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Ludwig I of Bavaria

 
Ludwig I of Bavaria

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Ludwig I of Bavaria



 
 
Ludwig I (also rendered in English as Louis I) (August 25, 1786 in Strasbourg
Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace Regions of France in northeastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the Aire urbaine....
 – February 29, 1868 in Nice
Nice

Nice is a city in Southern France France located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, between Marseille, France, and Genoa, Italy, with 1,197,751 inhabitants in the 2007 estimate....
) was king of Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
 from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states

"Germany" at the time of the Revolutions of 1848 had been a collection of 39 states loosely bound together in the German Confederation. As nationalist sentiment crystallized into resistance to the traditional political structure, repeated calls for freedom, democracy and national unity came to threaten the status quo....
.

as the son of Count Palatine Maximilian Joseph of Zweibrücken
Maximilian I of Bavaria

Maximilian I was prince-elector of Bavaria from 1799 to 1805, king of Bavaria from 1806 to 1825. He was a member of the House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld, a branch of the House of Wittelsbach....
 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
Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace Regions of France in northeastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the Aire urbaine....
. He was the godson and namesake
Namesake

Namesake is a term used to characterize a person, place, thing, quality, action, state, or idea that is called after, or named out of regard to, another....
 of Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI or Louis-Auguste de France ruled as List of French monarchs of France and of List of Navarrese monarchs from 1774 until 1791, and then as Popular monarchy from 1791 to 1792....
. On April 1, 1795 his father succeeded Ludwig's uncle, Charles II, as duke of Zweibrücken
Palatinate-Zweibrücken

Palatinate-Zweibr?cken is a former state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Zweibr?cken....
, and on February 16, 1799 became Elector
Prince-elector

The Prince-Electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of Imperial election the Holy Roman Emperors....
 of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Arch-Steward of the Empire, and Duke of Berg
Berg (state)

The territory of Berg in today's North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany emerged as a separate domain in mediaeval times. It comprised roughly the area between the rivers Rhine, Ruhr and Sieg....
 on the extinction of the Sulzbach
Palatinate-Sulzbach

Palatinate-Sulzbach was the name of two separate states of the Holy Roman Empire located in modern Amberg-Sulzbach, Bavaria, Germany....
 line with the death of the elector Charles Theodore
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria

Karl Theodor, Prince-Elector, Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria reigned as Prince-Elector and Count Electoral Palatinate from 1742, as Duchy of J?lich and Berg from 1742 and also as Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777, until his death....
.






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Ludwig I (also rendered in English as Louis I) (August 25, 1786 in Strasbourg
Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace Regions of France in northeastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the Aire urbaine....
 – February 29, 1868 in Nice
Nice

Nice is a city in Southern France France located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, between Marseille, France, and Genoa, Italy, with 1,197,751 inhabitants in the 2007 estimate....
) was king of Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
 from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states

"Germany" at the time of the Revolutions of 1848 had been a collection of 39 states loosely bound together in the German Confederation. As nationalist sentiment crystallized into resistance to the traditional political structure, repeated calls for freedom, democracy and national unity came to threaten the status quo....
.

Crown Prince

He was the son of Count Palatine Maximilian Joseph of Zweibrücken
Maximilian I of Bavaria

Maximilian I was prince-elector of Bavaria from 1799 to 1805, king of Bavaria from 1806 to 1825. He was a member of the House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld, a branch of the House of Wittelsbach....
 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
Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace Regions of France in northeastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the Aire urbaine....
. He was the godson and namesake
Namesake

Namesake is a term used to characterize a person, place, thing, quality, action, state, or idea that is called after, or named out of regard to, another....
 of Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI or Louis-Auguste de France ruled as List of French monarchs of France and of List of Navarrese monarchs from 1774 until 1791, and then as Popular monarchy from 1791 to 1792....
. On April 1, 1795 his father succeeded Ludwig's uncle, Charles II, as duke of Zweibrücken
Palatinate-Zweibrücken

Palatinate-Zweibr?cken is a former state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Zweibr?cken....
, and on February 16, 1799 became Elector
Prince-elector

The Prince-Electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of Imperial election the Holy Roman Emperors....
 of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Arch-Steward of the Empire, and Duke of Berg
Berg (state)

The territory of Berg in today's North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany emerged as a separate domain in mediaeval times. It comprised roughly the area between the rivers Rhine, Ruhr and Sieg....
 on the extinction of the Sulzbach
Palatinate-Sulzbach

Palatinate-Sulzbach was the name of two separate states of the Holy Roman Empire located in modern Amberg-Sulzbach, Bavaria, Germany....
 line with the death of the elector Charles Theodore
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria

Karl Theodor, Prince-Elector, Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria reigned as Prince-Elector and Count Electoral Palatinate from 1742, as Duchy of J?lich and Berg from 1742 and also as Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777, until his death....
. His father assumed the title of King of Bavaria
King of Bavaria

King of Bavaria was a title held by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria in the state known as the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1805 till 1918, when the kingdom was abolished....
 on January 1, 1806.

In October 1810, he married Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen

Therese Charlotte Luise of Saxony-Hildburghausen was queen of Bavaria.Therese was a daughter of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, eldest daughter Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz....
 (1792–1854), the daughter of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen

Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen , was duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen and duke of Saxe-Altenburg .He was the youngest child, but only son, of Ernst Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, by his third wife, Ernestine of Saxe-Weimar....
. The wedding was the occasion of the first ever Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is a fifteen-day festival held each year in Munich, Germany during late September . It is one of the most famous events in the Salzburg/Germany and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year, and is an enjoyable event with an important part of Bavarian culture....
. Ludwig studied in Landshut where he was taught by Johann Michael Sailer
Johann Michael Sailer

Johann Michael Sailer was a German Jesuit professor of theology and Bishop of Ratisbon....
 and in Göttingen.

Ludwig strongly rejected the alliance of his father with Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte later known as Emperor Napoleon I, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century....
 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
Maximilian von Montgelas

Maximilian Josef Garnerin, Count von Montgelas was a Bavarian statesman, from a noble family in Savoy. His father John Sigmund Garnerin, Baron Montgelas, entered the military service of Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria, and married the Countess Ursula von Trauner....
. 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
German Mediatisation

The German Mediatisation was the series of Mediatization and Secularization that occurred in Germany in 1795–1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleon Bonaparte....
. He reorganized the administrative regions of Bavaria in 1837 and re-introduced the old names Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria

Upper Bavaria is one of the seven Regierungsbezirks of Bavaria, Germany, located in the south of Bavaria, around the city of Munich. It is subdivided into four regions : Ingolstadt, Munich, Bayerisches Oberland , and S?dostoberbayern ....
, Lower Bavaria
Lower Bavaria

Lower Bavaria is one of the seven Regierungsbezirks of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. It is subdivided into three regions ?Landshut, Passau and Donau-Wald....
, Franconia
Franconia

Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and a much smaller region in northeastern Baden-W?rttemberg called Heilbronn-Franken....
, Swabia
Swabia

Swabia, Suabia, or Svebia is both a historic and linguistics region in Germany. Swabia consists of much of the present-day state of Baden-W?rttemberg , as well as the Bavarian Swabia ....
, Upper Palatinate
Upper Palatinate

The Upper Palatinate is one of the seven Regierungsbezirks of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria. It is subdivided into two regions - Oberpfalz-Nord and Regensburg....
 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
Mannheim

Mannheim is a city in Germany. With 327,318 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-W?rttemberg after the capital Stuttgart....
 and Heidelberg
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a city in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. As of 2006, over 140,000 people live within the city's area. The town of Heidelberg is an administrative district of its own....
 was given to Baden
Baden

Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-W?rttemberg of Germany....
, 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
Main

The Main is a river in Germany, 524 km long , and it is one of the more significant tributaries of the Rhine. The Main flows through the States of Germany of Bavaria, Baden-W?rttemberg and Hesse....
 and the Danube
Danube

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
. In 1835 the first German railway was constructed in his domain, between the cities of Fürth
Fürth

The city of F?rth is located in northern Bavaria, Germany in the district of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the two cities being only 7 km apart....
 and Nuremberg
Nuremberg

Nuremberg is a city in the Germany State of Bavaria, in the Regierungsbezirk of Middle Franconia. It is situated on the Pegnitz River river and the Rhine?Main?Danube Canal and is Franconia's largest city....
. Bavaria joined the Zollverein
Zollverein

The Zollverein or German Customs Union was formed among the majority of the states of the German Confederation in 1834 during the Industrial Revolution to remove internal customs barriers, although upholding a protectionist tariff system with foreign trade partners....
 in 1834.

Ludwig supported the Greek fight of independence
Greek War of Independence

The Greek War of Independence was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1829, with later assistance from several Europe powers, against the Ottoman Empire, who were assisted by their vassal state, the Egypt under Muhammad Ali and his successors....
: His second son Otto
Otto of Greece

Otto of Bavaria was made the first modern king of First Kingdom of Greece in 1832 under the London Conference of 1832, whereby Greece became a new independent monarchy under the protection of the Great Powers ....
 was then 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
Hambacher Fest

The Hambacher Fest was a German national democratic festival celebrated from 27 May to 30 May 1832 at Hambach Castle near Neustadt an der Weinstra?e ....
 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
Lola Montez

Eliza Rosanna Gilbert , better known by the stage name Lola Montez, was an Ireland-born dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who made her Countess of Landsfeld....
), 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
Lady Jane Digby

Jane Elizabeth Digby was an English aristocrat who lived a scandalous life of romantic adventure....
, an aristocratic English
English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England who speak English language in England. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
 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
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states

"Germany" at the time of the Revolutions of 1848 had been a collection of 39 states loosely bound together in the German Confederation. As nationalist sentiment crystallized into resistance to the traditional political structure, repeated calls for freedom, democracy and national unity came to threaten the status quo....
 the king was confronted with increasing protests and demonstrations of the students and the middle classes and also the Cabinet turned against him. Not willing to rule as a constitutional monarch
Constitutional monarchy

A constitutional monarchy is a form of constitutional government, where in either an elected or hereditary monarch is the head of state, unlike in an absolute monarchy, wherein the king or the queen is the sole source of political power, as he or she is not legally bound by the constitution....
, Ludwig abdicated on March 20, 1848 in favour of his eldest son, Maximilian
Maximilian II of Bavaria

Maximilian II of Bavaria was king of Bavaria from 1848 until 1864. He was son of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen....
. He was buried in St. Boniface's Abbey, Munich
St. Boniface's Abbey, Munich

St. Boniface's Abbey is a Benedictine order monastery in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It was founded in 1835 by King Ludwig I of Bavaria, as a part of his efforts to reanimate the country's spiritual life by the restoration of the monasteries destroyed during the secularisation of the early 19th century....
.
Arms of the Kingdom of Bavaria 1835:


Cultural legacy

As admirer of ancient Greece and the Italian renaissance Ludwig patronised the arts as principal of many neoclassical buildings, especially in Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
, and as fanatic collector. Among others he ordered to erect were the Walhalla temple
Walhalla temple

The Walhalla Hall of Fame and Honor is a neo-classicism hall of fame located on the Danube River 10 km east of Regensburg, in Bavaria, Germany....
, the Befreiungshalle
Befreiungshalle

The Befreiungshalle is an historical classical monument upon Mount Michelsberg above the city of Kelheim in Bavaria, Germany. It stands upstream of Regensburg on the river Danube at the confluence of the Danube and the Altm?hl, i.e....
, the Ludwigstrasse, the Bavaria statue
Bavaria statue

The Bavaria statue is a bronze sculpture statue of a female figure representing Bavaria's "secular patron saint", the Terra Bavarica , located at the border of the Theresienwiese in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, where the Oktoberfest takes place each October....
, the Glyptothek
Glyptothek

The Glyptothek is a museum in Munich, Germany, which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I of Bavaria to house his collection of Greece and Rome sculptures ....
, the Old
Alte Pinakothek

The Alte Pinakothek is an art museum situated in the Kunstareal in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries of the world housing one of the most famous art museums for the Old Master....
 and the New Pinakothek
Neue Pinakothek

The Neue Pinakothek is an art gallery in Munich, Germany. Its focus is Western art history of the 18th and 19th century and is one of the most important museums of art of the nineteenth century in the world....
. His architects Leo von Klenze
Leo von Klenze

Leo von Klenze was a German Neoclassicism architect, Painting and writer. Court architect of Bavarian King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Leo von Klenze was one of the most prominent representatives of Greek revival style....
 and Friedrich von Gärtner
Friedrich von Gärtner

Friedrich von G?rtner was a Germany architect.He and Leo von Klenze are known as the most famous architects of Bavaria under Ludwig I of Bavaria....
 also strongly influenced the cityscape of modern Athens
Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
. The king collected especially Greek and Roman sculptures, Early German and Early Dutch paintings but also masterpieces of the Italian renaissance and contemporary art for his museums and galleries. 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 and lavish sponsor for the arts. This even caused several conflicts with his son and successor Maximilian. Finally Ludwig financed his projects from own resources.

He moved the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität from Landshut
Landshut

Landshut is a city in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany, belonging to both Eastern and Southern Bavaria. Situated on the banks of the Isar, Landshut acts is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free state of Bavaria....
 to Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
 in 1826. Because of King Ludwig's passion for everything Hellenic
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
, the German name for Bavaria today is spelled "Bayern", while the language spoken there has retained its original spelling "Bairisch"—note the I versus the "Hellenic" Y.

Ludwig was an eccentric and notoriously bad poet. He would write about anything, no matter how trivial, with strings of rhyming couplets. For this the king was teased by Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine

Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was a journalist, essayist, and one of the most significant German literature German Romanticism poets. He is remembered chiefly for selections of his lyric poetry, many of which were set to music in the form of lieder by German composers....
 who wrote several mockery poems in Ludwig's style.

Private life and Issue

In private life Ludwig was in spite of his royal assertiveness modest and companionable and even known for his often shabby attire. Ludwig was hard of hearing and had a bruise on his forehead which was often conceiled in portraits.

Issue by Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen

Therese Charlotte Luise of Saxony-Hildburghausen was queen of Bavaria.Therese was a daughter of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, eldest daughter Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz....
 (July 8, 1792 – October 26, 1854; married on October 12, 1810 in Theresienwiese
Theresienwiese

Theresienwiese is an open space in the Boroughs of Munich Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt. It serves as the official ground of the Munich Oktoberfest....
, Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
)

Ancestry



See also

  • Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
    Revolutions of 1848 in the German states

    "Germany" at the time of the Revolutions of 1848 had been a collection of 39 states loosely bound together in the German Confederation. As nationalist sentiment crystallized into resistance to the traditional political structure, repeated calls for freedom, democracy and national unity came to threaten the status quo....


Sources

  • Heinz Gollwitzer
    Heinz Gollwitzer

    Heinz Gollwitzer was a Germany historian. He held the chair of Modern Political and Social History at the University of M?nster....
    , Ludwig I. von Bayern. Königtum im Vormärz, Munich 1986 (²1997).


External links