baden estates to his eldest son Bernhard.
Margrave Max of Baden was in poor health for some time. In September, Margravine Valerie represented her husband at Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. She was accompanied by her eldest son and daughter-in-law, Hereditary Prince Bernhard and Hereditary Princess Stephanie.
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Hereditary Prince Bernhard was one of the 30 mourners at the funeral of his great-uncle Prince Philip in April 2021.
The Margrave of Baden is survived by his wife, Archduchess Valerie of Austria, four children, HGDH Princess Marie Louise, HRH Prince Bernhard, HGDH Prince Leopold, and HGDH Prince Michael, and four grandchildren, Sophia Baker, HRH Hereditary Prince Leopold of Baden, HGDH Prince Friedrich, and HGDH Prince Karl of Baden. He is also survived by his younger brother, HGDH Prince Ludwig of Baden.
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| Bernhard and Stephanie, Margrave & Margravine of Baden @NettyLeistra |
Prince Bernhard succeeded his father as the Margrave of Baden. Prince Michael is the General Manager of the winery of Schloss Staufenberg. Princess Marie Louise lived for many years in Crestone, Colorado, where her former husband, Richard Dudley Baker, who is three years younger than her father and is known as Richard Baker Roshi, an American Zen Master. She was the Director of the Crestone Charter School from 2016 until 2021. She is a naturalized American citizen and is known as Marie Louise Baker.
The late Margrave was a descendant of Queen Victoria and King Christian IX of Denmark.
Victoria - Alice - Victoria - Alice - Theodora - Maximilian
Christian - Thyra - Marie Louise -Berthold -Maximilian
https://www.haus-baden.eu/wer/
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-badens.html
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