Ludwig I of Bavaria

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Ludwig I (or Louis I, which is the French form of his name, his godfather was Louis XVI of France) (born August 25 1786 Strasbourg, – died February 29, 1868 Nice) was king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.

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

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Crown Prince

He was the son of Maximilian I and Wilhelmine of Hessen-Darmstadt. In October 1810, he married Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1792-1854), the wedding being the occasion of the first ever Oktoberfest. 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.

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Reign

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 Glyptothek, the Old and the New Pinakothek.

He moved the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität from Landshut to Munich in 1826. Ludwig also encouraged industrialization. He initiated the Ludwig channel between the Main River and the Danube. In 1835 the first German railway was constructed in his domain, between Fürth and Nuremberg.

Ludwig supported the Greek fight for independence: His second son Otto was elected king of Greece in 1832. After the revolution in France 1830, his previous liberal policy became more and more repressive. Ludwig became also tainted with scandals associated with one of his mistresses, Lola Montez and he abdicated on March 20, 1848 in favour of his son, king Maximilian II of Bavaria.

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