Carl, Duke of Württemberg

Carl Maria Peter Ferdinand Philipp Albrecht Joseph Michael Pius Konrad Robert Ulrich Herzog von Württemberg (born 1 August 1936) is the current head of the House of Württemberg. His heir-apparent is his grandson Wilhelm.

Carl Herzog von Württemberg
Head of the House of Württemberg
Tenure17 April 1975 – present
PredecessorPhilipp Albrecht
Heir apparentDuke Wilhelm
Born (1936-08-01) 1 August 1936
Friedrichshafen, Germany
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1960)​
IssueDuke Friedrich
Duchess Mathilde
Duke Eberhard
Duke Philipp
Duke Michael
Duchess Eleonore
Names
Carl Maria Peter Ferdinand Philipp Albrecht Joseph Michael Pius Konrad Robert Ulrich Herzog von Württemberg
HouseWürttemberg
FatherPhilipp Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg
MotherArchduchess Rosa of Austria-Tuscany
ReligionRoman Catholic

Life

Carl was born in Friedrichshafen on 1 August 1936.[1] He was the second son of Philipp Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg (1893–1975), and Archduchess Rosa of Austria, Princess of Tuscany (1906–1983).[2] He was educated at the classical grammar school in Riedlingen and the University of Tübingen, where he studied law. After graduating, he joined the family estate business, based at Altshausen Palace.

Friedrichshafen Castle

Carl became heir-presumptive to the headship of the House of Württemberg on 29 June 1959, when his older brother, Ludwig, renounced his succession rights.[3] He became head of the family in 1975. The company manages around 5500 hectares of forest, around 2000 hectares of meadows and fields, fifty hectares of vineyards, other land in Germany and abroad, forests in Canada and Austria, and company holdings. It also maintains some seventy cultural monuments of the House of Württemberg. The current headquarters of the estate is Friedrichshafen Castle.

The Duke takes part in many social and charitable activities, including the German Red Cross, the Friends of Cancer Children, the Free School Foundation, the Art Foundation, the Preventive Youth Welfare Foundation, and the Baden-Württemberg Monument Foundation, which he chaired from 2002 to 2008. He is Patron of the Society for the Promotion of the State Museum of Württemberg, an honorary senator of the Universities of Tübingen and Hohenheimas, and chairman of the Friends of the University of Tübingen and the University Foundation. In Altshausen, where he lives, he is Patron of the Citizens Guard Yellow Hussars.

On 31 May 2002, Pope John Paul II made the Duke the Commander-in-Chief of the Papal Order of St Gregory the Great. [4] On November 8, 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in theology from the University of Vallendar, and he became a Knight of Honour of the Teutonic Order in 2009.

Marriage and issue

On 21 July 1960, he married Princess Diane d'Orléans (born 1940), the daughter of Prince Henri, Count of Paris, and his wife Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza. They had four sons and two daughters and sixteen grandchildren:[5]

  • Duke Friedrich Philipp Carl Franz Maria (Friedrichshafen, 1 June 1961 – near Ebenweiler, 9 May 2018), married in Altshausen on 11 November 1993 to Princess Wilhelmine Friederike Pauline Elisabeth Marie of Wied (born Munich, 27 December 1973), had issue:
    • Duke Wilhelm Friedrich Carl Philipp Albert Nikolaus Erich Maria (Ravensburg, 13 August 1994)
    • Duchess Marie Amélie Diane Katharina Beatrix Philippa Sophie (Ravensburg, 12 March 1996)
    • Duchess Sophie Dorothee Martina Johanna Henriette Charitas Maria (Ravensburg, 19 August 1997)
  • Duchess Mathilde Marie-Antoinette Rosa Isabelle (b. Friedrichshafen, 11 July 1962), married in 1988 to Prince Erich of Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchburg (b. 1962), has issue.
  • Duke Eberhard Alois Nikolaus Heinrich Johannes Maria (b. Friedrichshafen, 20 June 1963), married in 2011 to Desiree Copf (b. Samedan, 29 December 1969), has issue.
  • Duke Philipp Albrecht Christoph Ulrich Maria (b. Friedrichshafen, 1 November 1964), married in 1991 to Duchess Marie-Caroline in Bavaria, has issue.
  • Duke Michael Heinrich Albert Alexander Maria (b. Friedrichshafen, 1 December 1965), married in 2006 Julia Ricarda Storz (b. Munich, 4 April 1965)
  • Duchess Eleonore Fleur Juanita Charlotte Eudoxie Marie-Agnès (b. Altshausen, 4 November 1977), married in 2003 to Count Moritz von Goëss (1966), has issue

Dynastic honours

Ancestry

Citations
  1. Opfell 2001, p. 125.
  2. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh 1973, p. 227.
  3. Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Royal Families of the World Vol. 1 (1977), p. 191
  4. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 95 (2003), n. 1, p. 91
  5. Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, p. 5, 122-126.

References
  • Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels. Fürstliche Häuser (in German). Vol. XVIII. C.A. Starke Verlag. 2007. ISBN 978-3-7980-0841-0.
  • Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, ed. (1973). Burke's Guide to the Royal Family. Burke's Peerage. ISBN 0-220-66222-3.
  • Opfell, Olga S. (2001). Royalty Who Wait: The 21 Heads of Formerly Regnant Houses of Europe. McFarland. ISBN 9780786450572.
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