Father ''Emmeram'' of Thurn and Taxis OSB, until his profession Prince ''Max Emanuel'' Maria Siegfried Joseph Antonius Ignatius Lamoral of Thurn and Taxis (; 1 March 1902,

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

– 3 October 1994,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) was a German

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

and member of the

Princely House of Thurn and Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (, ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the mail, postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and ...

Early life

Max Emanuel was the fifth eldest son (fourth, if counting only children who lived to adulthood) of

Albert, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis Albert Maria Joseph Maximilian Lamoral, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis (full German name: ''Albert Maria Joseph Maximilian Lamoral Fürst von Thurn und Taxis''; 8 May 1867 – 22 January 1952) was the eighth Prince of Thurn and Taxis and Head ...

, and his wife

Archduchess Margarethe Klementine of Austria Archduchess Margarethe Klementine Maria of Austria (in German: ''Margarethe Klementine Maria, Erzherzogin von Österreich''; in Hungarian: ''Habsburg–Toscanai Margit Klementina Mária főhercegnő''; 6 July 1870, Alcsút, Austria-Hungary– ...

. He had six brothers and one sister. Max Emanuel's eldest brother was

Franz Joseph, 9th Prince of Thurn and Taxis Franz Joseph Maximilian Maria Antonius Ignatius Lamoral, 9th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full German name: ''Franz Josef Maximilian Maria Antonius Ignatius Lamoral Fürst von Thurn und Taxis'' (21 December 1893, Regensburg, Kingdom of Bavaria – ...

Monastic life

Max Emanuel joined the

Order of Saint Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

in 1923 and became a member of

Neresheim Abbey Neresheim Abbey or the Abbey of Saints Ulrich and Afra, Neresheim ( or ) is located above the town of Neresheim in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany. It is now a Benedictine monastery and is part of the Beuronese Congregation. First foundat ...

. For his religious name, he chose ''Emmeram'' after Saint Emmeram of Regensburg, patron saint of St. Emmeram Castle (previously a monastery), the residence of the princely family. In 1951, Max Emanuel received the papal concession for the reestablishment of the former monastery

Prüfening Abbey Prüfening Abbey () was a Benedictine order, Benedictine monastery on the outskirts of Regensburg in Bavaria, Germany. Since the beginning of the 19th century it has also been known as Prüfening Castle (''Schloss Prüfening''). Notably, its Prüfe ...

. Later in the 1950s, he established the ''Liturgiewissenschaftliche Institut Regensburg-Prüfening'' (). For over 30 years of his life, Max Emanuel resided isolated at the family-owned

St. Emmeram's Abbey Saint Emmeram's Abbey ( or ''Reichsabtei Sankt Emmeram'') was a Benedictine monastery founded around 739 at Regensburg in Bavaria (modern-day southeastern Germany) at the grave of the itinerant Frankish bishop Saint Emmeram. The original abbe ...

in Regensburg. His desire to revive the monastic life was not fulfilled, however, so he opened Prüfening Abbey as a meeting place and home for the youth and poor. Max Emanuel died in 1994 and was buried at

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Max Emanuel Of Thurn And Taxis, Prince 1902 births 1994 deaths People from Regensburg Princes of Thurn und Taxis 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests German Benedictines German Christian monks