Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
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Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria or Crown Prince Rupert of Bavaria (German: Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern) (18 May 1869 – 2 August 1955) was the last Bavarian Crown Prince.
His full title was His Royal Highness Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine.
Rupprecht was born in Munich, the eldest son of Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria, and of Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este, niece of Duke Francis V of Modena. He commanded the German Sixth Army at the outbreak of World War I in Lorraine. Rupprecht succeeded in holding back the French attack in August 1914, in the Battle of Lorraine, and then launched a counteroffensive later that month. Rupprecht failed to break through the French lines and remained on the Western Front during the stalemate that would last until the end of the war. Rupprecht achieved the rank of field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) in 1916 and assumed command of Army Group Rupprecht. Rupprecht has been considered by some to be one of the best Royal commanders in the Imperial German Army of World War I.
Rupprecht married firstly, in 1900, Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria, and secondly, on 7 April 1921, Princess Antoinette of Luxembourg, the sister of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg.
Rupprecht lost his chance to rule Bavaria when it became a republic in the revolutions that followed the war. Some royalists still referred to him as the King of Bavaria. Rupprecht was opposed to the regime of Nazi Germany and was forced into exile in Italy in 1939.
In October 1944, when Germany occupied Hungary, Rupprecht evaded arrest but his wife and children were captured. They were first imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp at Oranienburg, Brandenburg. In April 1945 they were moved to the Dachau concentration camp, where they were liberated by the United States Army. Crown Princess Antoinette never recovered completely from the captivity, and died a few years later.
He was also the Jacobite pretender to King George V of the United Kingdom, as through his mother he was the great- grand- son of Maria Beatrice of Savoy, whose grandfather inherited the Jacobean claim to the throne from Henry Benedict Stuart, who was the second son of James Francis Edward Stuart. He himself was the son of James II of England by his second wife Mary of Modena; the claim was inherited via the sister of James II, Henrietta Anne Stuart.
[edit] Children
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With Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria:
- Prince Luitpold Maximilian Ludwig Karl of Bavaria (1901-1914, infantile paralysis)
- Princess Irmingard Maria Therese José Cäcilia Adelheid Michaela Antonia Adelgunde of Bavaria (1902-1903, diphtheria)
- Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (1905-1996)
- Stillborn daughter (1906)
- Prince Rudolf Friedrich Rupprecht of Bavaria (1909-1912, diabetes)
With Princess Antoinette of Luxembourg:
- Prince Heinrich Franz Wilhelm of Bavaria (1922-1958). Married Anne Marie de Lustrac (1927-1999). No issue.
- Princess Irmingard Marie Josefa of Bavaria (b. 1923). Married her cousin Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (b. 1913) and has issue.
- Princess Editha Marie Gabrielle Anna of Bavaria (b. 1924). Married first Tito Tommaso Maria Brunetti (1905-1954) and second Prof. Gustav Christian Schimert (1910-1990). Has issue by both.
- Princess Hilda Hildegard Marie Gabriele of Bavaria (b. 1926). Married Juan Bradstock Edgar Lockett de Loayza (1912-1987) and has issue.
- Princess Gabriele Adelgunde Marie Theresia Antonia of Bavaria (b. 1927). Married Carl, Duke of Croÿ, Lord of Dülmen, and has issue.
- Princess Sophie Marie Therese of Bavaria (b. 1935). Married Jean-Engelbert, Prince and Duke of Arenberg and has issue.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by King Ludwig III |
Head of the House of Bavaria 1921-1955 |
Succeeded by Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria |
| Preceded by "Mary IV and III" |
Jacobite succession 1919–1955 |
Succeeded by "Albert I" |
