Ludwig I, King of Bavaria
Ludwig I was king of Bavaria from 1825 until 1848.
King Ludwig I helped make Munich a cultural center of Munich. He was forced to abdicate in 1848, in part because of his detested mistress, Lola Montez.
Ludwig I (1786- 1868) was king of Bavaria from 1825 until his forced abdication in 1848, following a scandal with his current mistress, Lola Montez.
Son of King Maximilian I and Wilhelmine of Hessen-Darmstadt, Ludwig married Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in October, 1810. The wedding was the basis for the popular celebration, “Oktoberfest” which still goes on today in Bavaria. Together, Ludwig and Therese had eight children.
Ludwig was a benefactor of the arts, and under his reign, Munich became a cultural center of Germany. Ludwig brought composers, poets, and writers to Munich, as well as scientists and architects. He also oversaw the completion of Germany’s first railroad line, in 1835. It ran from the city of Fürth to Nuremberg. Ludwig had several beautiful buildings constructed, including Walhalla temple, in Munich. Its name is a take on “Valhalla,” the mythological hall of warriors in Norse mythology. Designed as a hall of fame for not only warriors, but artists, clerics, scientists, and women, Walhalla is modeled after the Parthenon in Athens.
When Ludwid came to the throne of Bavaria in 1825, most of his political policies were quite liberal. As time progresses, however, he began to impose censorship and high taxes upon his subjects. The Revolution of 1848 imposed new restrictions on the office of the king, and forced Ludwig to abdicate. Also affecting popular opinion of the king at the time, was Ludwig’s affair with a much younger dancer, Lola Montez, upon who he showered jewels, titles and estates. Lola was a foreigner, whom government officials worried would have undue influence over their monarch. She was also notoriously rude, and had a volatile temper. A cheap man by nature, it incensed subjects to watch Ludwig throw money away on a woman they despised.
After Ludwig abdicated, his son, Maximilian II, became king until 1864. Ludwig’s eccentric grandson, Ludwig II, became the new king of Bavaria, nearly bankrupting his kingdom with the construction of several magnificent palaces, including the famous fairy tale castle, Neuschwanstein, which Walt Disney used as a model for Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland.
Ludwig tried several unsuccessful attempts to leave Bavaria, to live in exile with Lola. At first the government stopped him, afraid he would take the state jewels and money with him. Then his son, Maximilian, begged him to stay on. Word of Lola Montez’s unfaithful behavior made its way back to old king Ludwig, and he eventually abandoned any idea of fleeing to his former mistress.
Ludwig died in 1868, at the age of 81. For twenty years he wandered his estates alone, nearly deaf, and no longer King of Bavaria.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_I
Herman, Eleanor, Sex with Kings New York: Harper Collins, 2004.
