Duchess Auguste of Württemberg
Duchess "Auguste" Elisabeth of Württemberg (in German: "Auguste Elisabeth, Herzogin von Württemberg"; 30 October 1734 – 4 June 1787) was a member of the Ducal House of Württemberg and a Duchess of Württemberg by birth. Through her marriage to Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, Auguste was also a member of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis and Princess consort of Thurn and Taxis. Life. Auguste was the sixth and youngest child of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg and his wife Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis. In her youth, she had lived  with her mother, until she entered the exclusive Ursuline convent in Metz in 1750. In 1752, her eldest brother Karl Eugen had wanted her to marry a French prince of the blood to assist in his reorientation of Württemberg policy towards France. The match fell through however, and to save the cost of maintaining Auguste, she was instead married off to her maternal cousin Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis. Auguste married Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis on 3 September 1753 in Stuttgart, Duchy of Württemberg. The couple settled in a wing of the Saint  Emmeram’s Abbey in Regensburg. The marriage was arranged and unhappy. Auguste gave birth repeatedly until she suffered a difficult miscarriage in 1768, after which her health was damaged for a long time. In 1770, she gave birth to the first son to adulthood. Karl Anselm took many mistresses, and Auguste complained of ill-treatment to her brother, who wrote to her father-in-law, demanding more respect for his sister. On 17 March 1773, Auguste’s spouse succeeded as the 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis. The marriage was at that point severely deteriorated. Auguste left Karl Anselm and  settled in Paris. Rumours claimed that she lived with a lover. However, she was tormented by economical problems, ran out of funds and was hounded by creditors. In 1775, Auguste returned to Regensburg to attend the wedding of her daughter. Karl Anselm believed Auguste was plotting to murder him, and had her abducted and escorted from Regensburg. Auguste was first told that she was escorted to her brother in Stuttgart, but she was instead taken to Burg Trugenhofen (later renamed Schloss Taxis) in Dischingen, where she was imprisoned. She was later removed to strict house arrest at Schloss Hornberg in  the Black Forest, where she died on 4 June 1787. Following the death of his first wife, Karl Anselm married that same year morganatically to Elisabeth Hildebrand. Marriage and issue. Auguste and Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis had eight children: