Joseph Wilhelm Ernst, Prince of Fürstenberg

Joseph Wilhelm Ernst, Prince of Fürstenberg (13 April 1699 - 29 April 1762) was a prince of Fürstenberg-Fürstenberg who changed his residence to Donaueschingen, at the head of the Danube, and thus converted the existing settlement into a town and constructed Schloss Donaueschingen.^[1]

Joseph Wilhelm Ernst
Born	13 April 1699 Augsburg
Died	29 April 1762 (1762-04-30) (aged 63) Vienna
Noble family	House of Fürstenberg
Father	Prosper von Fürstenberg-Stühlingen
Mother	Sophie von Königsegg-Rothenfels

Early life

Born as a member of the House of Fürstenberg Joseph was the second son of Landgrave Prosper von Fürstenberg-Stühlingen (1662–1704) and his wife, Countess Sophie Anna Eusebia von Königsegg-Rothenfels (1674–1727).

Title of Fürst

On 2 December 1716 Joseph was awarded with the hereditary title of Fürst by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor.^[2]

Marriages and issue

On 6 June 1723 he married Countess Maria Anna von Waldstein-Wartenberg, heiress of Pürglitz (1707-1756). They had six children:

• Joseph Wenzel (1728–1783)
• Karl Egon (1729 - 1787), married Countess Maria Josepha von Sternberg (1735-1803), father of Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg
• Maria Augusta Josepha (1731–1770), Abbess in Hradčany
• Maria Henriette Josepha (1732–1772), married Alexander Ferdinand, 3rd Prince of Thurn and Taxis, had issue
• Maria Emmanuele Sophie (1733–1776)
• Maria Theresia Josepha (1736–1774)

In 1761 he married 37 years younger Countess Maria Anna von der Wahl (1736-1808). They didn't have children.^[3]