Prince Gustav of Thurn and Taxis

Prince Gustav Franz Maria of Thurn and Taxis (22 August 1888 – 30 April 1919) was a member of the House of Thurn and Taxis and a Prince of Thurn and Taxis by birth. As a member of the Thule Society, Gustav was executed by the Bavarian Soviet Republic government during the German Revolution of 1918–19.

Family Gustav was born in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony as the fourth child and second son of Prince Franz of Thurn and Taxis and his wife Countess Theresia Grimaud of Orsay. Through his father, Gustav was a grandson of Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his wife Princess Mathilde Sophie of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg.

Life Gustav studied philosophy at the University of Tübingen. After fighting in World War I, he became a member of the Thule Society , a German occultist and völkisch group in Munich, named after a mythical northern country from Greek legend.

German Revolution As White Guard forces (a coalition of Prussian and Bavarian troops combined with Freikorps) surrounded Munich, the Communists began to raid nationalist strong points throughout the city. On 26 April 1919, the Red Army broke into the Thule Society premises and arrested secretary Countess Heila von Westarp, Gustav, and five other members, labelling them as "right-wing spies." Gustav and his fellow hostages were lined up against a wall and executed by a firing squad. Their deaths may have also been a reprisal for an attempt by Thule Society members to infiltrate the Bavarian Soviet Republic's government and stage a coup d'état on 30 April. Gustav was the most notable of the four titled members killed in the incident, due to his family's extensive ties with several of Europe's royal houses.

Ancestry