Prince Maximilian Egon I of Fürstenberg

He was born at his family's Princely Palace in Donaueschingen, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire, on 29 March 1822.

[1] His father was the only son of the Austrian General Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg (a grandson of Joseph Wilhelm Ernst, Prince of Fürstenberg) and Princess Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis (a daughter of Alexander Ferdinand, 3rd Prince of Thurn and Taxis).

His maternal grandparents were Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden, and his second wife, Louise Caroline of Hochberg.

As his grandparent's marriage was morganatic, his mother was born without princely status and excluded from the dynastic line of the House of Zähringen.

[2] He inherited a number of manorial rights and possessions, the Secundogeniture in Pürglitz, and became a member of the Austrian House of Lords.