Queer Places:
St. Emmeram's Abbey, Emmeramspl. 5, 93047 Regensburg, Germania
Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn and Taxis (5 June 1926 – 14 December 1990)
was a German businessman and head of the immensely wealthy, formerly princely
Thurn und Taxis family from 1982 until his death.[1][2][3]
Johannes was born in Regensburg, Germany, to Karl August, 10th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, and Infanta Maria Anna de Braganza.[2] He had two older sisters and one younger brother.
In the 1970s Johannes threw avant-garde parties and, because he was bisexual,[4][5] he was often seen in gay discos.[6]
On 31 May 1980 he married the much younger Countess Gloria of Schönburg-Glauchau (born 1960). They were 4th cousin twice removed, both descended from Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis. The Schönburg-Glauchaus were a mediatised branch of the Schönburg dynasty of counts, which still possessed large estates in Germany after World War I,[2] but became refugees in Africa under the Nazi regime and fell on hard times. The couple attracted massive media attention into the mid 1980s, with a haut bohème lifestyle locating them among the jet set and the Princess Gloria's over-the-top appearance (characterized by bright hair color and flashy clothes) prompted Vanity Fair to describe her as "Princess TNT, the dynamite socialite", a sobriquet that stayed with her a long time.[7] The couple had three children:[2]
Upon the death of his father in 1982, Johannes became the head of the Thurn and Taxis family. On 14 December 1990 he died, after two heart transplants within 2 days, in Munich-Großhadern. He left U.S. $500 million in debts and his widow sobered her lifestyle to master the fiscal responsibilities of probating his estate and securing what remained of her son's fortune.[7]
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