Karel Eduard Paar

Fra' Karel Eduard Paar (born January 4, 1934, in Prague, then in Czechoslovakia) is a Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Justice and the Grand Prior Emeritus of Bohemia of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

Family and early life

Born into the House of Paar, Karel Eduard is the younger son of Alfons, 6th Prince Paar von Hartberg and Krottenhof (1903-1979) and his wife, Countess Sophia von Schlitz genannt von Görtz (1906-2002). His elder brother Alfons Wenzel, 7th Prince Paar (1932-2016) was married to Marie Gabrielle von Mallinckrodt (1946) and has a son Hubertus, 8th Prince Paar (b. 1971) and a daughter, Désirée Henriette von Wunster (b. 1969). His younger sister Eleonore (1937-2010) married Carlo Cicogna Mozzoni, Conte di Terdobbiate (1922-1979).

As the younger son of Prince Paar, he had the title Graf (count) from birth, although this was not recognised by the Czechoslovak government.

As a child Paar lived in the town of Bechyně in Czechoslovakia. In 1947 he moved to Switzerland for health reasons. In 1948 he was joined in Switzerland by his parents who had fled the Communist coup d'état.

In Austria, Karel Eduard Paar worked in the steel industry and then for a company which manufactured agricultural tools. In 1982 he took solemn vows. He was the first grand prior of Bohemia since the death of Cardinal Karel Kašpar in 1941. He held the position until 1988 when Prince Cyril Toumanoff was elected grand prior.