Ludwig I of Bavaria

Ludwig I
King of Bavaria
LouisI.jpg
Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825
Reign October 13, 1825 - March 20, 1848
Born August 25, 1786(1786-08-25)
Birthplace Strasbourg
Died February 29, 1868 (aged 81)
Place of death Nice
Predecessor Maximilian I
Successor Maximilian II
Consort Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Offspring Maximilian II, Mathilde, Otto, Theodelinde, Luitpold, Adelgunde, Hildegard, Alexandra, Adalbert
Royal House Wittelsbach
Father Maximilian I
Mother Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt

Ludwig I (also rendered in English as Louis I) (August 25 1786 in Strasbourg – February 29, 1868 in Nice) was king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.

Contents

Crown Prince

He was the son of Count Palatine Maximilian Joseph of Zweibrücken by his first wife Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. At the time of his birth, his father was an officer in the French army stationed at Strasbourg. He was the godson and namesake of Louis XVI of France. On April 1, 1795 his father succeeded Ludwig's uncle, Charles II, as duke of Zweibrücken, and on February 16, 1799 became Elector of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Arch-Steward of the Empire, and Duke of Berg on the extinction of the Sulzbach line with the death of the elector Charles Theodore. His father assumed the title of King of Bavaria on January 1, 1806.

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 studied in Landshut where he was taught by Johann Michael Sailer and in Göttingen.

Ludwig strongly rejected the alliance of his father with Napoleon I of France but in spite of his anti-French politics the crown prince had to join the emperor's wars with allied Bavarian troops. 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.

Reign

Ludwig's rule was strongly affected by his enthusiasm for the arts and women and by his overreaching royal assertiveness. An enthusiast also for the German Middle Ages, Ludwig ordered the re-erection of several monasteries in Bavaria which had been closed during the German Mediatisation. He reorganized the administrative regions of Bavaria in 1837 and re-introduced the old names Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia, Upper Palatinate and Palatinate. He changed his royal titles to Ludwig, King of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, Duke in Swabia and Count Palatinate of the Rhine. His successors kept these titles. Ludwig's plan to reunite also the eastern part of the Palatinate with Bavaria could not be realized. The Electoral Palatinate, a former dominion of the Wittelsbach, had been split up in 1815, the eastern bank of the Rhine with Mannheim and Heidelberg was given to Baden, only the western bank was granted to Bavaria. Here Ludwig founded the city of Ludwigshafen as a Bavarian rival to Mannheim.

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 of 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. In 1837, the Roman Catholic supported clerical movement, the Ultramontanes, came to power in the Bavarian parliament and began a campaign of reform to the constitution, which removed civil rights that had earlier been granted to Protestants, as well as enforcing censorship and forbidding the free discussion of internal politics. This regime was short-lived due to the demand by the Ultramontanes of the naturalization of Ludwig I's Irish-born mistress Eliza Gilbert (better known by her stage name Lola Montez), which was resented by Ludwig and the Ultramontanes were pushed out.

Ludwig had several extramarital affairs and became one of the lovers of Lady Jane Digby, an aristocratic English adventuress. Ludwig became tainted with scandals associated with another of his mistresses, Lola Montez. It seems likely that his relationship with her contributed greatly to the fall from grace of the previously popular king.

During the revolutions of 1848 he abdicated on March 20, 1848 in favour of his eldest son, Maximilian. He was buried in St. Boniface's Abbey, Munich.

Arms of the Kingdom of Bavaria 1835: Bayern1835.jpg

Cultural legacy

As admirer of ancient Greece and the Italian renaissance 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 Ludwigstrasse, the Glyptothek, the Old and the New Pinakothek. One of his most famous conceptions was the celebrated "Schönheitengalerie" (Gallery of Beauties), in charge of the painter Joseph Stieler, which contained portraits of several beautiful women who principally came from the high middle class. Also after his abdication, Ludwig remained an important sponsor for the arts.

He moved the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität from Landshut to Munich in 1826.

Ludwig I of Bavaria, monument in the Walhalla

Issue

By Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen (8 July 1792 – 26 October 1854; married on 12 October 1810 in Theresienwiese, Munich)

Name Birth Death Notes
Maximilian Joseph 28 November 1811 10 March 1864 succeeded as King of Bavaria
married, 1842, Princess Marie of Prussia; had issue
Mathilde Karoline Friederike Wilhelmine Charlotte 30 August 1813 25 August 1862 married, 1833, Ludwig III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine; no issue
Otto Friedrich Ludwig 1 June 1815 26 July 1867 become the 1st King of Greece
married, 1836, Duchess Amalia of Oldenburg; no issue
Theodolinde Charlotte Luise 7 October 1816 12 April 1817 died in infancy
Luitpold Karl Joseph Wilhelm Ludwig 21 March 1821 12 December 1912 Regent of Bavaria
married, 1844, Archduchess Augusta of Austria-Tuscany; had issue
Adelgunde Auguste Charlotte Caroline Elisabeth Amalie Marie Sophie Luise 19 March 1823 28 January 1914 married, 1843, Francis V, Duke of Modena; had issue
Hildegard Luise Charlotte Theresia Friederike 10 June 1825 2 April 1864 married, 1844, Archduke Albert of Austria, Duke of Teschen; had issue
Alexandra Amelie 26 August 1826 21 September 1875  
Adalbert Wilhelm Georg Ludwig 19 July 1828 21 September 1875 married, 1856, Infanta Amalia of Spain; had issue

Ancestry

See also

Sources

External links

Ludwig I of Bavaria
Born: 25 August 1786 Died: 29 February 1868
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Maximilian I Joseph		 King of Bavaria
1825-1848		 Succeeded by
Maximilian II
Persondata
NAME Ludwig I of Bavaria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ludwig I van Beieren; Ludwig di Baviera; Ludwig I di Wittelsbach re di Baviera; Ludovico I di Baviera
SHORT DESCRIPTION King of Bavaria
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH February 29, 1868 (aged 81)
PLACE OF DEATH Nice