Tracing through Bavarian monarchist history.
The story of the Bavarian royalty is really the story of the Wittelsbach family, whose unbroken rule of Bavaria spanned more than seven hundred years. From 1140 to1914, a total of fifty Wittelsbacher held sway over Bavaria and the smaller dukedoms into which it was, for a time, divided. The castles of the most famous Wittelsbach of all, Ludwig II, are a large part of what makes Bavaria's cultural landscape so distinct. You can't walk more than a dozen yards in Munich's Altstadt without a reminder of the Wittelsbach reign. Most of Munich's historically significant buildings owe their existence to the pride, generosity or religious devotion of a Wittelsbach ruler. Here is a selection of some of the more notable. 1180-1183, Otto I was the first Wittelsbach to be Herzog (Duke) of Bavaria. He was elevated to this exalted position by Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I. Otto's predecessor, Heinrich der Löwe (Henry the Lion), was the founder of Munich; however, Friedrich I had decided that Heinrich was far too unruly for his liking. Although the family claims to have ruled the region before Otto I, it is difficult to distinguish historical fact from early legend. 1294-1347, Ludwig der Bayer (Ludwig the Bavarian), Otto's great-great-grandson, was the first Wittelsbach to be elected King of the Germans (in 1314). Fourteen years later, in 1328, he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. He extended the Munich city walls and secured a monopoly of the south German salt trade for Munich. 1467-1508, Herzog Albrecht IV, a great-great-great grandson of Ludwig the Bavarian, minted the first Bavarian gold ducat in 1500; from 1504 forward he ruled over the united upper and lower Bavaria from the new capital, Munich. 1508-1550, Herzog Wilhelm IV, Albrecht's son, declared that only firstborn sons could govern, as he did not want to share the reign with his brother. He also decreed that beer must contain only barley, hops and water. This was the famous Bavarian Reinheitsgebot, or purity law of 1516. 1579-1597, Herzog Wilhelm V, the grandson of Wilhelm IV, founded another of Munich's great beer traditions, the world famous Hofbräuhaus, built in 1589. And the Glockenspiel on the tower of the city council building is a tribute to his marriage to Renate von Lothringen. 1597-1651, Kurfürst Maximilian I, Wilhelm's son, made extensive alterations to the Residenz palace and vastly increased the size of the royal court. Munich began to acquire a reputation as a cultural center for the first time in its history. The Mariensäule (St. Mary's Column) in what is now Marienplatz was raised by Maximilian in thanks for the deliverance of the land from its Swedish invaders. He also had a further statue of the virgin and child built into the façade of the Residenz. 1651-1679, Kurfürst Ferdinand, son of Maximilian I, and his Italian wife, Princess Henriette Adelheid of Savoy, brought the Baroque style to Munich; they commissioned the building of the Theatinerkirche. As a present for his wife, Ferdinand built a summer residence known as the Kemnathen on a farm west of Munich. She called it the "Castello delle Ninfe" (Castle of the Nymphs) and it was later the central building around which Nymphenburg Palace was built. In 1656 Ferdinand banned smoking. 1679-1726, Kurfürst Max Emanuel, Ferdinand's son, helped defend Vienna against the Ottoman invasion of 1683. Later however, he spent over a decade in exile, a period in which Bavaria was occupied and left miserable and impoverished by the Austrian army. On his reluctant return, the elector idled away his remaining years between the palaces of Schleißheim and Nymphenburg, on which he had lavished extensive alterations before again leaving the country. 1745-1777, Max III Joseph, grandson of Max Emanuel, was much loved despite his tight rein on the state purse strings. Enlightened and artistic, he introduced compulsory education in 1771 and had the rococo Cuvilliés Theater built within the walls of the Residenz. As he had no children, his death in 1777 brought to an end the line of the Bavarian Wittelsbacher. 1777-1799, Kurfürst Karl Theodor, of the Palatine Wittelsbacher inherited the Bavarian throne. He was immensely unpopular with his subjects and had a reputation as a womanizer, spendthrift and dullard. But he left a lasting memorial: in 1789 he commissioned American Benjamin Thompson and court gardener Friedrich Ludwig Sckell to design an "English Garden" for the people of Munich. Karl Theodor did not, however, leave any legitimate heirs. 1799-1825, Kurfürst Max IV Joseph, a distant cousin, succeeded Karl Theodor. In 1806 he was elevated to King Max I Joseph by Napoleon, in thanks for Bavaria's joining the French cause. Bavaria was now a kingdom for the first time in its history. In 1810 Max Joseph arranged a grand festival to mark the wedding of his son, crown prince Ludwig, to Therese Charlotte Luise, Princess of Saxony-Hildburghausen. This was the first Oktoberfest. 1825-1848, King Ludwig I , of Bavaria, Max Joseph's son, brought artists such as Klenze, Gärtner and Cornelius to Munich. He moved the University from Landshut to the city in 1826 and appointed renowned scientists, philosophers and historians to important positions. He built extensively and was responsible for the Feldherrnhalle, the Alte Pinakothek and the Ludwigsbrücke. He abdicated in 1848, mainly due to complications arising from his relationship with dancer Lola Montez. 1848-1864, King Maximilian II, son of King Ludwig I, also had a large building program and brought many prominent scientists and artists to Munich. He was a reformer who overhauled the judicial system and introduced freedom of the press. A new road, Maximilianstraße, was built on his instructions. The Maximilianeum, at the eastern end of the road, is now the seat of the Bavarian parliament. 1864-1886, King Ludwig II, Maximilian's eldest son, also known as the "fairy tale king," built some of Bavaria's most-visited tourist attractions such as Neuschwanstein castle and Herrenchiemsee palace. In the eyes of his contemporaries, Ludwig was extravagant and eccentric and thus was forced to abdicate the throne. He drowned, along with his doctor, in Lake Starnberg; the circumstances of his death remain mysterious. 1886-1912, Prinzregent Luitpold, the third son of King Ludwig I, ruled for 26 years in place of Otto I, the brother and heir of Ludwig II, who was considered too mentally disturbed to rule. During this period, Bavaria experienced unprecedented growth and stability. The crown prince interfered little in the day to day running of the kingdom, leaving state affairs in the hands of his ministers. 1912-1918, King Ludwig III, Luitpold's son, already an old man and in poor health when he came to the throne, was the last Bavarian monarch. In the upheavals that followed Germany's defeat in the First World War, Bavaria was declared a worker's republic and the royal family fled Munich on the advice of the new government, which said it could not guarantee their safety. After 783 years in power the rule of the Wittelsbach family in Bavaria was at an end. Since then, royal titles have no longer carried any legal status. Lingering monarchist sympathies still exist in Bavaria, but there have been no serious attempts to reinstate the Wittelsbacher. Putting Rupprecht, King Ludwig III's son, onto the throne was considered in the early 1930s, as a way to check Hitler's rise to power, and in the 1940s at the end of the Second World War, but never came about. Rupprecht died in 1955 and his son, Albrecht, became "heir to the throne" in the eyes of Bavarian monarchists. With Albrecht's death earlier this year, the flame has been passed on to his son Franz. The Wittelsbach family still counts approximately fifty members, among them, Kaltenbach brewery owner Prince Luitpold von Bayern.