Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (1913–2008)

Prince Ludwig
Born	(1913-06-22)22 June 1913 Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria
Died	17 October 2008(2008-10-17) (aged 95) Schloss Leutstetten, Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany
Burial	Andechs Abbey cemetery, Bavaria
Spouse	Princess Irmingard of Bavaria ​ ​ (m. 1950)​
Issue	Prince Luitpold Princess Irmingard Maria Princess Philippa
Names German: Ludwig Karl Maria Anton Joseph Prinz von Bayern
House	Wittelsbach
Father	Prince Franz of Bavaria
Mother	Princess Isabella Antonie of Croÿ

Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (22 June 1913 – 17 October 2008) was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach.

Early life

Prince Ludwig was born at Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria. He was the eldest son of Prince Franz of Bavaria, the third son of King Ludwig III, and his wife Princess Isabella Antonie of Croÿ. After graduating from the Maximilians-Gymnasium (located in Schwabing, Munich), Ludwig studied forestry at the university in Hungary. In 1939, as most young German men of his age, he was drafted into the military, serving as a Gebirgsjäger. However, his career in the German Army was short lived. In early 1941, Ludwig was relieved from all combat duties as a result of the Prinzenerlass which prohibited members of Germany's royal houses from participating in military operations. He spent the rest of the war at Sarvar in Hungary where his family owned a castle. In 1945, his family fled Hungary and settled at Leutstetten near Starnberg in Bavaria.

Marriage and issue

On 19 July 1950, Ludwig married his first cousin Princess Irmingard of Bavaria (29 May 1923 in Berchtesgaden – 23 October 2010 in Leutstetten), daughter of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and Princess Antonia of Luxembourg. The civil wedding took place at Leutstetten, and the religious ceremony followed a day later at Schloss Nymphenburg in Munich. The couple had three children:

• Prince Luitpold of Bavaria (born 14 April 1951 in Leutstetten), married to Katrin Beatrix Wiegand from 1979 to 1999. They had five children.
• Princess Maria of Bavaria (born and died 3 January 1953)
• Princess Philippa of Bavaria (born and died 26 June 1954)

Later life

After the death of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria in 1955, Ludwig and Irmingard moved into Schloss Leutstetten, where Irmingard continued to live. Ludwig was a Grand Prior of the Bavarian Order of Saint George, a Knight of the Order of Saint Hubert, and from 1960 a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Ludwig died of pneumonia at Schloss Leutstetten, 17 October 2008, at the age of 95. On Wednesday, 22 October at 10:00 a.m., a Funeral Liturgy was held in the abbey church at Andechs. After the Mass, his body was buried in the Wittelsbach cemetery on the abbey grounds.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (1913–2008)

16. Ludwig I of Bavaria 8. Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria 17. Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen 4. Ludwig III of Bavaria 18. Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany 9. Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria 19. Princess Maria Anna of Saxony 2. Prince Franz of Bavaria 20. Francis IV, Duke of Modena 10. Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este 21. Maria Beatrice of Savoy 5. Maria Theresa of Austria-Este 22. Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary 11. Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria 23. Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg 1. Prince Ludwig of Bavaria 24. Alfred, Duke of Croÿ 12. Rudolf, Duke of Croÿ 25. Princess Eleonore of Salm-Salm 6. Karl Alfred, Duke of Croÿ 26. Eugène, Prince of Ligne 13. Princess Natalie of Ligne 27. Nathalie de Trazegnies 3. Princess Isabella Antonie of Croÿ 28. Prosper Louis, Duke of Arenberg 14. Engelbert, Duke of Arenberg 29. Princess Maria Ludmila of Lobkowicz 7. Princess Ludmilla of Arenberg 30. Ernest, Prince of Arenberg 15. Princess Éléonore of Arenberg 31. Princess Sophie of Auersperg

References

• Adalbert Prinz von Bayern. Die Wittelsbacher: Geschichte unserer Familie. München: Prestel Verlag, 1979.