Baroness Wilhelmine of Dörnberg

Baroness Wilhelmine Caroline Christiane Henriette of Dörnberg, full German name: Wilhelmine Caroline Christiane Henriette, Reichsfreiin von Dörnberg (6 March 1803, Ansbach, Kingdom of Prussia – 14 May 1835, Nuremberg, Kingdom of Bavaria) was a member of the House of Dörnberg and a Baroness of Dörnberg by birth. Through her marriage to Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, Wilhelmine was also a member of the House of Thurn and Taxis. Wilhelmine was known to her family and friends as "Mimi."

Early life

Wilhelmine was the daughter of the former Prussian vice president and director of the chamber to the royal Ansbach domain, Baron Heinrich Ernst Konrad Friedrich of Dörnberg and his wife Baroness Sophie Wilhelmine of Glauburg.

Marriage and issue

Wilhelmine married Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, fourth child of Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his wife Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, on 24 August 1828 in Regensburg. Wilhelmine and Maximilian Karl had five children:

• Prince Karl Wilhelm of Thurn and Taxis (14 April 1829 – 21 July 1829)
• Princess Therese Mathilde of Thurn and Taxis (31 August 1830 – 10 September 1883)
• Maximilian Anton Lamoral, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis (28 September 1831 – 26 June 1867)
• Prince Egon of Thurn and Taxis (17 November 1832 – 8 February 1892)
• Prince Theodor of Thurn and Taxis (9 February 1834 – 1 March 1876)

Wilhelmine's family, the House of Dörnberg, was a Protestant Hessian noble family and was not, according to the laws of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis House Act of 1776, not equal to her husband Maximilian Karl. Despite the fierce resistance to the union from the members of the princely house, especially from Maximilian Karl's mother Therese, the two married.

Illness and death

In 1834, Wilhelmine fell ill on a hard drive to the Thurn and Taxis possessions in Bohemia including Castle Chraustowitz. At the beginning of 1835, she went to Nuremberg to receive a homeopathic treatment with Dr. Reuter. Wilhelmine was hopeful that the treatments would restore her quality of life. However, she died on 14 May 1835.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 6 March 1803 – 24 August 1828: Baroness Wilhelmine of Dörnberg
• 24 August 1828 – 14 May 1835: Her Serene Highness The Princess of Thurn and Taxis, Baroness of Dörnberg

Ancestry