Gustav Adolf, Cardinal Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst

Hohenlohe was born in Rotenburg an der Fulda, in the Electorate of Hesse, on 26 February 1823, the son of its ruler, Franz Joseph, 5th Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, and Princess Caroline Friederike Constanze of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.[1] His father was a Catholic, while his mother was a Lutheran. In the standard compromise of the era, he and his brothers were raised in the faith of their father, while his sisters were raised in that of their mother. His brothers were:

• Victor Herzog von Ratibor (1818-1893), officer in the Prussian army, liberal politician in the Prussian- and in the German Parliament.
• Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1819-1901), liberal politician, Prime Minister of Bavaria, Chancellor of the German Empire.
• Konstantin zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1828-1896), son-in-law of Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, Erster Obersthofmeister of Emperor Franz Joseph I. of Austria.

Hohenlohe took Catholic holy orders in 1849 and became in 1857 the titular bishop of Edessa in Mesopotamia and almoner to Pope Pius IX. He was appointed a cardinal in June 1866, with the titular church of Santa Maria in Traspontina.[2]

In 1872, during the Kulturkampf, Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of the German Empire, appointed Hohenlohe as Ambassador to the Holy See, but his appointment was rejected by Pope Pius IX, possibly as a result of the open opposition he and his brothers had shown to the ultramontane position of that pope. He returned to Rome in 1876 and subsequently gained the favor of Pope Leo XIII, and went on to spend the rest of his ecclesiastical career in Italy. In July 1878 he became the archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. In May 1879 he was named the Cardinal-Bishop of Albano, which office he resigned in December 1883. A year later he was given the title of Cardinal-Priest of the Church of San Callisto, until 1895, when his title was transferred to that of San Lorenzo in Lucina.[3]

Grabstätte des Kurienkardinals Gustav Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst

Hohenlohe died in Rome on 30 October 1896 and was buried in the Teutonic Cemetery, reserved to German nationals serving the institutions of the Church in Rome.[4]

Hohenlohe's period of ownership of the Villa d'Este attracted artists. His portrait was apparently painted by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862-1947) during the two years he spent studying in Italy 1882-1884, and was probably signed "Ad. Muller". Its present whereabouts is unknown.

The American sculptor and Rome resident Moses Jacob Ezekiel, a friend, created a bust of Hohenlohe.[5]

In October 1861 Hohenlohe was the genius behind the prevention of the marriage of Franz Liszt with Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein in the San Carlo al Corso in Rome. Thus he averted disinheritance of his brother Konstantin, husband of Carolyne’s daughter Marie. Nevertheless, he became friendly with Liszt: in April 1865 he conveyed him the tonsure, in July the Minor Orders. Besides he granted Liszt hospitality in his apartments in the Vatican, from April 1865 until June 1866 (his creation as a cardinal).[6][7]

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. Missing or empty |title= (help)