Infanta María de la Paz of Spain
Encyclopedia
María de la Paz of Spain (María de la Paz de Borbón y Borbón) (Madrid
, June 23, 1862 – Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich
, December 4, 1946) was an infanta of Spain
. A daughter of Queen Isabella II of Spain
, she married her first cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria. She lived for the rest of her life in Germany
, dedicating her time to her family, charity work and writing poetry. She wrote a book of memoirs:Through Four Revolutions: 1862-1933.
on June 23, 1862, Infanta Paz was the third surviving daughter of Queen Isabella II
and her husband Francis of Spain
. At age sixteen, Isabella II was forced to marry Francis, Duke of Cádiz who was twice her first cousin. Isabella, who despised her effeminate husband, found an outlet for her passionate nature with a string of lovers. The relationship between King Francis and his reputed children was cold and formal. Isabella II was preoccupied with her turbulent reign and her private life alternated between periods of great affection towards her children and the distant approach to childhood that was the custom of the time.
According to historians, the biological father of Infanta Paz was the diplomat and politician Miguel Tenorio de Castilla, who was secretary of Queen Isabella II for several years.
Paz probably came to know who was her real father. In 1890, in his old age, Tenorio de Castilla settled in a suite on the south wing of Schloss Nymphenburg, Paz’s residence. He lived there for twenty-six years until his death on December 11, 1916. He bequeathed all his belongings to Infanta Paz, who accepted them as his universal heir.
Paz was baptized by the archbishop of Toledo with the names María de la Paz Juana Amelia Adalberta Francisca de Paula Juana Bautista Isabel Francisca de Asis. Her godmother was her paternal aunt Infanta Amalia of Spain, Princess of Bavaria
. In her first years, Infanta Paz was raised along side her sisters Infantas Pilar and Eulalia in a wing of the Royal palace of Madrid. In the formal atmosphere of the Spanish court, the little infantas had little contact with their parents.
which cost Queen Isabella II her throne. The royal family was at that time in San Sebastian
and on September 30, 1868, they crossed the border and went to live in exile in France. Isabella II settled in Paris
with her children while King Francis went to live separately in Epinay
. Paz was educated with her sisters, Pilar and Eulalia at the Sacré-Coeur, a Catholic school run by nuns. She received her first communion
in Rome from Pope Pius IX
.
In 1874 Paz’s brother King Alfonso XII
was restored to the throne in place of their mother Queen Isabella II. Three years later Paz returned to Spain with her sisters Pilar and Eulalia. She lived at first in El Escorial
with her mother, but later moved to the Alcázar of Seville
. When Isabella II returned to live permanently in Paris, Paz and her sisters moved to the Royal Palace of Madrid with their brother King Alfonso XII
. The education and care of the three young infantas was placed under the supervision of their eldest sister Infanta Isabel. Paz was particularly close to her sister Pilar, who was only one year older. In 1879 Pilar, who was of delicate health, died suddenly while the sisters were in the small town of Escoriaza. Paz, who was seventeen at the time, was deeply affected by the death of her sister.
Of Queen Isabella’s five children to survive infancy, Paz was the one who resembled their mother most closely. Paz was short and plain with a small upward nose and a mischievous look in her small eyes. Unlike her sisters Isabel and Eulalia, Paz did not have a strong personality. She was uncomplicated, friendly and accommodating. Romantic and artistic, she was very fond of writing poems and was also a skillful painter. As a child, she studied the history of Spain, remaining interested in this subject. In later years she wrote articles published in the newspaper ABC. She was also musical; she played the harp
, and enjoyed songs by Tosti as well as the operas of Verdi and Charles Gounod
. She was also a devoted Catholic.
, a sister of Paz’s father king Don Francis, she was also a first cousin of Queen Isabella. Infanta Amalia wanted to marry her son to Infanta Paz, her goddaughter, and with this in mind, she wrote to her brother and her sister in law, who agreed with the project.
Alfonso XII
who had briefly studied in Munich with his cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria invited him to Madrid in order to meet Paz. On Sunday June 5 of 1880 Paz wrote on her diary: "Aunt Amalia of Bavaria (widow of Prince Adalbert) is in Paris with her sons Ludwig and Alphonso and her eldest daughter Isabella. Ludwig is eager to meet me, because he liked my portrait. My brother has invited them all to come to Madrid. The two brothers will arrive in the fall. I have heard many good things about Ludwig. They say he is serious and polite. He probably believes that I am better looking that I really am because of the portrait. I leave everything in God's hands ... "
When in the fall of 1880 Paz finally met Ludwig Ferdinand, she found him unattractive and did not wish to marry him. Paz rebuffed the proposed marriage, but Ludwig Ferdinand did not abandon his intentions. After two years, lacking any other matrimonial prospect, Infanta Paz accepted her cousin's proposal: on January 1883, Ludwig Ferdinand returned to Spain to ask the hand of Paz in marriage; while walking together in the gardens of La casa de campo on January 22, 1883, he proposed and Paz accepted. The marriage took place in the chapel of the royal Palace of Madrid on April 2, 1883. Paz retained her rights to the Spanish crown and received an annuity of 150,000 pesetas. She was twenty years old.
Paz and her husband stopped in Paris
and visited King Francis who was living in retirement in Épinay. In Bavaria the couple settled in Schloss Nymphenburg outside Münich. Prince Ludwig Ferdinand, was not only a cousin of King Ludwig II, but was well liked by him and he was in charge of some the King's financial affairs. In Munich, Paz met King Ludwig II of Bavaria
, they conversed in French and he gave her a warm welcome.
Their friendship was short lived. King Ludwig II was deposed and died under mysterious circumstances in 1886. He was succeeded by his only brother, Otto, who never truly ruled as King as he had been declared insane in 1875. Otto's uncle, Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, served as Prince Regent. During the festivities for her arrival at the Bavarian court Paz had met Prince Luitpold, who would be Regent of Bavaria until his death in 1912. Paz had already met in Spain two of Luitpold’s sons Arnolfo and Leopold. The second was married to Gisela, Archduchess of Austria
, daughter of Emperor Francis Joseph and Paz and Gisela became good friends. Paz was related to Luitpold's eldest son Ludwig
who became King of Bavaria in 1913 as Ludwig III . His wife was half sister of Queen Maria Christina of Spain
. Paz also had friends among members of the ducal branch of the house Wittelsbach.
Paz' husband Prince Ludwig Ferdinand was a great music lover. He played the violin with the Munich royal orchestra. Besides following a military career, reaching the highest ranks, he practiced medicine which he had studied at the University of Munich. He avoided palace intrigues, for he did not like court life; the couple preferred to live quietly with their three children in Schloss Nymphenburg. They surrounded themselves with Spanish artists visiting Bavaria: the composer Tomás Bretón
, the violist Sarasate and the painters Rosales and Moreno Carbonero.
until its destruction by fire in 1931. Her house was visited by writers and artist such as Sarasate, Bretón, Richard Strauss, the painter Franz von Lenbach
or the Nobel prize winner Paul Heyse among others.
From Bavaria Infanta Paz followed the life of her Spanish family through letters from her sister Isabel. Paz' only brother King Alphonso XII died young in 1886. Paz maintained a warm relationship with her sister in law Queen Maria Christina who was regent of Spain. Later King Alphonso XIII also had great affection for his aunt Paz. Paz' links to her native country were reinforced with the marriage of her eldest son Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria to his first cousin Infanta Maria Teresa. In 1905, her nephew Alphonso XIII visited Paz during her European tour in search of a wife. The following year Paz and her family went to Madrid and represented Bavaria in the wedding of King Alphonso XIII with Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg
. As a wedding present Paz gave Victoria Eugenia a crown made of gold found in the river Darro
, which had belonged to Isabella II.
In 1914 Infanta Paz made a journey by car to Salamanca
, Leon
, Oviedo
, Covadonga
and the Cantabrian coast, accompanied by the Marquis de la Vega of Anzo, her sister Infanta Isabel and her daughter Princess Pilar. At the outbreak of World War I in August that year she stayed in Nymphenburg. Her son, Adalbert, who was chief of artillery, joined the German forces. Her sister Eulalia was a frequent visitor and she was a great help after the devastation caused by World War I
that she had inherited from her grandmother Queen Maria Cristina. She also owned the house of the Dukes of Riánsares, in Tarancón
where she used to spend long sojourns enjoying the dry fields of la Mancha
. Nearby she bought a rural estate called Saelices, that her husband transformed into a model of agricultural farming. It was bought years later by the bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. In October 1928 Paz went to the small town of Santillana del Mar, which she had visited previously in 1881, and the town council gave her a house to spend summers there.
Paz, whose name means peace in Spanish, honored her name in observance of pacifism. She took part in Pacifist congresses of 1921 in Paris, 1923 in Friburg, 1924 in London
, 1926 in Luxembourg
and 1926 in Bierville
, France
.
Following the overthrow of her nephew Alphonso XIII in 1931, Paz lost her Spanish-derived income. Her life in in Germany became more restricted with the arrival of Hitler to power in January 1933. Unlike the main branch of the Bavarian royal family, the Albertine branch - to which Paz' family belonged - were not outspokenly opposed to the Nazi regime. Paz' son Adalbert and his two sons Konstantine and Alexander served in the army during World War II until they were forced out when Hitler turned against the German princes. Gestapo officers checked her house; her letters with her Spanish correspondents were opened and read before they were sent on.
In 1945 American troops entered Munich. Some soldiers assaulted her house taking with them some jewelry that Paz had inherited from her mother which turned out to be fake.
In 1946 Paz accidentally fell down some stairs and died some hours later. She was buried in the royal crypt in the church of San Michael in Munich. Her husband survived her by three years.
She also translated from German to Spanish the historical books written by her son Prince Adalbert. Paz' personal diary was drawn upon by her son, who in taking some passages from it and adding extracts from her letters to members of her family, published a book with the title Through Four Revolutions: 1862-1933.
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, June 23, 1862 – Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, December 4, 1946) was an infanta of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. A daughter of Queen Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
, she married her first cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria. She lived for the rest of her life in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, dedicating her time to her family, charity work and writing poetry. She wrote a book of memoirs:Through Four Revolutions: 1862-1933.
Childhood
Born at the Royal Palace of MadridRoyal Palace of Madrid
The Palacio Real de Madrid is the official residence of the King of Spain in the city of Madrid, but it is only used for state ceremonies. King Juan Carlos and the Royal Family do not reside in the palace, choosing instead the more modest Palacio de la Zarzuela on the outskirts of Madrid...
on June 23, 1862, Infanta Paz was the third surviving daughter of Queen Isabella II
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
and her husband Francis of Spain
Francis of Spain
Francis of Spain was King consort of Spain as spouse of Isabella II of Spain. He is commonly styled the Duke of Cádiz, the title he held before his marriage.-Family:...
. At age sixteen, Isabella II was forced to marry Francis, Duke of Cádiz who was twice her first cousin. Isabella, who despised her effeminate husband, found an outlet for her passionate nature with a string of lovers. The relationship between King Francis and his reputed children was cold and formal. Isabella II was preoccupied with her turbulent reign and her private life alternated between periods of great affection towards her children and the distant approach to childhood that was the custom of the time.
According to historians, the biological father of Infanta Paz was the diplomat and politician Miguel Tenorio de Castilla, who was secretary of Queen Isabella II for several years.
Paz probably came to know who was her real father. In 1890, in his old age, Tenorio de Castilla settled in a suite on the south wing of Schloss Nymphenburg, Paz’s residence. He lived there for twenty-six years until his death on December 11, 1916. He bequeathed all his belongings to Infanta Paz, who accepted them as his universal heir.
Paz was baptized by the archbishop of Toledo with the names María de la Paz Juana Amelia Adalberta Francisca de Paula Juana Bautista Isabel Francisca de Asis. Her godmother was her paternal aunt Infanta Amalia of Spain, Princess of Bavaria
Infanta Amelia Philippina of Spain
Infanta Amalia Philippina of Spain was a member of the Spanish royal house.-Childhood:She was born in Madrid as the eleventh child and sixth daughter of Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain, younger brother of King Fernando VII of Spain, and wife, Princess Luisa Carlotta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies...
. In her first years, Infanta Paz was raised along side her sisters Infantas Pilar and Eulalia in a wing of the Royal palace of Madrid. In the formal atmosphere of the Spanish court, the little infantas had little contact with their parents.
Early life
In 1868 when she was only six years old, Paz and her family were forced to leave Spain by the revolutionGlorious Revolution (Spain)
The Glorious Revolution took place in Spain in 1868, resulting in the deposition of Queen Isabella II.An 1866 rebellion led by General Juan Prim and a revolt of the sergeants at San Gil barracks, in Madrid, sent a signal to Spanish liberals and republicans that there was serious unrest with the...
which cost Queen Isabella II her throne. The royal family was at that time in San Sebastian
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
and on September 30, 1868, they crossed the border and went to live in exile in France. Isabella II settled in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with her children while King Francis went to live separately in Epinay
Épinay
Épinay is the name or part of the name of ten communes of France:*Épinay, Eure in the Eure département*Épinay-Champlâtreux in the Val-d'Oise département*Épinay-sous-Sénart in the Essonne département...
. Paz was educated with her sisters, Pilar and Eulalia at the Sacré-Coeur, a Catholic school run by nuns. She received her first communion
First Communion
The First Communion, or First Holy Communion, is a Catholic Church ceremony. It is the colloquial name for a person's first reception of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Catholics believe this event to be very important, as the Eucharist is one of the central focuses of the Catholic Church...
in Rome from Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
.
In 1874 Paz’s brother King Alfonso XII
Alfonso XII of Spain
Alfonso XII was king of Spain, reigning from 1874 to 1885, after a coup d'état restored the monarchy and ended the ephemeral First Spanish Republic.-Early life and paternity:Alfonso was the son of Queen Isabella II of Spain, and...
was restored to the throne in place of their mother Queen Isabella II. Three years later Paz returned to Spain with her sisters Pilar and Eulalia. She lived at first in El Escorial
El Escorial
The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, Madrid, in Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and...
with her mother, but later moved to the Alcázar of Seville
Alcázar of Seville
thumb|right|250px|Baths of Lady María de PadillaThe Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, originally a Moorish fort....
. When Isabella II returned to live permanently in Paris, Paz and her sisters moved to the Royal Palace of Madrid with their brother King Alfonso XII
Alfonso XII of Spain
Alfonso XII was king of Spain, reigning from 1874 to 1885, after a coup d'état restored the monarchy and ended the ephemeral First Spanish Republic.-Early life and paternity:Alfonso was the son of Queen Isabella II of Spain, and...
. The education and care of the three young infantas was placed under the supervision of their eldest sister Infanta Isabel. Paz was particularly close to her sister Pilar, who was only one year older. In 1879 Pilar, who was of delicate health, died suddenly while the sisters were in the small town of Escoriaza. Paz, who was seventeen at the time, was deeply affected by the death of her sister.
Of Queen Isabella’s five children to survive infancy, Paz was the one who resembled their mother most closely. Paz was short and plain with a small upward nose and a mischievous look in her small eyes. Unlike her sisters Isabel and Eulalia, Paz did not have a strong personality. She was uncomplicated, friendly and accommodating. Romantic and artistic, she was very fond of writing poems and was also a skillful painter. As a child, she studied the history of Spain, remaining interested in this subject. In later years she wrote articles published in the newspaper ABC. She was also musical; she played the harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, and enjoyed songs by Tosti as well as the operas of Verdi and Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
. She was also a devoted Catholic.
Marriage
By the spring of 1880, there were plans on the way to marry Infanta Paz to her first cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria. Ludwig Ferdinand’s mother was Infanta Amalia of SpainInfanta Amelia Philippina of Spain
Infanta Amalia Philippina of Spain was a member of the Spanish royal house.-Childhood:She was born in Madrid as the eleventh child and sixth daughter of Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain, younger brother of King Fernando VII of Spain, and wife, Princess Luisa Carlotta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies...
, a sister of Paz’s father king Don Francis, she was also a first cousin of Queen Isabella. Infanta Amalia wanted to marry her son to Infanta Paz, her goddaughter, and with this in mind, she wrote to her brother and her sister in law, who agreed with the project.
Alfonso XII
Alfonso XII of Spain
Alfonso XII was king of Spain, reigning from 1874 to 1885, after a coup d'état restored the monarchy and ended the ephemeral First Spanish Republic.-Early life and paternity:Alfonso was the son of Queen Isabella II of Spain, and...
who had briefly studied in Munich with his cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria invited him to Madrid in order to meet Paz. On Sunday June 5 of 1880 Paz wrote on her diary: "Aunt Amalia of Bavaria (widow of Prince Adalbert) is in Paris with her sons Ludwig and Alphonso and her eldest daughter Isabella. Ludwig is eager to meet me, because he liked my portrait. My brother has invited them all to come to Madrid. The two brothers will arrive in the fall. I have heard many good things about Ludwig. They say he is serious and polite. He probably believes that I am better looking that I really am because of the portrait. I leave everything in God's hands ... "
When in the fall of 1880 Paz finally met Ludwig Ferdinand, she found him unattractive and did not wish to marry him. Paz rebuffed the proposed marriage, but Ludwig Ferdinand did not abandon his intentions. After two years, lacking any other matrimonial prospect, Infanta Paz accepted her cousin's proposal: on January 1883, Ludwig Ferdinand returned to Spain to ask the hand of Paz in marriage; while walking together in the gardens of La casa de campo on January 22, 1883, he proposed and Paz accepted. The marriage took place in the chapel of the royal Palace of Madrid on April 2, 1883. Paz retained her rights to the Spanish crown and received an annuity of 150,000 pesetas. She was twenty years old.
Princess of Bavaria
On their way to MünichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
Paz and her husband stopped in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and visited King Francis who was living in retirement in Épinay. In Bavaria the couple settled in Schloss Nymphenburg outside Münich. Prince Ludwig Ferdinand, was not only a cousin of King Ludwig II, but was well liked by him and he was in charge of some the King's financial affairs. In Munich, Paz met King Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes called the Swan King and der Märchenkönig, the Fairy tale King...
, they conversed in French and he gave her a warm welcome.
Their friendship was short lived. King Ludwig II was deposed and died under mysterious circumstances in 1886. He was succeeded by his only brother, Otto, who never truly ruled as King as he had been declared insane in 1875. Otto's uncle, Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, served as Prince Regent. During the festivities for her arrival at the Bavarian court Paz had met Prince Luitpold, who would be Regent of Bavaria until his death in 1912. Paz had already met in Spain two of Luitpold’s sons Arnolfo and Leopold. The second was married to Gisela, Archduchess of Austria
Archduchess Gisela of Austria
Gisela Louise Marie, Princess Imperial and Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Bavaria was the second daughter and eldest surviving child of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Empress Elisabeth...
, daughter of Emperor Francis Joseph and Paz and Gisela became good friends. Paz was related to Luitpold's eldest son Ludwig
Ludwig III of Bavaria
Ludwig III , was the last King of Bavaria, reigning from 1913 to 1918.-Early life:...
who became King of Bavaria in 1913 as Ludwig III . His wife was half sister of Queen Maria Christina of Spain
Maria Christina of Austria
Maria Christina of Austria was Queen consort of Spain as the second wife of King Alfonso XII of Spain...
. Paz also had friends among members of the ducal branch of the house Wittelsbach.
Paz' husband Prince Ludwig Ferdinand was a great music lover. He played the violin with the Munich royal orchestra. Besides following a military career, reaching the highest ranks, he practiced medicine which he had studied at the University of Munich. He avoided palace intrigues, for he did not like court life; the couple preferred to live quietly with their three children in Schloss Nymphenburg. They surrounded themselves with Spanish artists visiting Bavaria: the composer Tomás Bretón
Tomás Bretón
Tomás Bretón was a Spanish musician and composer.-Biography:Tomás Bretón was born in Salamanca.He gained renown as a result of the success of his zarzuela La verbena de la Paloma, although other were well-received works, included his operas Los amantes de Teruel, based on the eponymous legend,...
, the violist Sarasate and the painters Rosales and Moreno Carbonero.
Children
The marriage of Infanta Paz and Prince Ludwig Ferdinand was long and happy. They had three children. The eldest, Prince Ferdinand, followed the tradition of Bavarian-Spanish marriages and lived for the rest of his life in Spain. Paz' youngest children inherited her artistic and literary interests. Prince Adalbert was a writer and historian; Princess Pilar was a painter and wrote a book about the reign of his cousin Alphonso XIII. Since her eldest son settled in Spain, Paz made frequent trips to her native country to visit her Spanish grandchildren:- Infante Ferdinand of SpainPrince Ferdinand of BavariaPrince Ferdinand of Bavaria was the eldest son and child of Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria and his wife Infanta María de la Paz of Spain...
, Prince of Bavaria (1884–1958); born in Madrid he settled permanently in Spain in 1905. He married his cousin Infanta Maria Teresa, daughter of Alfonso XII of Spain.
- Prince Adalbert of BavariaPrince Adalbert of Bavaria (1886-1970)Prince Adalbert of Bavaria was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach, historian, author and a German Ambassador to Spain.-Early life:Adalbert was born in at the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Bavaria...
(1886–1970). He was a historian and diplomat. He married Countess Augusta of Seefried and had two sons; lived in Germany.
- Princess Pilar of BavariaPrincess Pilar of BavariaPrincess Maria del Pilar of Bavaria was the only daughter of Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria and his wife Infanta Maria de la Paz of Spain.-Writing:Princess Pilar was the co-author of a 1932 biography, Every Inch a...
(1891–1987), unmarried. She worked as a painter.
Life in Bavaria
In Munich, Paz dedicated a great deal of her time to charity work. She expanded an asylum for poor children, in Neuhausen near Nymphenburg, called Marien-Ludwig-Ferdinand. In 1913, she founded a school in Munich, within the grounds of Schloss Nymphenburg, that came to accommodate thirty-eight students who came from different provinces of Spain. This institution was dissolved in 1918 with the revolution that ended the Bavarian monarchy. The Infanta was also in charge of the art exhibit held each year at the Munich GlaspalastGlaspalast (Munich)
The Glaspalast was a glass and iron exhibition building in Munich modeled after The Crystal Palace in London. The Glaspalast opened for the Erste Allgemeine Deutsche Industrieausstellung on July 15, 1854.-Construction:The Glaspalast was ordered by Maximilian II, King of Bavaria, built by MAN AG...
until its destruction by fire in 1931. Her house was visited by writers and artist such as Sarasate, Bretón, Richard Strauss, the painter Franz von Lenbach
Franz von Lenbach
Franz von Lenbach was a German painter of Realist style.-Biography:Lenbach was born at Schrobenhausen, in Bavaria. His father was a mason, and the boy was intended to follow his father's trade or be a builder. With this view he was sent to school at Landsberg, and then to the polytechnic at Augsburg...
or the Nobel prize winner Paul Heyse among others.
From Bavaria Infanta Paz followed the life of her Spanish family through letters from her sister Isabel. Paz' only brother King Alphonso XII died young in 1886. Paz maintained a warm relationship with her sister in law Queen Maria Christina who was regent of Spain. Later King Alphonso XIII also had great affection for his aunt Paz. Paz' links to her native country were reinforced with the marriage of her eldest son Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria to his first cousin Infanta Maria Teresa. In 1905, her nephew Alphonso XIII visited Paz during her European tour in search of a wife. The following year Paz and her family went to Madrid and represented Bavaria in the wedding of King Alphonso XIII with Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg
Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg
Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg was queen consort of King Alfonso XIII of Spain...
. As a wedding present Paz gave Victoria Eugenia a crown made of gold found in the river Darro
Darro
The Darro is a river of the province of Granada, Spain. It is a tributary of the Genil. The river was originally named after the Roman word for gold because people used to pan for gold on its banks...
, which had belonged to Isabella II.
In 1914 Infanta Paz made a journey by car to Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
, Leon
León, Spain
León is the capital of the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and León, situated in the northwest of Spain. Its city population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for more than one quarter of the province's population...
, Oviedo
Oviedo
Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....
, Covadonga
Covadonga
Covadonga is a village and one of 11 parishes in Cangas de Onís, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northwestern Spain...
and the Cantabrian coast, accompanied by the Marquis de la Vega of Anzo, her sister Infanta Isabel and her daughter Princess Pilar. At the outbreak of World War I in August that year she stayed in Nymphenburg. Her son, Adalbert, who was chief of artillery, joined the German forces. Her sister Eulalia was a frequent visitor and she was a great help after the devastation caused by World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Last years
After the war and the fall of the Bavarian monarchy, Infanta Paz and her family, were allowed to keep on living in Nymphenburg. The family fortune was drastically reduced, but Paz still had income as a member of the Spanish Royal family. She made sporadic visits to Spain. While in Madrid they stayed at the royal Palace. Paz also owned a rural property in CuencaCuenca, Spain
-History:When the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segóbriga, Ercávica and Gran Valeria...
that she had inherited from her grandmother Queen Maria Cristina. She also owned the house of the Dukes of Riánsares, in Tarancón
Tarancón
Tarancón is a municipality located in the province of Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 12,696 inhabitants....
where she used to spend long sojourns enjoying the dry fields of la Mancha
La Mancha
La Mancha is a natural and historical region or greater comarca located on an arid, fertile, elevated plateau of central Spain, south of Madrid, stretching between the Montes de Toledo and the western spurs of the Serrania de Cuenca. It is bounded on the south by the Sierra Morena and on the north...
. Nearby she bought a rural estate called Saelices, that her husband transformed into a model of agricultural farming. It was bought years later by the bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. In October 1928 Paz went to the small town of Santillana del Mar, which she had visited previously in 1881, and the town council gave her a house to spend summers there.
Paz, whose name means peace in Spanish, honored her name in observance of pacifism. She took part in Pacifist congresses of 1921 in Paris, 1923 in Friburg, 1924 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1926 in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and 1926 in Bierville
Bierville
Bierville is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A small farming village situated in the Pays de Bray some northeast of Rouen, at the junction of the D90 and the D213 roads.-Population:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Following the overthrow of her nephew Alphonso XIII in 1931, Paz lost her Spanish-derived income. Her life in in Germany became more restricted with the arrival of Hitler to power in January 1933. Unlike the main branch of the Bavarian royal family, the Albertine branch - to which Paz' family belonged - were not outspokenly opposed to the Nazi regime. Paz' son Adalbert and his two sons Konstantine and Alexander served in the army during World War II until they were forced out when Hitler turned against the German princes. Gestapo officers checked her house; her letters with her Spanish correspondents were opened and read before they were sent on.
In 1945 American troops entered Munich. Some soldiers assaulted her house taking with them some jewelry that Paz had inherited from her mother which turned out to be fake.
In 1946 Paz accidentally fell down some stairs and died some hours later. She was buried in the royal crypt in the church of San Michael in Munich. Her husband survived her by three years.
Author
Infanta Paz wrote the following books:- Cuatro revoluciones e intemedios:Setenta años de mi vida. Memorias de la Infanta Paz. Espasa-Calpe, Madrid, 1935. Published in English as Through Four Revolutions: 1862-1933.
- Aus meine Leben: Erinnereungen von Prinzessin Ludwig Ferdinand von Bayern (Munich, Georg Muller, 1917)
- De mi vida. Impresiones (Madrid, 1909), De mi vida.Impresiones (Salamanca, 1911)
- Buscando las huellas de Don Quijote (Freiburg, 1905).
- Emmanuela Theresa von Orden St. Clara, tochter des Kurfürsten Max Emanuel von Bayern 1696-1750 (Munich, 1902, published in German and in French ).
- Poesías (Freiburg,1904), Roma eterna (Munich, 1922).
She also translated from German to Spanish the historical books written by her son Prince Adalbert. Paz' personal diary was drawn upon by her son, who in taking some passages from it and adding extracts from her letters to members of her family, published a book with the title Through Four Revolutions: 1862-1933.