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Crown Prince Rupprecht (Ruppert) was born in 1869. He succeeded as head of the Wittelsbach dynasty in 1921 upon the death of his father, Ludwig III, the last ruling King of Bavaria. 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. His first wife was Marie Gabriele, née Duchess in Bavaria (1884-1912). They had four children, including Albrecht, Prince of Bavaria (1905- ). He had a second family after World War I.
Crown Prince Rupprecht (Ruppert) was born in 1869. He succeeded as head of the Wittelsbach dynasty in 1921 upon the death of his father, Ludwig III, the last ruling King of Bavaria. Rupprecht's mother was Maria Theresa of Habsburg-Lotharingen.
Crown Prince Rupprecht's father was Ludwig III (1845-1921). Ludwig was proclaimed King of Bavaria in l913. King Ludwig III, Prinzregent Luitpold's son, was already an old man and in poor health when he came to the throne. He was the last Bavarian monarch. Ludwig III was proclaimed King of Bavaria in l913. Ludig had quite a large family, 13 children. King Ludwig III, Prinzregent Luitpold's son, was already an old man and in poor health when he came to the throne. He was the last Bavarian monarch. The Wittelsbach dynasty was deposed by a Socialist revolution in Munich on November 8, 1918. Public outrage of the deprivation and tragic consequences of the War resulted in the overthrow of royal families throughout Germany. The outbreak of this German revolution helped quicken the end of World War I. The Bavarian Government was taken over by a cabinet under the left-wing socialist, Kurt Eisner, who had led the revolt against the monarchy. In 1919, however, Eisner was assassinated. Led by Count Arco-Vally of the Germany army. After a resulting communist revolution which lasted only a few weeks a democratic government within the new German republic was formed. 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.
Crown Prince Rupprecht's mother was Maria Theresa of Habsburg-Lotharingen. Her father was Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este (1821- ) and Archduchess Elisabeth Habsburg-Lotharingen (1831- ). Habsburg-Este or Austria-Este was a title and surname used by cadet branches of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to indicate a connection with the extinct Italian princely and feudal family of Este. They ruled the Italian principality of Modena. As a cadet or younger branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, the Habsburg-Estes were accorded the rank of Archdukes and Archduchesses of Austria, Princes and Princesses of Hungary and Bohemia. Maria Theresa married Ludwig in 1868 well before his father had become Prince Regeant and there was no reason at the time to believe that Ludwig would become king.
Crown Prince Rupprecht ( Ruppert ) was born in 1869. This was just before the unification of Germany.
We have no information about his childhood at this time.
Rupprecht married Maria Gabriele (1878-1912) of Bavaria in 1900 who became as a result a duchess. Her father was Karl Theodor "Gackl" (1839). Karl Theodor was a son of King Maximilian I Joseph, Bavaria's first king. Her mother was Maria Josepha of Portugal--de Bragança (1857). We know little about her childhood and early life. His sister in law was thus the Princess Elizabeth. While we have little information about her, available images suggest that she was a loving mother. Unfortunately, two of her children died as infants. Maria Gabriele herself died at the young age of about 36 in Sorrento. Tragically her eldest son Luitpod died only 2 years later.
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They had four children, only one of which survived to adulthood. The children were very elegantly dressed as boys in early 20th century. Their clothing looks much like that ofthe Belgian princes at about the same time. Notably the mother of the Belgian princes was Princess Elizabeth who was to become the queen of Belgium. Luitpold was born in 1901. We have little information on Luitpold and his childhood. We do have several portraits of him and we thus know a lot about how he was dressed. His mother chose a variety of very fancy outfits. He died tragically in 1914. Irmingard was born in 1902, but died as an infant in 1903. Albrecht (Albert) was born in 1905 and became Duke of Bavaria in the geological line, although he never reigned. He married Countess Maria Draskovich at Berchetesgaden in 1930. Rudolf was born in 1909. Rudolf dies after only 3 years in 1912.
The Crown Prince's children were very elegantly dressed in the early 20th century before World War I. A photograph that appears to be taken in the 1900s shows the two boys in satin outfits with open lace collars and matching lace at the cuffs. The younger boy wears a skirt outfit. His older brother who looks to be about 10 years old wears a matching out fits but with short pants and a waist sash. Both boys wear short white socks and buckle shoes. Interestingly these outfits are very similar to out fits that Bavarian Princess who became the Queen of Belgium chose for the Belgian princes (Leopold and Charles) at about the same time. Most of the images show the boys wearing what look to us like very formal clothing. We notice a few images of the boys more informally dressed.
The boys wore relatively short hair, although longer when they were younger. Luitpold had the longest hair when young. There hair was never done in the long ringlets like some American boys wore--although this fashiomn was declining in popularity after the turn of the 20th century. The boys wore their hair over their ears until they were about 7 or 8 anf then it was cut to mid-ear level. We are not sure vabout the precise age at which their hair was cut shorter. At about 12 they received short hair cuts. The basic styles for all the boys were simulkar. Differences in the boys' hair caused some differences in the styling. Alnrecht seems to have had curlier hair than Luitpold.
We have no information about Crown Prince Rupprecht as a father. We note that most of the portriats of the boys are with their mother. The fewer portraits of the boys with their father are much more formal portraits. We note none of the more intimate portraits taken with their mother. This may reflect the general attitudes at the time, rather than the specific personality of Prince Rupprecht. Our information, howevr, is very limited and is based only on the available portraits at this time.
The German public in 1914 entered World War I very enthusiastically--as was the case with the population in other countries. I'm not sure if public sentimate in Bavaria was any less enthusiastic. Bavaria was less militaristic than Prussia before German unification in 1871. The men and boys in the Bavarian royal family were pictured in military uniforms. This was the common practice throughout Germany as well in other European countries. France was the only European beligerent that did not have a monarchial government. World War I was, however, devastating for Bavaria and the rest of Germany. The human carnage was unimanginable. The economy was near collapse when Germany asked for an armistace. The public blamed the Kaisser and the other herditary leaders. As a result, popular revolations forced the nobel families throughout Europe, including Germany, to relinquish power. The Kaiser was forced to abdicate and flee to Holland. The other German royals also abdicated in the face of republican revolution. King Ludwig III addicated ???, 1918. The end of the monarchy meant that Prince Rupprecht and Prince Albrecht no longer had prospects of becoming king.
Rupprecht first wife Maria Gabriele had died in 1912 before World War I. After the War in 1921 he decided to marry again. He married
Princess Antoinette von Nassau of Luxembourg (1899- ). They had
six children including: Heinrich, Prince of Bavaria (1922- ), Irmingard, Princess of Bavaria (1923- ), Editha, Princess of Bavaria (1924- ), Hilda, Princess of Bavaria (1926- ), Gabriele, Princess of Bavaria (1927- ), and Sophie, Princess of Bavaria (1935- ). It is interesting to note how differently bthese children were dressed compared with the way his firsrt sons were dressed. One reason may be the different fashion sence of his new, young wife. The primary reason, however, is how significantly fashions changed in the 1920s after World War I.
Prince Rupprecht succeeded as head of the Wittelsbach dynasty in 1921 upon the death of his father, Ludwig III, the last ruling King of Bavaria. 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.
After the creation of the new German Republic ar Weimar (1919), the question emerged as to what property belonged to the various royal families and what belonged to the state. The Wittelsbachs after some negotiation reached an agreement with the Bavarian state government (1923). The family was regonized as the owners of various properties which included both palaces and castles and substantial forest and agricultural holdings. They were also granted residency rights in palaces and properties awarded to the Bavarian government. Individual members of the family were provided apartments in various residences.
The various royal family used several different residences and moved a good deal between them, depending on the season and social enggements. As Bavarians most family members continued living in Bavaria, especially in southern Bavaria.
The primary residence was Leuchtenberg Palace. King Rupert and Queen Antonia continued to maintain Leuchtenberg Palace as their official residence. Leuchtenberg Palace is located symbocially at the center of Munich, the Bavarian capital. Like other German royals, there was still the hope that the monarchy might be restored. Republican government was new to the Germans. From the very beginning there were elements in Germany that were opposed to the Weimar Republic. Monarchial sentiment was especially strong in the military. The prominent location of Leuchtenberg Palace was a constant reminder to Bavarians thjat the royal family was still available. The spacuous palace afforded space for Rupert and Antonia as well as their six children.
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The other most important family residence was the Schloss Nymphenburg which was the royal summer palace located just outside Munich. Many important family celebrations were conducted there. Another important residence was Schloss Berchtesgaden close to the Austrian border. The family loved to spend part of the summer there. Some of the children ( Princesses Irmingard, Hilda, and Gabriele) were born there. The family spent considerable time there in the 1920s and 30s. When Hitler became Chncelloe (1933), however, Prince Rupprecht stopped using the residence. He did not want to appear to be assiciated with Hitler.
Rather during the summer the family used Schloss Hohenschwangau in the Bavarian Alps. King Ludwig II had lived there as a boy and it was very close to the more famous of Ludwig's castles--Schloss Neuschwanstein. nother important family residence was Schloss Leutstetten. Actually it was more like a mannor house. There was not only the main house, but several smaller houses where family members lived.
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