TheKing of Bavaria(German:König von Bayern) was a title held by the hereditaryWittelsbachrulers ofBavariain the state known as theKingdom of Bavariafrom 1805 until 1918, when the kingdom was abolished. It was the second time Bavaria was a kingdom, almost a thousand years after the short-livedCarolingiankingdom of Bavaria.
King ofBavaria | |
---|---|
König von Bayern | |
Details | |
Style | His Majesty |
First monarch | Maximilian I |
Last monarch | Ludwig III |
Formation | 1806 |
Abolition | 1918 |
Appointer | Hereditary |
Pretender(s) | Franz, Duke of Bavaria |
History
editUnder the terms of theTreaty of Pressburgconcluded 26 December 1805 betweenFrench EmperorNapoleonandHoly Roman EmperorFrancis II,severalprincipalitiesallied to Napoleon were elevated tokingdoms.One of the staunchest of these had been theprince-electorof Bavaria, Maximilian IV Joseph, and on 1 January 1806, he formally assumed the title KingMaximilian I Joseph of Bavaria.He was a member of the Wittelsbach branchPalatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken.
Maximilian's successors resisted German nationalism, and Bavaria became the protector of smaller states whose leaders felt threatened byPrussiaorAustriain theGerman Confederation.Religious ties and theUpper Germanlanguage linked the state more to Austria until their defeat in theAustro-Prussian War.KingLudwig IIsigned an alliance with Prussia on 22 August 1866, effectively relinquishing Bavarian independence.
With the treaty of 23 November 1870 Bavaria was integrated into the newGerman Empire,but permitted a relatively large degree ofself-determination.The Kings of Bavaria maintained their titles, and maintained separate diplomatic andmilitarycorps. When the German Empire was abolished in November 1918 after the end ofWorld War I,the last king of Bavaria,Ludwig III,was deposed.
Kings of Bavaria
edit- Maximilian I Joseph1805–1825
- Ludwig I1825–1848 (d. 1868)
- Maximilian II1848–1864
- Ludwig II1864–1886
- Otto1886–1913 (d. 1916)
- Prince Luitpold of Bavaria,Regent1886–1912
- Prince Ludwig of Bavaria,Regent1912–1913
- Ludwig III1913–1918
The titleKing of Bavariais sometimes used in reference to Carolingian kings ruling over Bavaria. SeeList of monarchs of Bavariafor these.
List of kings
editName | Portrait | Title | Reign start | Reign end | House | Official title | Note |
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Maximilian I Joseph | Elector of the Palatinate King of Bavaria |
1799 | 1825 | Wittelsbach | His Majesty Maximilian Joseph, King of Bavaria | Son ofCount Palatine Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken. Distant cousin of his predecessor ElectorCharles Theodore;Count Palatine of Zweibrücken from 1795. In the chaos of the wars of theFrench Revolution,the old order of theHoly Roman Empirecollapsed. In the course of these events, Bavaria once again became an ally of France, and Maximilian IV Joseph abandoned his Electoral title — as there would soon be no Emperor to elect — for the title of King of Bavaria, becoming Maximilian I Joseph on 1 January 1806. | |
Ludwig I | King of Bavaria | 1825 | 1848 | Wittelsbach | His Majesty Ludwig, King of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine. | Son ofMaximilian I Joseph. Abdicated in theRevolutions of 1848. | |
Maximilian II Joseph | King of Bavaria | 1848 | 1864 | Wittelsbach | His Majesty Maximilian, King of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine. | Son ofLudwig I. | |
Ludwig II | King of Bavaria | 1864 | 1886 | Wittelsbach | His Majesty Ludwig, King of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine. | Son ofMaximilian II Joseph.
Ludwig II was called theMärchenkönig(fairy-tale king). He acceded to Bavaria becoming astateof theGerman Empirein 1871, he was declared insane in 1886.[1] | |
Otto I | King of Bavaria | 1886 | 1913 | Wittelsbach | His Majesty Otto, King of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine. | Son ofMaximilian II Joseph. Otto was mentally ill throughout his reign, and his functions were carried out by the followingprince regents:
| |
Luitpold | Prince Regent of Bavaria | 1886 | 1912 | Wittelsbach | His Royal Highness Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine. | Son ofLudwig I,Prince Regent of Bavaria for kings Ludwig II and Otto. | |
Ludwig III | Prince Regent of Bavaria King of Bavaria |
1913 | 1918 | Wittelsbach | His Majesty Ludwig, King of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine. | Son ofPrince Regent Luitpoldand grandson ofLudwig I. Prince Regent from 1912 until 1913, then King of Bavaria, he lost his throne in theGerman Revolutionat the end ofWorld War I. |
Current heir
editFranz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern(born 14 July 1933), styledHis Royal Highness The Duke of Bavaria,is head of theWittelsbachfamily, the former ruling family of the Kingdom of Bavaria.
The succession to the headship of the family is determined by Article 2 of Title 2 of the 1818 Constitution of the Kingdom of Bavaria, which states, "The crown is hereditary among the male descendants of the royal house according to the law of primogeniture and the agnatic lineal succession."[2]The succession is further clarified by Title 5 of the Bavarian Royal Family Statute of 1819.[3]
In 1948 and 1949Crown Prince Rupprecht,with the agreement of the other members of the house, amended the house laws to allow the succession of the sons of princes who had married intocomital houses.[4]In 1999 Duke Franz, with the agreement of the other members of the house, amended the house laws further to allow the succession of the sons of any princes who married with the permission of the head of the house.
Franz has never married. Theheir presumptiveto the headship of theHouse of Wittelsbachis his brotherPrince Max, Duke in Bavaria.Because Max has five daughters but no sons, he is followed in the line of succession by his and Franz's first cousin (and second cousin in themale line)Prince Luitpold.[5]
The current line of succession to the headship of the family is:
- Ludwig I of Bavaria(1786–1868)
- Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria(1821–1912)
- Ludwig III of Bavaria(1845–1921)
- Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria(1869–1955)
- Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria(1905–1996)
- Franz,The Duke of Bavaria(born 1933)
- (1)Prince Max of Bavaria, Duke in Bavaria(born 1937)
- Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria(1905–1996)
- Prince Franz of Bavaria(1875–1957)
- Prince Ludwig of Bavaria(1913–2008)
- (2)Prince Luitpold of Bavaria(born 1951)
- (3)Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (born 1982)
- (4)Prince Heinrich of Bavaria (born 1986)
- (5)Prince Karl of Bavaria (born 1987)
- (2)Prince Luitpold of Bavaria(born 1951)
- Prince Rasso of Bavaria (1926–2011)
- (6)Prince Wolfgang of Bavaria (born 1960)
- (7)Prince Tassilo of Bavaria (born 1992)
- (8)Prince Richard of Bavaria (born 1993)
- (9)Prince Philipp of Bavaria (born 1996)
- (10)Prince Christoph of Bavaria (born 1962)
- (11)Prince Corbinian of Bavaria (born 1996)
- (12)Prince Stanislaus of Bavaria (born 1997)
- (13)Prince Marcello of Bavaria (born 1998)
- (6)Prince Wolfgang of Bavaria (born 1960)
- Prince Ludwig of Bavaria(1913–2008)
- Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria(1869–1955)
- Ludwig III of Bavaria(1845–1921)
- Prince Adalbert of Bavaria(1828–1875)
- Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria(1859–1949)
- Prince Adalbert of Bavaria(1886–1970)
- Prince Konstantin of Bavaria(1920–1969)
- (14)Prince Leopold of Bavaria(born 1943) - current heir to Otto I, King of Greece (Leopold's eldest son Prince Manuel of Bavaria was born out of wedlock and is not in the line of succession)
- (15)Prince Konstantin of Bavaria (born 1986)
- (16)Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (born 1944)
- (17)Prince Hubertus of Bavaria (born 1989)
- (14)Prince Leopold of Bavaria(born 1943) - current heir to Otto I, King of Greece (Leopold's eldest son Prince Manuel of Bavaria was born out of wedlock and is not in the line of succession)
- Prince Konstantin of Bavaria(1920–1969)
- Prince Adalbert of Bavaria(1886–1970)
- Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria(1859–1949)
- Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria(1821–1912)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^King, Greg (1996),The Mad King: The Life and Times of Ludwig II of Bavaria.,Carol Publishing,ISBN1-55972-362-9
- ^Constitution of the Kingdom of Bavaria, 1818Archived2009-12-12 at theWayback Machine
- ^Hermann Schulze: die Hausgesetze der regierenden deutschen Fürstenhäuser. 1. Bd. Jena, 1862. pp. 337-47. Cited inBavarian Royal Family Statute, 1819
- ^Dieter J. Weiss,Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern (1869-1955): Eine politische Biografie(Regensburg: Friedrich Pustet, 2007): 346.
- ^Genealogie des Hauses Wittelsbach.München: Verwaltung des Herzogs von Bayern, 2000.