Ludwig I of Bavaria

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Ludwig I
King of Bavaria

Reign	October 13, 1825 - March 20, 1848
Born	August 25, 1786
	Strasbourg
Died	February 29, 1868 (aged 81)
	Nice
Predecessor	Maximilian I
Successor	Maximilian II
Consort	Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Issue	Maximilian II, Mathilde, Otto, Theodelinde, Luitpold, Adelgunde, Hildegarde, Adalbert
Royal House	Wittelsbach
Father	Maximilian I
Mother	Wilhelmine of Hessen-Darmstadt

Ludwig I (or Louis I, which is the French form of his name, his godfather was Louis XVI of France) (August 25, 1786, Strasbourg – February 29, 1868, Nice) was king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.

1 Crown Prince
2 Reign
3 Children
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Crown Prince

He was the son of king Maximilian I and Wilhelmine of Hessen-Darmstadt. In October 1810, he married Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1792-1854), the daughter of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The wedding was the occasion of the first ever Oktoberfest. Ludwig strongly rejected the alliance of his father with Napoleon I of France. In 1817 Ludwig was involved in the fall of Prime Minister Count Max Josef von Montgelas. He succeeded his father on the throne in 1825.

[edit] Reign

Ludwig patronised the arts as principal of many neoclassical buildings, especially in Munich, and as fanatic collector. Among others he ordered to erect were the Walhalla temple, the Glyptothek, the Old and the New Pinakothek.

One of his most famous conceptions was the celebrate "Schönheitengalerie" (Gallerie of Beauties), in charge of the painter Joseph Stieler, were it were retreated several beautiful women who principally came from the high middle class.

He moved the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität from Landshut to Munich in 1826. Ludwig also encouraged Bavaria's industrialization. He initiated the Ludwig channel between the River Main and the Danube. In 1835 the first German railway was constructed in his domain, between the cities of Fürth and Nuremberg.

Ludwig supported the Greek fight for independence: His second son Otto was elected king of Greece in 1832. After the July Revolution in France 1830, his previous liberal policy became more and more repressive. The Hambacher Fest in 1832 showed the discontent of the population suffered from high taxes and censorship. Ludwig became also tainted with scandals associated with one of his mistresses, Lola Montez and he abdicated on March 20, 1848 in favour of his son, Maximilian. Also after his resignation Ludwig remained an important sponsor for the arts. He was buried in St. Boniface's Abbey, Munich.