Max, Margrave of Baden

Maximilian Andreas Friedrich Gustav Ernst August Bernhard, Margrave of Baden (3 July 1933 - 29 December 2022) known by the name Max, was the head of the Grand Ducal House of Baden from 1963 until his death. The House of Baden ruled over the Grand Duchy of Baden until 1918.

Early life
Max was born in Salem, Bodensee, Germany the elder son of Berthold, Margrave of Baden and Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark. His grandfather and namesake was Prince Maximilian of Baden, the last chancellor of the German Empire.

Through his mother, Max was a nephew of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and his wife Queen Elizabeth II, and so a first cousin to King Charles III.

Margrave Max followed in the footsteps of his uncle Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and studied at the Schloss Salem School and Gordonstoun boarding school in Scotland, both of which had been founded by the German educator Kurt Hahn. He also studied agriculture and forestry and served in the German military. Following the end of his active military service he remained a reservist holding the of rank of colonel in the German Army.

Margrave of Baden
Margrave Max succeeded as head of the Grand Ducal House of Baden in 1963 upon the death of his father and inherited the remaining family properties of Schloss Eberstein near Gernsbach, the Neues Schloss in Baden-Baden and Schloss Salem near Lake Constance. The family lost 15 of its castles in 1919 via expropriation by the Socialist German Government. Two years after succeeding his father he hosted his uncle Prince Philip and aunt Queen Elizabeth II during their brief trip to Salem during their state visit to West Germany in May 1965.

In the late 1980s Margrave Max, the patron of Salem School Foundation, became embroiled in a dispute with the headmaster over the management of the school and a loosening of the strict boarding school rules. As a result he wanted to terminate the schools lease and rental agreement that allowed it to operate on the grounds of Schloss Salem but local courts ruled against the Margrave, as did the Federal Court of Justice in the late 1980s. After his legal defeats Margrave Max gave up his patronage and instead announced he was establishing his own boarding school at Salem.

By the mid 1990s the finances of the House of Baden were in a perilous state due to a recession, owning vast amounts of unprofitable woodland, the poor management of the Margrave's breweries, orchards and vineyards, as well owning expensive to maintain family palaces in need of renovation. With the family $184 million in debt, to raise funds in 1995 Margrave Max sold some of the contents of the Neues Schloss to the State of Baden with the rest being auctioned off through Sotheby's auction house. In total the sale brought in around $80 million.

In 1998 Margrave Max retired from running the grand ducal family's business holdings, handing over control to his eldest son Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden. Despite the 1995 sale they were forced to sell Eberstein Castle and the Neues Scholss in the early 2000s. Most of the castle and estate of Schloss Salem was also sold to the State of Baden-Württemberg in 2009, however Margrave Max continued to live at Schloss Salem. The Hereditary Prince also resolved the dispute with the Schloss Salem School and agreed a new 99 year lease to allow it to continue to operate at Schloss Salem.

Margrave Max was involved with over 60 clubs and associations, including the Red Cross and the fire service. In 1982 he founded the charity German Aid Baden which supports refugees all over the world. He continued with these associations following his retirement in 1998. His 85th birthday was held at Schloss Salem in 2018 with a military tattoo procession consisting of firefighters and heritage military groups. Attending the celebrations was numerous mayors, members of the state parliament and other regional officials and dignitaries.

As a close relation of the British Royal Family, Margrave Max was a guest at a number of important state and family events such as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 for which he stayed at Buckingham Palace, as well as the 60th wedding anniversary of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in 2007. Margrave Max and his family were prevented from attending their wedding in 1947 due to ill feeling still prevalent in British society so soon after the end of the Second World War. In more recent years he has attended the 90th birthday celebrations of his uncle Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh as well as the wedding of the then Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton both of which took place in 2011.

Margrave Max died on 29 December 2022 at Schloss Salem. His eldest son Bernhard succeeded him as head of the House of Baden.

Marriage and children
After a broken engagement to his first cousin Princess Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the daughter of Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, Maximilian married Archduchess Valerie of Austria, daughter of Archduke Hubert Salvator of Austria and Princess Rosemary of Salm-Salm, in a civil ceremony on 23 September 1966 in Salem, Baden-Württemberg, followed by a religious ceremony on 30 September 1966 in Persenbeug Castle, Austria.

They had four children:
 * Princess Marie Louise Elisabeth Mathilde Theodora Cecilie Sarah Charlotte of Baden (b. 3 July 1969), married in a civil ceremony at Salem on 15 September 1999 and in a religious ceremony on 25 September 1999 to Richard Dudley Baker (b. 30 March 1936); she has one daughter.
 * Bernhard Max Friedrich August Gustav Louis Kraft, Margrave of Baden (b. 27 May 1970); married 2001 Stephanie Anne Kaul. They have three sons.
 * Prince Leopold Max Christian Ludwig Clemens Hubert of Baden (b.1 October 1971), unmarried and without issue
 * Prince Michael Max Andreas of Baden (b. 11 March 1976), married in Salem on 4 July 2015 Christina Höhne, without issue

Titles, styles and honours
As the heir apparent to the head of the Grand Ducal House of Baden, from birth Margrave Max was formally styled His Royal Highness the Hereditary Prince of Baden. After succeeding his father in 1963 he was formally styled His Royal Highness the Margrave of Baden, Duke of Zähringen.

As head of the House of Baden, Margrave Max was also the grand master of the House Order of Fidelity.