Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria

Infobox_Prince| name = Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria


caption =
consort =Archduchess Augusta of Austria
royal house =House of Wittelsbach
father =King Ludwig I of Bavaria
mother =Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen
date of birth =birth date|1821|3|12|mf=y
place of birth =Würzburg
date of death =death date and age|1912|12|12|1821|12|3|mf=y
place of death =Munich, Bavaria
place of burial=Theatinerkirche, Munich, Bavaria|

Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria ( _de. Prinzregent Luitpold Karl Joseph Wilhelm Ludwig von Bayern) (12 March 1821–12 December 1912), was the regent and de facto ruler of Bavaria from 1886 to 1912, due to the incapacity of his nephews, Ludwig II and Otto.

Early life

Luitpold was born in Würzburg, the third son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and of his wife Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. He was the younger brother of King Maximilian II of Bavaria and of King Otto of Greece. In addition to being in line to the throne of Bavaria, Luitpold was also heir presumptive to the throne of Greece since his brother Otto had no children. However, the Greek law of succession required that Otto's heir convert to the Eastern Orthodox Church in order to become king; Luitpold was not willing to do this. Otto was deposed in 1862 and replaced by a Danish prince who became King George I of Greece. Otto died in 1867, leaving Luitpold and his descendants as representatives of Otto's claim; however, Luitpold never pursued this.

During the rule of his brother Maximilian II (1848–64) Luitpold did not play a significant political role. With the reign of his nephew Ludwig II (1864-1886) Prince Luitpold had increasingly to represent the royal house due to the king's long absence from the capital. In the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 Luitpold was commander of the 3rd Division. In 1869 he became Inspector General of the Bavarian army, during the Franco-Prussian War 1870/71 he represented Bavaria in the staff headquarters. As such he handed over on 3rd of December 1870 Ludwig's "Kaiserbrief" to the Prussian King William I offering the crown of the German Empire. In 1876 Luitpold was appointed field marshal.

Regency

On June 10, 1886, Luitpold's nephew King Ludwig II was declared mentally incompetent and Luitpold was named Regent. Following Ludwig II's mysterious death a few days later, Luitpold continued to serve as regent for the new king, Otto, Ludwig's insane brother. Prince Luitpold was even accused by some people to be the murderer of his nephew, but later the decent and affable prince became one of Bavaria's most popular rulers. One of his first actions (on August 1, 1886) was to open several of the palaces of Ludwig II to the public.

During the regency of Prince-Regent Luitpold relations between Bavarians and Prussians remained cold with Bavarians remembering the anti-Catholic agenda of Bismarck's "Kulturkampf" as well as Prussia's strategic dominance over the empire.

Luitpold continued to serve as regent until his death of bronchitis in 1912 in Munich, when he was succeeded by his eldest son, Ludwig. He is buried in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

Cultural legacy

Luitpold's years as regent were marked by tremendous artistic and cultural activity in Bavaria where they are known as the "Prinzregentenjahre" or the "Prinzregentenzeit". Bavaria prospered under a liberal government and Munich became a cultural centre of Europe. Thomas Mann wrote about this period "Munich shone" (1902 "Gladius Dei").

There are numerous streets in Bavarian cities and towns called "Prinzregentenstrasse" or "Luitpoldstrasse". Many institutions are named in Luitpold's honour including the "Prinzregententheater" in Munich and the Luitpoldarena and the Luitpoldhalle in Nürnberg. In 1891 Luitpold established the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich. "Prinzregententorte" is a multi-layered cake with chocolate butter cream named in his honour.

Luitpolds great passion next to the arts was hunting, his legendary hunts took place in the entire kingdom.

Family

On April 15, 1844, in Florence, Luitpold married Archduchess Augusta of Austria, second daughter of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany. Luitpold and Augusta had four children:

*Ludwig III, King of Bavaria (1845-1921).
*"Leopold" Maximilian Joseph Maria Arnulf, Prince of Bavaria (1846-1930).
*"Therese" Charlotte Marianne Auguste, Princess of Bavaria (1850-1925) ()
*Franz Joseph "Arnulf" Adalbert Maria, Prince of Bavaria (1852-1907). Married Princess Therese of Liechtenstein and had a son, Heinrich Luitpold (1884-1916), killed in action during World War I.

Ancestry

ahnentafel-compact5
style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%;
border=1
boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0;
boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
1= 1. Luitpold of Bavaria
2= 2. Ludwig I of Bavaria
3= 3. Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen
4= 4. Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria
5= 5. Wilhelmine von Hessen-Darmstadt
6= 6. Friedrich of Saxe-Altenburg
7= 7. Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
8= 8. Friedrich Michael von der Pfalz-Birkenfeld
9= 9. Maria Franziska Dorothea Christine von der Pfalz-Sulzbach
10= 10. George Wilhelm von Hessen-Darmstadt
11= 11. Luise zu Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenberg
12= 12. Ernst Friedrich III of Saxe-Hildburghausen
13= 13. Ernestine of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
14= 14. Karl II von Mecklenburg-Strelitz
15= 15. Landgräfin Frederica von Hessen-Darmstadt
16= 16. Christian III von der Pfalz-Zweibrücken
17= 17. Karoline zu Nassau-Saarbrücken
18= 18. Joseph Karl Emanuel August von der Pfalz-Sulzbach
19= 19. Elisabeth Auguste Sofie von der Pfalz
20= 20. Ludwig VIII von Hessen-Darmstadt
21= 21. Charlotte von Hanau-Lichtenberg
22= 22. Christian zu Leiningen-Dagsburg-Heidesheim
23= 23. Katharina Polyxena zu Solms-Rödelheim und Assenheim
24= 24. Ernst Friedrich II of Saxe-Hildburghausen
25= 25. Caroline zu Erbach-Furstenau
26= 26. Ernst August I of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
27= 27. Sophie Charlotte of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
28= 28. Karl I von Mecklenburg-Strelitz
29= 29. Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen
30= 30. George Wilhelm von Hessen-Darmstadt (= #10)
31= 31. Luise zu Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenberg (= #11)

External links

* [http://www.info-regenten.de/regent/regent-d/pictures/bayern-luitpold.jpgThe regent's photo]