Franz Joseph Karl Conrad, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (German: Franz Joseph Karl Conrad Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst; 26 November 1787 – 14 January 1841) was the 1st Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and the founder of the branch of the Dukes of Ratibor and Princes of Corvey.
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Early life
Prince Franz Joseph was the tenth child and the fourth son, but second surviving, of Charles Albert II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst (1742–1796) by his second wife, the Hungarian Baroness Judith Reviczky de Revisnye (1751–1836). His elder brother was Charles Albert III, Prince of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst.
His paternal grandparents were Charles Albert I, 2nd Prince of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst and Countess Sophie Wilhelmine of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (a daughter of Dominic Marquard, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort). His maternal grandparents were Baron Johann Kazimir Reviczky de Revisnye and Baroness Rosalie Perényi de Perény.
Career
Prince Franz Joseph inherited Schillingsfürst Castle from his father, thus founding the Bavarian Schillingsfürst line of the old Franconian noble House of Hohenlohe. With the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, all of the territories of the House of Hohenlohe were mediatized and in 1806 most of them fell to the Kingdom of Württemberg and a smaller part to the Kingdom of Bavaria. Prince Franz Joseph's inheritance belonged to the part that came under Bavarian sovereignty in 1806. As a mediatized prince, however, he remained a landlord and landowner in Middle Franconia and also owned estates in Bohemia, Prussia, and Russia. As a Lord of the Manor (Standesherr), he was a member of the First Chamber of the Bavarian National Assembly ("Bayerische Ständeversammlung"), the so-called Chamber of Imperial Councillors, from 1819 to 1840. He was also a major à la suite in the Bavarian Army.
Upon the death of his brother-in-law, Victor Amadeus, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg, without issue on 12 November 1834, he bequeathed his non-Hessian estates of Ratibor in Upper Silesia and Corvey to Prince Franz Joseph's eldest son, Prince Viktor of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, along with his titles of Duke of Ratibor and Prince of Corvey. Thus, the entire family moved to Corvey. The property belonged next to the former monastery of Corvey in Westphalia, the rule Ratibor in Upper Silesia. This area was 34,000 ha in size and consisted mostly of forests. As Victor did not come of age until 1840, Prince Franz Joseph took over the administration of this inheritance as his son's guardian.
Personal life
On 29 March 1815 in Schillingsfürst, he married Princess Caroline Friederike Constanze of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, daughter of Karl Ludwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Countess Amalie Henriette of Solms-Baruth. Her sister, Princess Elisabeth of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, married Victor Amadeus, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg. Together, Prince Franz Joseph and Princess Caroline were the parents of the following children:
Princess Therese Amalie Judith of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1816–1891), who married her cousin Friedrich Karl, Prince of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst.
Prince Viktor Moritz Carl of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1818–1893), who became Duke of Ratibor, Prince of Corvey; he married Princess Amalie of Fürstenberg, daughter of Karl Egon II zu Fürstenberg.
Chlodwig Carl Viktor, 3rd Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1819–1901), who served as Chancellor of Germany and Prime Minister of Prussia from 1894 to 1900; he married Princess Marie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.
Philipp Ernst, 2nd Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1820–1845), who died unmarried.
Princess Amalie Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1821–1902), who married German portrait painter Richard Lauchert against the wishes of her family.
Prince Gustav Adolf of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1823–1896), a Cardinal who was Archbishop of Edessa.
Prince Joseph of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1824–1827), who died in infancy.
Prince Konstantin Viktor Ernst Emil Carl Alexander Friedrich of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1828–1896), Obersthofmeister and Cavalry General in Austria-Hungary; he married Princess Marie of Sayn-Wittgenstein.
Descendants
Through his youngest son Konstantin, he was a grandfather of Prince Gottfried von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (who married Archduchess Maria Henrietta of Austria) and Prince Konrad of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (whose daughter Princess Franziska became sister-in-law the last Emperor of Austria).