From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

Contents 1 Crown Prince 2 Reign 3 Children 4 Ancestry 5 See also 6 External links

He was the son of King Maximilian I and Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. 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.

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. 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.

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-Maximilians-Universität from Landshut to Munich in 1826.

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 mistress Lola Montez, which was resented by Ludwig and the Ultramontanes were pushed out.

Ludwig had several love 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 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:

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)

Ludwig's' ancestors to the third generation

Ludwig I, King of Bavaria	Father: Maximilian I of Bavaria	Paternal Grandfather: Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld	Paternal Great-Grandfather: Christian of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
			Paternal Great-Grandmother: Karoline of Nassau-Saarbrücken
		Paternal Grandmother: Maria Francisca of Sulzbach	Paternal Great-Grandfather: Joseph, Count Palatine of Sulzbach
			Paternal Great-Grandmother: Elizabeth Augusta of Neuburg
	Mother: Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt	Maternal Grandfather: Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt	Maternal Great-Grandfather: Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
			Maternal Great-Grandmother: Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg
		Maternal Grandmother: Luise of Leiningen-Heidesheim	Maternal Great-Grandfather: Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Heidesheim
			Maternal Great-Grandmother: Katharina Polyxena of Solms-Rödelheim

• Revolutions of 1848 in the German states

• The king's portrait

• George Washington's German "Cousin" {Baron Jakob von Washington-an advisor to King Ludwig I}

Ludwig I of Bavaria House of Wittelsbach 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