Ludwig I of Bavaria
| Ludwig I | |
|---|---|
| King of Bavaria | |
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| Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825 | |
| Reign | October 13, 1825 - March 20, 1848 |
| Born | August 25 1786 |
| Strasbourg | |
| Died | February 29 1868 (aged 81) |
| Nice | |
| Predecessor | |
| Successor | Maximilian II |
| Consort | Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen |
| Issue | Maximilian II, Mathilde, Otto, Theodelinde, Luitpold, Adelgunde, Hildegard, Alexandra, Adalbert |
| Royal House | Wittelsbach |
| Father | |
| 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) (Strasbourg, August 25 1786 – February 29, 1868 in Nice) was king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.
Crown Prince
He was the son of
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 troups. 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 his overreaching royal assertiveness. 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.
As enthusiast also for the German Middle Ages Ludwig ordered to reerect 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. 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.
On the other hand 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. He moved the
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.
Ludwig had several love affairs and became one of the lovers of Lady Jane Digby, an aristocratic English adventuress. Ludwig also 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 son, Maximilian.
Also after his resignation Ludwig remained an important sponsor for the arts. He was buried in St. Boniface's Abbey, Munich.
| Arms of the Kingdom of Bavaria 1835: |  |
Children
He was the father of:
- Maximilian II of Bavaria (1811-1864)
- Mathilde, who married Ludwig III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (1813-1862)
- Otto (1815-1867), who became king of Greece in 1832.
- Theodelinde, Princess of Bavaria (1816-1817)
- Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria (1821-1912)
- Adelgunde (1823-1914), who married Francis V, Duke of Modena.
- Hildegard (1825-1864), who married Archduke Albert of Austria (1817-1895), Duke of Teschen.
- Alexandra (1826-1875)
- Adalbert (1828-1875)
Ancestry
| Ludwig I, King of Bavaria | Father: |
Paternal Grandfather: Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld |
Paternal Great-Grandfather: Christian of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld |
| Paternal Great-Grandmother: Karoline of Nassau-Saarbrücken |
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| Paternal Grandmother: Maria Francisca of Sulzbach |
Paternal Great-Grandfather: Joseph, Count Palatine of Sulzbach |
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| Paternal Great-Grandmother: Elizabeth Augusta of Neuburg |
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| Mother: Marie Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt |
Maternal Grandfather: Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt |
Maternal Great-Grandfather: Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt |
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| Maternal Great-Grandmother: Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg |
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| Maternal Grandmother: Luise of Leiningen-Heidesheim |
Maternal Great-Grandfather: Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Heidesheim |
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| Maternal Great-Grandmother: Katharina Polyxena of Solms-Rödelheim |
See also
External links
- George Washington's German "Cousin" {Baron Jakob von Washington-an advisor to King Ludwig I}
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Ludwig I of Bavaria
Born: 25 August 1786 Died: 29 February 1868 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by |
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 |
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