Caroline von Holnstein
Baroness Caroline von Spiering, Countess von Holnstein, Baroness von Künsberg was a German noblewoman, best known for her appearance in the Gallery of Beauties.
Early life
Baroness Caroline Maximiliana Maria von Spiering was the fifth child of Baron Carl Theodor von Spiering and his wife, Baroness Johanna Nepumukena von Enzberg.After her father's death in 1829 she began looking for a suitable husband, eventually marrying Count von Holnstein in 1831. It was no love-match, though it did mean that the Holnstein lands passed in the direct line to the Baroness von Spiering. Caroline moved into the Palais Holnstein in Munich, where her husband's position opened many doors for her at court, though life among the nobility bored her. On 8 December 1833 Ludwig I of Bavaria first saw her at a court academy.
Personal life
On 9 November 1831, aged 16, she married 34-year-old Count Carl Theodor von Holnstein aus Bayern, the son of Maximilian Joseph, Count of Holnstein, and his wife Princess Maria Josepha of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst. His grandfather, Count Franz Ludwig von Holnstein, was the illegitimate son of Emperor Charles VII of Bavaria and his mistress Maria Caroline Charlotte von Ingenheim. Together, they were the parents of:- Count Karl Theodor von Holnstein aus Bayern, who died at birth
- Countess Johanna von Holnstein aus Bayern, who died at birth
- Count Maximilian Carl Theodor von Holnstein aus Bayern, who was a playmate of princes Ludwig and Otto ; he brought Ludwig's "Kaiserbrief" to Otto von Bismarck
Second marriage
While married to the Count von Holnstein, Caroline met and fell in love with the married nobleman Baron Wilhelm von Künsberg, who returned her affections in secret. When Wilhelm's wife died she lived with him at Schloss Fronberg, her Spiering residence, and he left the cuirassiers at her behest. Reportedly, Count von Holnstein tolerated the relationship but refused her an official separation, even going so far as to have her legitimate and illegitimate children educated together. Only the Count's death cleared Caroline's way to marry Wilhelm. she married Baron von Künsberg on 21 September 1857 at the Pilgrimage church of Kreuzberg in Schwandorf. Her illegitimate children were legitimized during her lifetime and on 7 July 1859 they were raised to the Bavarian Freiherrenstand with the title Künsberg Freiherr von Fronberg.- Baron Wilhelm Maximilian Künsberg von Fronberg
- Baroness Wilhelmine Maria Caroline Künsberg von Fronberg
- Baron Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Künsberg von Fronberg
- Baron Rudolf Philipp Wilhelm Goswin Karl Künsberg von Fronberg