Hitler and Royal Bavaria

At the end of World War I, the last Bavarian monarch, King Ludwig III, had relinquished power, though without abdicating, in the face of the German Revolution. He went into exile, later returned to Bavaria but had to leave again due to fear of assassination. He died in Hungary in 1921. However, the experience of radical revolutionary rule seemed to shock many Bavarians back to their senses and his funeral was a mass demonstration of support for the old monarchy. His son and heir, Crown Prince Rupprecht, refused, however, to use the occasion of his father’s funeral to seize power even though many thought such a coup could be successful. He was a celebrated war hero, a former army group commander on the western front, and after the death of his father was referred to by many as “Your Majesty”, even by some in the local government. The Crown Prince was adamant that he wanted the monarchy restored but only by legal means. He refused to recognize the Weimar Republic and was as upset about the state of affairs that prevailed in his country as every proud German was.

Brownshirts leader Ernst Roehm

Crown Prince Rupprecht refrained from entering the political fray himself but made it clear that he supported the creation of a “…constitutional, social monarchy with universal suffrage.” This seemed to be a very real possibility as monarchist support in Bavaria seemed increasingly widespread. However, Bavaria was also the birthplace of the Nazi Party and the aspiring dictator, Adolf Hitler, would find an implacable enemy in the person of the Bavarian crown prince. Hitler had served in a Bavarian regiment in World War I and started his political career in Bavaria (he belatedly had to renounce his Austrian citizenship to enter politics). However, traditional, Catholic conservatism ran strong in Bavaria and Hitler would actually find less support there than in other areas. In 1923 Hitler had tried to enlist the Crown Prince in his “Beer Hall Putsch” but the royal would have no part of it. He had earlier sent his supporter Ernst Roehm (who he would ultimately have killed) to try to enlist the support of the Crown Prince, but the Bavarian heir would have no part of it. Hitler tried to tempt the Crown Prince by hinting at supporting a restoration but never outright promising it due to the support among many Bavarian monarchists for seceding from Germany, which Hitler would not allow.

To his credit, Crown Prince Rupprecht was never taken in by the vague promises of the Nazis. It was all a deception of course as, privately, Hitler admitted, “that he couldn’t stand Rupprecht von Bayern” and never had any intention of restoring him to his throne. Fortunately, there were considerable numbers of loyal Bavarian monarchists who did support the heir-to-the-throne and as the Nazi Party grew in power, others in Bavaria increasingly looked to Crown Prince Rupprecht for their political salvation. The royal war hero commanded sufficiently widespread support in Bavaria to be seen as a potential savior from the Nazis, pushing some that were probably not monarchists at all to get behind the idea of a royal restoration. Despite being born in Bavaria, the Nazi Party actually had less support there than most would think. Finally, as the Nazis grew in power throughout Germany, Bavarian politicians began to look to Crown Prince Rupprecht as their savior. The Crown Prince himself certainly thought something needed to be done to spare Bavaria from Nazi rule and offered to step in and take charge of the government himself if no one else had the spine to stand up to Hitler.

Kronprinz Rupprecht

Finally, a plan began to take shape for Crown Prince Rupprecht to step in as a sort of Bavarian dictator with the title of “Staatskommissar” so that he could do things that the existing political establishment lacked the will or courage (or both) to do. Many Bavarian monarchists naturally supported this plan as a prelude to the restoration of the monarchy but so did many Social Democrats, so frightened were they by the sudden and rapid rise of the Nazi Party. Everything seemed favorable as every day brought more supporters as the Nazis gained more power. However, the plan was thwarted when the elderly (and increasingly senile) President Paul von Hindenburg was induced to appoint Hitler Chancellor of Germany. After that, the Nazi dictatorship was swiftly established and numerous Bavarian monarchists were thrown into prison by the new regime. Crown Prince Rupprecht refused to be reconciled with this new state of affairs. He refused to fly the Nazi flag at any of his residences and when Hitler requested the use of one of the royal castles to entertain state guests, the Crown Prince refused.

When he hoped to gain monarchist support, Hitler tried to give the impression that he would restore the monarchy in Bavaria (as in other parts of Germany depending on who he was talking to) and enlisted prominent Bavarians to try to convince the Crown Prince to endorse the Nazis. Ernst Roehm was one such figure as was his former Freikorps commander Franz Ritter von Epp, a former friend of the Crown Prince and a former monarchist but one who had abandoned that to embrace the Nazi cause. None of them succeeded. While on a visit to King George V of Great Britain, Crown Prince Rupprecht stated that he supported a “reasonable” German rearmament but felt certain that Hitler was completely insane. He still held out hope that the monarchy would be restored but, unlike some, he had the wherewithal to realize that it would not be because of the Nazis, despite their many implied or overt promises. Nor was the Crown Prince alone as there were many devout, traditional, Catholic Bavarian monarchists who were determined to resist the Nazis. One of the most prominent was Baron Adolf von Harnier but he was found out by the Gestapo and arrested in 1939.

Adolf Freiherr von Harnier

With the arrest of Baron von Harnier and the discovery of his hopes of restoring the House of Wittelsbach to the Bavarian throne, the Nazi state came down on the old Bavarian Royal Family. Properties were confiscated and, at the end of the year, Crown Prince Rupprecht and his family were forced to flee to the Kingdom of Italy where they were given sanctuary by King Victor Emmanuel III. Despite the close alliance between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Victor Emmanuel III was still the King of Italy, above Mussolini and there was nothing anyone could do to harm the Bavarian royals as long as the Savoy monarchy protected them. Furiously, Hitler banned the Crown Prince from returning to Germany and the royals settled in Florence. Likewise, Crown Prince Rupprecht never relented in his staunch opposition to the Nazi regime. Of course, there was little the Crown Prince could do under the circumstances, even his life in Italy was not totally free from worry, but he never gave up hope that the monarchy would be restored and as the war went on, it seemed more and more likely the Nazi regime would fall. He had very definite ideas about what should replace it.

One of the problems that the Nazis had with the Bavarian royal house (and some other German monarchists did as well) was their openness toward secession and the break-up of Germany. In 1942 a British diplomat who met with the Crown Prince reported that he envisioned a South German monarchy that would include Bavaria and the Austrian-Tyrol while the Rhineland and Hanover would form another state and Schleswig, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg, Saxony and Posen combining to form another that would separate western Europe from the Soviets. At least that was one idea. In 1943 the Crown Prince sent a memorandum to the British government volunteering to take charge of things in Germany when the Nazi regime collapsed, seemingly implying his willingness to assume the role of German Kaiser. However, more common was the proposal of joining Austria to Bavaria in a new South German monarchy. Unfortunately, after 1943, things became much more dangerous for the Bavarian Royal Family. The King of Italy dismissed Mussolini and began trying to extricate Italy from the Axis and the war. The Germans promptly began moving in to take control of as much of the Italian peninsula as possible.

The Crown Prince & Princess in Italy

The Crown Prince left his residence and was hidden by an Italian colonel, allowing him to evade the German occupation forces. However, his family was not so fortunate. They were in Hungary at the time and when the Nazis occupied Hungary in 1944 Crown Princess Antonia (of Luxembourg) and the children were taken prisoner on direct orders from Hitler himself. They were sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and were later moved to Dachau. Within the month they were liberated by American troops but the trauma of the ordeal had weakened Crown Princess Antonia and she never fully recovered, dying nine years later in Switzerland. The Crown Prince’s son, Duke Albrecht (future head of the family), was moved from place to place as well before being liberated by the French in Austria. When the war ended in 1945, U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower sent a special plane to fly Crown Prince Rupprecht back to Germany but while they were very polite and friendly, no one was prepared to take his ideas for post-war Germany under serious consideration. The Allies had already made their own agreements concerning the occupation and division of Germany and none of them included a restoration of any of the German monarchies, even one that had been so staunchly anti-Nazi from the beginning as the Royal House of Bavaria.

Crown Prince Rupprecht returned home as a more beloved figure than ever before due to his staunch opposition to the Nazis from the very beginning. Looking at the situation in post-war Bavaria, one would think that a restoration of the monarchy would have been easy. However, four foreign countries were then involved in Germany and a restoration of the monarchy was considered out of the question by both the Allies and the West German government which (and this is at least understandable) feared that this would coincide with calls for Bavarian independence, breaking up the federal union and weakening West Germany at a time when they were most concerned by the looming threat of a third world war with East Germany and the rest of the Soviet bloc. So, Crown Prince Rupprecht remained honored, beloved and respected but also without a throne. One German historian stated that many Bavarian people considered him their monarch anyway, regardless of what the law said, referring to Rupprecht as, “uncrowned, and yet a king”. When he died in 1955 tens of thousands of people visited his remains and he was given a full state funeral by the Bavarian government as if he had been a former monarch. In his person, he represented an older, nobler Bavaria and an example of a national figure who was untainted by the Nazi regime, who also represented all those Bavarians, not just the loyal Catholic royalists, who had opposed the Nazis from start to finish. He was a figure everyone in post-war Bavaria could, and in large part did, admire.

Monarch Profile: King Ludwig II of Bavaria

Probably no other King of Bavaria looms so large in the popular memory as Ludwig II. This is due in large part to the lasting legacy he left behind as well as the fact that he was such an enigma. He also reigned during a pivotal time in Bavarian history, when the leadership of the German-speaking peoples passed from Austria to Prussia and when the German states were reunited into the German Empire. A man of vision to some, a lunatic to others, his leadership qualities have often been doubted but his accomplishments cannot be. He left an indelible mark on the Kingdom of Bavaria and aside from any personal problems he may have had, a few facts stand on their own; accusations of his mental instability do not stand up to close scrutiny and he left a Bavaria more secure and more beautiful than he found it. He may not have been exactly “normal” but if one takes a step back from all of the controversy, they might see that King Ludwig II was not so unusual as most think and he certainly stands above any republic leader his country (or later state) has had since the downfall of the monarchy.

Prince Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm, of the royal house of Wittelsbach, was born on August 25, 1845 at Nymphenburg Palace to King Maximilian II of Bavaria and Queen Marie of Prussia (niece of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia). He was named Ludwig after his Bavarian grandfather and because he was born on the feast of King St Louis IX of France, Otto was the name favored by his parents and Friedrich Wilhelm of course came from the Prussian side of the family. In keeping with the times, Prince Ludwig had a very strict upbringing as a child. In fact, those who think of royals living pampered lives of privilege would undoubtedly be shocked to know just how strict even some of the most lofty royal children were treated in the past. From his earliest childhood his days were dominated by rigorous schedule of hours of study broken by regular doses of intense exercise. There was scarcely time to even consider idleness or frivolity and he had much more contact with his tutors than with his parents. Ludwig and his father seemed to have little to say to each other and he never even referred to his mother as such but in later life simply called her, “my predecessor’s consort”. Most regard him as being closer to his grandfather, King Ludwig I, known for his artistic and romantic attachments and that it was Ludwig I who imparted a fascination with architecture and building on Ludwig II.

In fact, Ludwig and his father may have been more alike than most people think. King Maximilian II had an interest in architecture as well, was also a great patron of the arts (particularly literature) and, as monarch, Ludwig II would carry on with essentially the same policies as his father, especially in regards to foreign affairs. Rather, tensions between father and son seemed to be something of a family tradition. The first Ludwig and Maximilian II did not get along terribly well and so it is not very surprising that he and his son were not very close either. Too much shouldn’t be made of such a thing as it was hardly unique to Bavaria and as cool as fathers and sons could be to each other, things certainly never degenerated to the point they did in places like Britain or Prussia with fathers having their sons arrested! As he grew into adolescence, Prince Ludwig came to have a fascination with ancient German history and mythology, stories of chivalry and knighthood and developed very close friendships with Prince Paul of Thurn und Taxis and his cousin Princess Elizabeth (future Empress of Austria).

The young prince was eighteen when the death of his father brought him to the Bavarian throne on March 10, 1864 as King Ludwig II, a handsome and popular monarch from the outset. He was young and inexperienced but had the awareness to acknowledge this and so kept his father’s ministers where they were and made no major changes in policy or personnel. King Ludwig II is often accused of caring nothing for the government of his country but rather being focused on his own personal interests such as art, music and architecture. However, this is putting a noticeably negative “spin” on what could just as easily be seen as a very coherent national policy and that was the beautification and revitalization of the Kingdom of Bavaria. When he began construction of the new Gärtnerplatz Theater, he was setting out on what amounted to a program of Bavarian glorification. What is often called an obsession with his own hobbies can just as easily and with as much justification be called a campaign to make the Kingdom of Bavaria a cultural heartland for the German people.

It would take time, of course, but it would make Bavaria stand out and it may have, at least in part, been influenced by the international situation in the German-speaking community. When Ludwig II came to the throne the Second Schleswig War had already started and the rivalry between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire for German leadership was becoming heated. Ludwig II was the son of a Prussian mother but his national policy was one of alliance with Austria and he had family ties with the House of Hapsburg as well. The artistic endeavors of the king might have served to raise the status of Bavaria in the midst of this rivalry as well as reminding both sides of their shared German heritage through such works as the King’s favorite composer, Richard Wagner, many of whose works focused on Germanic-Norse mythology and folklore. It would also be untrue to say that Ludwig II cared nothing for his people, something often suggested by his shunning of large crowds and public events of royal pageantry. The King disliked such mob events but frequently traveled around his kingdom, talking individually to ordinary Bavarians on their farms and in small villages. He would listen to them, hear their stories and often, to their joyful surprise, would send generous gifts to them later. Despite all the rumors about the King, he always remained very popular.

For most of the reign of King Ludwig II the dominating issue was the unification of Germany and he had not been long on the throne when war broke out between Prussia and Austria in 1866. The Kingdom of Italy and some minor German states allied with Prussia while most of the major German states allied with Austria such as Saxony, Wurttemberg, Hannover and Hesse. Under Ludwig II, Bavaria joined alongside Austria against the Prussians as well. However, though Bavarian troops saw action in a victory against the Prussians at the Battle of Langensalza, it proved to be of no avail. In July, Prussian forces won the decisive Battle of Sadowa, virtually eliminating any Austrian opposition in the north while in the south, after winning the Battle of Bezzecca, Italian forces were poised to threaten the South Tyrol. Austria did win the last battle, against the Prussians at Lamacs, but it had no effect on the outcome. Austria was forced to make peace, the “Peace of Prague” that excluded Austria from German affairs and replaced the Austrian-led German Confederation with the Prussian-led North German Confederation.

The Kingdom of Bavaria was forced to pay an indemnity to Prussia and was, from that point, effectively dependent on Prussia. It had little choice to fall in and go to war with the French Second Empire alongside Prussia and the other German states in 1870. After the French were soundly defeated, Bavaria, having joined the North German Confederation, was to be the second most significant member state of the new German Empire that Bismarck was forming under Prussian King Wilhelm I (Ludwig II’s uncle). The King endorsed the idea of a united Germany but objected to the way it was done and boycotted the official proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Kaiser. Ludwig II gave his rather grudging consent to the union after the reception of a large payment from Bismarck which the King was sorely in need of because of his strained financial situation due to his lavish building programs and patronages. However, one blatant fact that is often overlooked in the King’s objections to how unification came was that it resulted in Bavaria being given a great deal more autonomy than other states. The Kingdom of Prussia was naturally going to be the leader of the new empire but the Kingdom of Bavaria was certainly “number two” in the hierarchy of Germany. If King Ludwig II had taken a different tone, this might not have been the case at all.

For most of the next decade there was not much that Ludwig II busied himself with policy-wise and in 1886 he was deposed by what amounted to a sort of coup from within the upper-echelons of power in Bavaria and the Royal Family. The justification for this was the accusation that King Ludwig II was insane. Was he then, and why did he come to be so controversial? I may not be capable of an entirely impartial opinion but, as with not a few cases of alleged royal insanity, the “evidence” produced does not seem all that convincing to me. What much of it came down to was his private life, his spending habits and his aspirations, what some have referred to as the King drifting away into a land of fantasy. In terms of his private life, he was engaged once but never married and from his private papers seems to have had homosexual inclinations. However, from these same private papers (letters, diaries etc) we can also see that he viewed such inclinations as a temptation toward sin that he had to struggle against. No one can say with any certainty that he ever gave in to these temptations and I would find it difficult to see how anyone could hold his inclinations against him, given his attitude, unless they are just simply a hateful person. That was probably the least of his “issues” though as it was something kept very private and which he obviously resisted.

The issue of his drifting away from reality is often tied to what is the most often cited “evidence” for his insanity which was the vast sums of money he spent building palaces, castles and theaters. He certainly built a great many and had plans to do even more. Suggestions that he wished to form a secret order of royalists and dreamed of taking over the Canary Islands may have been just a bit on the eccentric side but I am the last person who could criticize him for that. In terms of his spending on so many palaces, it is important to remember that while he did spend himself into enormous debt on these magnificent architectural works of art, it was *his* debt and not that of the Bavarian government. He was not using tax money taken from ordinary Bavarian farmers to pay for these things but was strictly doing it all from his own personal fortune. He also had some odd habits to be sure but so do many other people and there really is nothing concrete that can be pointed to as proof that he was out of touch with reality.

What seems to be the case is that his ministers were tired of trying to deal with a monarch who had little patience for their lectures about his finances and constant complaining that he was not acting like a monarch should. He threatened to dismiss them and so, fearing for their own power and position, decided to try to have him deposed on grounds of insanity before he could take action against them. They tried to enlist other members of the Royal Family to support them, particularly Prince Luitpold (son Ludwig I and the King’s uncle) but he was reluctant without real proof of debilitating mental illness. Accusations of insanity amongst the Wittelsbachs was becoming rather common and was not the sort of thing that was conducive to the stability and longevity of the monarchy as an institution. When the Prince demanded proof the ministers presented a letter signed by four doctors declaring the King unfit to rule though they were hand-picked by the opposition and none of them had ever even examined the King! Nonetheless, perhaps thinking about the Royal Family’s finances, Prince Luitpold ultimately went along with it as the government declared him regent and King Ludwig II deposed.

It was a very troubling time for Bavaria and crowds of peasants and ordinary townsfolk had to be dispersed by the police when they rallied in favor of their King. The ministers tried to enlist the support of Bismarck in Berlin, but the “Iron Chancellor” wanted no part of it and refused to get involved. In the early hours of June 12, 1886 Ludwig II was taken into custody and placed under house arrest. The next day he went for a walk with a doctor of his and the two were later found dead in a nearby lake. The official cause of death was suicide by drowning but the autopsy clearly showed that he had not drowned. How exactly the King met his end may never be determined for certain, instead, it remains one last mystery in the life of a very mysterious sort of monarch. He was succeeded by his brother Otto, who was in turn declared unfit to rule on grounds of insanity and so Prince Luitpold went on being King of Bavaria in all but name until his death in 1912 when all pretense was dropped and his son was declared King Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria to date. On the whole, Bavaria did not suffer because of any of this and the country prospered during the regency, undergoing what many have called something of a “golden age” which is certainly preferable to the alternative and shows that Prince Luitpold was an able man even if some never forgave him for his part in deposing his nephew.

In closing, it is impossible to think of King Ludwig II without thinking of the many palaces and architectural masterpieces he left behind. His buildings are probably more well known around the world than the man himself and even if one considers the King to have been a horrible monarch and mentally ill, I think any would have to admit that his reign was ultimately to the benefit of Bavaria. Those famous buildings he left behind, so controversial at the time because of their cost, have proven to priceless works of art. They are a legacy in the same way as the Pyramids of Giza are to Egypt or the Great Wall is to China. They have benefited Bavaria immensely and not just in the cultural sense but even in a plain and dirty monetary sense; they are still drawing in massive amounts of money for the local economy and the usurper government by attracting tourists from all over the world. King Ludwig II may not have been the ideal monarch and I would never say he was but I don’t think he was insane nor do I think his reign was detrimental. On the contrary, I look at what he left behind and am quite convinced that Bavaria would have been less without him.

Monarchist Quote

“I am a true servant of my King and country, not only as a dutiful subject but because I am a convinced monarchist, politically and intellectually. I mean by that, quite apart from myself and my relationship to my Bavarian and German fatherland, I believe monarchy to be the most successful form of government that the history of mankind has known.”

-Adolf von Harnier, on trial for treason, Germany, 1938

Monarch Profile: King Otto of Bavaria

The penultimate King of Bavaria was born Otto Wilhelm Luitpold Adalbert Waldemar von Wittelsbach in Munich on April 27, 1848 to King Maximilian II and Queen Marie of Prussia, their second son. At his baptism, King Otto I of Greece (his uncle) stood as his godfather. It was a tumultuous time for Bavaria, a year of revolutions across Europe and only one month before Maximilian II succeeded to the Bavarian throne, first going along with the liberal nationalists but then, upon seeing the direction they wished to take, reverting back to being a staunch ally of the Austrian Empire. During these years, Prince Otto and his elder brother, Crown Prince Ludwig, spent most of their time living with their private tutors, though for about 10 years after 1853 they were able to enjoy summers with their family all together at Berchtesgaden. His brother had only just turned 18 when Maximilian II died and the Crown Prince became King Ludwig II in 1864. Just the year before Prince Otto began his service in the Bavarian army and the same year his brother came to the throne became a commissioned officer, in keeping with family tradition. However, he had been born two month premature and there were some concerns about his health.

These concerns increased somewhat the following year when some began to notice that Prince Otto was behaving rather oddly. However, none of it seemed too serious and in 1866 he was promoted to captain and began active service with the Royal Bavarian Infantry Guards as well as being admitted to the Order of St George. In 1866 he served in the Austro-Prussian War, on the side of Austria, but the defeat forced Bavaria into an alliance with Prussia and so, by then promoted to colonel, Prince Otto served alongside the Prussians during the 1870 war with France. When the King of Prussia was proclaimed German Kaiser by the assembled German princes at the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles it was Prince Otto, along with his uncle, who represented the Kingdom of Bavaria. The second German Empire was born but Prince Otto, nor his brother, were extremely enthusiastic about it and the Prince found the Prussians just a bit too proud and triumphalistic. There were obviously some mixed feelings about this turn of events in Bavaria, a still largely rural Catholic monarchy more closely connected to Austria than the more urban-dominated and Protestant Kingdom of Prussia. However, Prince Otto would soon become of interest to the Prussians, specifically Chancellor Bismarck, not because of his political views but the state of his mental health.

Soon after the war Prince Otto began displaying even more behavior that was considered strange (though not to me). He became very reclusive and suspicious about other people, especially strangers and did not like the public staring at him. He stopped shaving and seemed to have trouble remembering things (again, none of which seems odd to me) and concerns eventually reached all the way to Berlin. It probably did not help that his older brother was also coming to be considered as suffering from depression and other vague psychiatric disorders (they usually are). In 1872 he was officially diagnosed as being mentally ill, specialists were called in and the following year a noted expert in the field confirmed the diagnosis. Given that, I have to say here again that an “expert” in the field of psychiatry is a little misleading given how little, even today, medical science actually understands about the workings of the human mind. The royal handlers tried to keep Prince Otto out of public view but there were still incidents that caused shock, such as when he rushed into a church in his hunting clothes and asked the bishop to forgive his sins. Okay, maybe the timing could have been better but, isn’t that what a bishop is supposed to do for a penitent sinner? Still doesn’t seem that crazy to me.

Prince Otto was kept under constant supervision for the most part after that and stayed at palaces in the country outside of Munich, far away from public view. King Ludwig II would visit him occasionally and gave strict instructions that he not be mistreated or manhandled. After 1883 he was kept at a specially converted palace (Fuerstenried) outside Munich for the rest of his life. Much of this remained a mystery to the general public but matters came to a head in 1886 when King Ludwig II was declared mentally unfit and Prince Luitpold was appointed regent to handle all royal duties. However, shortly thereafter Ludwig II died under mysterious circumstances and so, legally anyway, Prince Otto became King of Bavaria on June 13, 1886. No one was about to entrust him with the powers of this office though and so Prince Luitpold continued as regent with the explanation that King Otto was suffering from acute melancholy.

So, Prince Luitpold went on being essentially the King of Bavaria in all but name while King Otto remained in his country estate, dressing in black, chain-smoking, ignoring people and other such “crazy” things. Of course, I am the last person who would ever try to make light of the mentally ill but it is simply that so many of the things cited as evidence of his unbalanced mental state are so ridiculous and I am well aware that a great many things psychiatric experts point to as “insane” behavior are often things plenty of people do who are never considered insane. Once a person has been painted with the brush of madness, nearly every little even slightly odd thing they may do seems “crazy” to outside observers while if someone else were to do the exact same thing that person would simply be shrugged off as a little eccentric. For example, King Otto insisted that all doors at his palace be kept open at all times and would fly into a rage if he found one closed. I know people who may not start shouting and banging on every closed door they find but who obsessively insist on keeping all their doors open. These people have never been diagnosed with any mental illness while yours truly (who medical science says there is a great deal wrong with) am a bit compulsive about keeping all doors shut. What does it prove?

This situation remained constant for most of the rest of the life of King Otto. Prince Luitpold served as regent until 1912 when he died and was succeeded by his son Prince Ludwig (his second son, Prince Leopold, would go on to be commander of all German forces on the Eastern Front in World War I). Some wanted Prince Ludwig to give up all pretenses and become King of Bavaria himself at once, however, that would have amounted to a coup against King Otto and the illegality of it would have caused problems. Therefore he had to wait until 1913 when the Bavarian parliament next came into session and they then amended the constitution to allow for a regent to take the crown if the monarch was incapacitated for ten years with no hope for recovery. On November 5, 1913 King Otto was, therefore, legally deposed and replaced by then King Ludwig III of Bavaria. However, due to his condition and the amount of public sympathy for him, King Otto did not lose his title or royal status but continued to live and be treated as he always had and so, for a few years, Bavaria was a kingdom with two kings.

King Otto died, to the surprise of everyone, from a bowel obstruction on October 11, 1916. As Germany was then in the middle of a world war, it was not quite the momentous event the death of a king usually is. He was buried in St Michael’s Church in Munich, a monarch who spent his entire reign as King in name only and who few people knew or had ever even seen. His is a rather sad case and though there are suspicions regarding the removal of his brother, the case of King Otto can be seen as an example to refute those willfully ignorant republicans who seem to think that a monarchy means total power is handed to the next person in line even if they are a raving lunatic. King Otto was certainly not that but he was, according to the experts of his time, not of sound mind and judgment. Therefore, with no fuss or uproar, had his legal powers taken up by a regent until he was finally replaced to live out the rest of his life under the care of his doctors and attendants.

Papal Profile: Pope Benedict XVI

The first pontiff of the Third Millenium, Pope Benedict XVI was born Joseph Alois Ratzinger in the small Bavarian town of Marktl am Inn on Holy Saturday, 1927. His father was a policeman and his mother was from the Austrian region of Tyrol, and both were devout Catholics. His father retired in 1927 and the family tried their best to avoid the expanding Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler, Ratzinger's father being a known critic of the Nazis -the same party which dismissed Catholicism as a religion of "Jews and Romans". He escaped service throughout most of World War II because of his age, but as the situation grew worse he was forced into the Air Force in 1943 but never served in any combat role. Later he was pressed into the labor corps where he worked in Eastern Europe before being released and drafted into the army, but his unit never went to the front. Before the war ended, young Joseph deserted at the risk of his life because of his opposition to the Nazi regime. He knew he had a religious calling and was determined to spend his life serving the Church.

After attending the seminary, where he did very well having a reputation as a very intelligent, devout and scholarly young man with an "angelic" singing voice, he was ordained a priest in 1951 along with his older brother Georg. He continued his studies and in 1958 became a professor at Freising College. The following year he took a post at the University of Bonn where he served until 1963 when he transferred to the University of Munster. His reputation had become so great that Joseph Cardinal Frings of Koeln, Germany took Fr. Ratzinger with him as his theologian to the Second Vatican Council. Ratzinger was included as one of the reformers of Vatican II, but would later write extensively on the need to "reform the reforms" of the council. Like many at the time, he thought the changes outlined by the Council were necessary but that these were often implemented in such a way as to remove any value or even be harmful to the Church and its work.

In 1966 Ratzinger went to work at the University of Tuebingen, but later resigned because of the increasing acceptance of secularism, atheism and Marxism. He became an outspoken but very thoughtful critic of such rising world-wide trends as materialism, communism, liberalism and the acceptance of homosexuality. In March of 1977 Ratzinger was named Archbishop of Munich and Freising, taking as his motto, "be co-workers in the truth". Three years later he was given the rank of cardinal by HH Pope Paul VI. Shortly after the accession of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger was named Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1981. This office, known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition before Pope St Pius X changed it in 1908, made Cardinal Ratzinger the chief enforcer of orthodox doctrine for the Church. The former Holy Office couldn’t have been in better hands.

While doing his duty in this office, Cardinal Ratzinger gained many friends and more than a few enemies because of his firm determination to uphold Catholic doctrine. Some of the issues he tackled which gained him fame and notoriety were his writings explaining that Catholics who voted for pro-abortion politicians were cooperating with a sinful act, that women could not be ordained priests, that homosexuality was wrong and homosexual marriages an absolute sacrilege and firmly upholding the supremacy of the Catholic Church as the one, true church founded by Christ for the salvation of the world. Many non-Catholics were outraged by this as were many Catholics (or “Catholics”) who had been advocating that the Church embrace things like abortion, gay “marriage” and ordain women. While Cardinal Ratzinger was on guard, such agendas were certain to go nowhere. As he grew older, Cardinal Ratzinger tried several times to retire, but Pope John Paul II would not let this most devout and faithful cardinal go. Finally, as Dean of the College of Cardinals, Ratzinger had the sad duty of presiding over the funeral of Pope John Paul II after his death on April 2, 2005.

After the traditional conclave, on the second day of voting, April 19, 2005 Cardinal Ratzinger was elected to the Throne of St Peter, taking the name of Benedict XVI. He announced that the goals of his reign would be to unite all Christians, resist the creeping secularism in the world and uphold the truth and purity of the Church's teaching. Benedict XVI, at 78, is the oldest man elected to the See of Peter since Pope Clement XII in 1730 and is the seventh German pope in history. Many worried that Benedict XVI would be far too authoritarian, but have quickly discovered the warmth, humor and humility of the new Pope. He has spoken out of the need to battle the "dictatorship of relativism" and to unite all Christians without any compromise to the truth because of the pressure of the modern world. This has led to some controversies as the Pope has dealt with other religions though in virtually every case it was a case of hyper-sensitivity or feigned moral outrage rather than any extremism on the part of the Pontiff. Eyebrows were raised when the Pope categorized the Catholic and Orthodox communities as churches but the Protestants as Christian sects. This was, of course, simply a reference to the Apostolic Succession which, generally, Protestants do not consider significant anyway. Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, among others, also expressed outrage when the Pontiff, while visiting South America, said that the indigenous peoples were ’silently longing’ for Christianity. Many people seemed to ignore the basic truth that any Christian would (or should) believe that everyone is longing for Christianity, consciously or not.

Benedict XVI has made sincere efforts at outreach to people of other religious beliefs but many in the secular world cannot see that or understand how the Pope could do so while refusing to compromise the teachings of the Catholic Church. While not relenting in pursuit of the goal of Christian and religious unity, the Pope has also made it clear that past efforts at times mistakenly gave the impression that all beliefs are the same, an impression he has worked to correct, viewing it as another aspect of the tyranny of relativism which he has devoted his reign to opposing. This has also fit in with the noticeably more traditional style of Pope Benedict XVI. Since his election he has elevated the traditional form of the mass (in the Latin language) within the Church, insisted on a more traditional and reverent pose for those receiving communion and has adopted more traditional style vestments than have been seen in recent times. He has also enacted special guidelines to welcome in disgruntled traditional Christians into the Catholic Church, specifically from the Church of England where the embrace of the ordination of women, gay “marriage” and other issues have caused many old-fashioned Anglicans to turn to Rome.

In the past, moves in this direction were often discouraged by many Catholic officials for fear that anything seen as “traditional” would put off younger Catholics and drive people out of the Church. Pope Benedict XVI doesn’t seem to be buying that line of thought. In fact, the Pope has spoken out on several occasions that he believes the Church must hold ever more strongly to traditional truth even while Catholicism may be reduced to small (but devout) isolated communities in a sea of secularism and irreligion. The choice of his reigning name reflects this as well, calling to mind St Benedict, that a new “Dark Ages” is coming which the Church will have to endure, protecting what they have inherited, before going out to start the work of conversion all over again. The quality and ability of Pope Benedict XVI can be easily gauged by simply asking Catholics their opinion of him. Some will have unqualified praise while others will have nothing but criticism. However, it is those who actually attend Church regularly and believe in Church teachings (even the really difficult ones) who think well of him and those who are more ‘Catholics in name only’ who do not. There should be no doubt that, from a Catholic perspective, for devoted Catholics, Benedict XVI has been a great Pontiff. Those who criticize him are generally those who favor innovation and do not view Church history and tradition with great respect. In other words, generally the sort whose criticism speaks well for the person in question.

Consort Profile: Queen Elisabeth of Bavaria

The saying that, ‘behind every great man is a great woman’ was never more true in this case. King Albert I of the Belgians was a great man in every way and the great woman behind him was Elisabeth of Bavaria. She was the greatest support to her husband and the backbone of the Belgian Royal Family in what would be the darkest hour of their history up to that time. She was born Elisabeth Gabriele Valerie Marie, Duchess in Bavaria, at Possenhofen Castle in Bavaria and was named after her aunt, the famous Empress of Austria. She grew up in Bavaria as a very well rounded young lady; intelligent, curious, loving art and music (passions she would retain throughout her life) at home outdoors and utterly fearless. She was small, refined, very delicate looking, lacking, perhaps, the dazzling beauty of her famous aunt but graceful, with refined features and a rather statuesque appearance. Her appearance and her love of painting, sculpting and music (encouraged by her father who was also the artistic type) would make some consider her fragile, but she could climb the rugged hills and mountains of the Bavarian Alps with the best of them and she did not shy away from unpleasant sights while serving in the eye-clinic established by her father Duke Karl Theodor who was a noted ophthalmologist.

On October 2, 1900, in Munich, she married HRH Prince Albert of Belgium, then second in line to the throne after his father following the death of Prince Baudouin. The two would become one of the most perfectly wedded royal couples of their time. They were devoted to each other, anxious to be of service, devoutly religious and shared many interests. In 1905 Prince Albert’s father died and he was suddenly heir to the throne and Princess Elisabeth was set to become the next Queen of the Belgians. Her gracious manners, charm and petite figure were tailor-made to win over the public but the Bavarian princess was made of tough stuff. It would take some time for the world to realize that, but those around her learned right away. She carried herself in such a way as to command respect and even the formidable King Leopold II watched his language when in her presence. A disapproving glare was all Elisabeth required to make her feelings known and, in 1909 when her husband became King Albert I of the Belgians and she became Queen, she set a new moral tone for the Royal Family. No longer would the court be the focus of scandals, business deals and public relations battles. Queen Elisabeth made the court a center of charity, artistic appreciation and Catholic morality.

It was a happy period for the couple. Elisabeth loved Albert intensely and had from the very start. She was the most supportive, comforting and affectionate wife a King could ask for. Children had come quickly with the future King Leopold III born in 1901, Prince Charles Theodore born in 1903 and Princess Marie Jose born in 1906, destined to be the last Queen of Italy. She was a devoted and caring mother, doting especially on her eldest. This is seen, perhaps best, in the care she took for the education, secular and religious, for her children. They were a very close family and it was largely to the credit of the virtuous Queen Elisabeth that the reputation of the Belgian monarchy improved dramatically as people saw the little group as the ideal Royal Family. There is no such thing as perfection in this life, however, and soon their domestic bliss was shattered by the outbreak of World War I. The Imperial German Army, the most powerful military force in the world, was soon knocking at the door of “gallant little Belgium” and King Albert I famously refused their demand for passage through his kingdom. The Germans might conquer Belgium but they were going to have to fight for every last foot of ground of it. This was even more painful for the Queen as some of the men leading the Bavarian regiments of the German army were her own family. Yet, there was never the slightest question about where her loyalties rested.

As per the constitution, King Albert was thrust into the role of field commander of the Belgian army and it was a colossal strain. Outmatched in every way, after the Germans brought up specialized, Austrian heavy artillery, the main Belgian forts were knocked out and the King made his stand at Antwerp. When that city could no longer be defended they carried out a fighting retreat down the coast before finally stopping the Germans at the Yser River, just inside the Belgian border on a tiny patch of waterlogged Flemish farmland. Queen Elisabeth supported her husband every step of the way and who can say what would have happened had she not been there to do so. Everyone did their part. The King managed the war effort, the young Crown Prince Leopold joined the infantry and went to the front and Queen Elisabeth began working as a nurse, a job well suited to her. She established a hospital to care for the wounded Belgian soldiers, worked there herself and was responsible for a great deal of the relief effort in caring for civilians and soldiers alike. Despite her intense sorrow at the horrors surrounding her, she remained strong, confident and optimistic. Generals down to common soldiers praised her for her care in the titanic task she undertook. And, fearless as always, the Queen did not hesitate to join her husband in going up to the front lines.

In those hard, terrible days of World War I, in Flanders on the western front, the whole world saw what the Belgian Queen was made of; she was not so delicate as she appeared. The Queen set an example for everyone around her, enduring enemy shelling, trips to the trenches and all the hardships of war without flinching but always looking for what more she could do. Part of this included her establishment of an orphanage for the children suffering from the war. No one met her who was not impressed by her. When the nightmare finally passed, when Belgium was finally liberated, she rode alongside the King in their triumphant return to Brussels. The following year, in 1919, she accompanied her husband to the United States where the American people cheered them as the first heroes of a war they had been late to enter. In 1928 and again in 1932 the Queen accompanied her husband on tours of the Belgian Congo where the city of Elisabethville was named in her honor. She was just as close and supporting a wife as she had always been and shared with the King a desire to see the vast Belgian colony improved, reformed and modernized. However, only a few years later in 1934 King Albert I died in a mountain climbing accident. Queen Elisabeth was crushed by the loss and would never be quite the same again.

As Queen mother, Elisabeth continued to encourage the arts and sciences (befriending Albert Einstein among other prominent thinkers). During World War II she used what connections she still had in Germany to help save the lives of numerous Jewish children. She never changed. However, after 1934 it was as if she was only counting the days until she could be reunited with her beloved husband. Still, she remained devoted to her causes, her family and her country, going her own way even when it caused controversy until she finally went to join her beloved husband on November 23, 1965 in Brussels. Queen Elizabeth was, at times, unorthodox but she was also the ideal consort by every measure. She adored her husband and was his strongest support in his most difficult days, she was a devoted mother, provided well for the succession and she was fearless in her care for her adopted country. She was, in every way, a great Queen.

Royal Profile: Archduchess Sophie of Bavaria

Princess Sophie of Bavaria, later Archduchess of Austria, is another one of those royal women who have been burdened with a very distorted popular image. Despite the fact that she was the mother of two emperors on two continents, thanks to Hollywood and certain pop history portrayals her image these days has been reduced solely to that of an over-bearing mother-in-law; all too often the “villain” in stories about the more beloved Empress Sissi of Austria-Hungary. I think this is quite unfair and, while she was imperfect as all mortals are bound to be, my view is that she was a much more admirable figure than she is often given credit for. Her son, Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria-Hungary, is often remembered for his devotion to duty. Much of that, perhaps most of that, should be credited to his mother, Princess Sophie, who was nothing if not totally committed to her duty; her duty to her family, the monarchy and the Hapsburg empire she married into.

HRH Princess Sophie Friederike Dorothee Wilhelmine of Bavaria was born on January 27, 1805 along with her twin sister Princess Maria Anna (future Queen of Saxony) to King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Queen Karoline of Baden. Contrary to the popular image of her as a cold and scheming woman, those who knew her throughout her youth attested to the very opposite. She was always known as a strong woman, even when very young, determined, intelligent and passionate. When she learned that her parents had arranged for her to marry the Austrian Archduke Francis Charles she was originally furious and referred to him as an “imbecile”. However, she was a princess who knew that royals lived lives of duty and as Austria was the strongest neighbor of Bavaria, marriage ties and good relations were essential so she put her best foot forward. On November 4, 1824 she married the Archduke, tolerating his odd habits and giving him six children.

It is rather humorous, in a way, that a woman so often accused of being cold and calculating is, usually in other accounts, also accused of having an affair with the un-crowned “Emperor of the French” Napoleon II. There is, of course, no evidence that there was ever an affair, but the two were close friends and were known to laugh and joke for hours -an image not often associated with Sophie. She was the only one with whom the young man could openly talk about his father and Sophie even encouraged him to look up to the “Little Corporal” from Corsica. She reassured the frustrated young man that he would rule France one day, though of course that was not to be. Sophie was most concerned with the Austrian throne of course, particularly after the birth of her first child, Francis Joseph, in 1830. With her husband unassuming and un-ambitious and Emperor Ferdinand I rather handicapped it was clear to Sophie right away that her son would sooner or later be Emperor of Austria, and that could not be soon enough for her.

This is often cited as evidence of Sophie having a scheming mind, anxious for power, but that is simply putting a very negative spin on the existing facts. Emperor Ferdinand I was handicapped and her husband really didn’t have any desire to rule and with radical forces growing ever stronger the Austrian Empire needed a strong, vigorous monarch. For Sophie, this was not self-serving ambition, this was simply common sense. Someone in the House of Hapsburg had to be on guard, with an eye to the future, and Sophie was perhaps the only one up to the task. One thing most do remember her for was being known as “the only man at court”. Even the formidable Prince Metternich recognized her as his only intellectual equal at the palace. In another example of her strength, and putting reality ahead of emotion, Sophie actually despised Prince Metternich but still enlisted him to tutor her son in statecraft, recognizing that, despite her personal feelings, he was the best man for the job. However, Sophie could hardly have had much time for conspiracies as she was kept pretty busy with pregnancy. In 1832 she gave birth to another son, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, and the next year another son, Archduke Charles Louis. Her next child, a daughter, died before she was five years old in 1840 and later that year tragedy struck again when she delivered a stillborn baby boy.

There was little time for mourning though as events were building rapidly toward the calamitous Revolutions of 1848. It was then that the strength and determination of Sophie proved invaluable for the House of Hapsburg. She persuaded (with little difficulty) her husband to abdicate his rights to the throne and so Emperor Ferdinand I passed the throne to her son and retired. The young and determined Emperor Francis Joseph was then able to save the situation, suppressing rebellions in Italy, Austria and (with help from Russia) in Hungary. It was taken for granted that Sophie had arranged it all and she remained a force to be reckoned with in Vienna. Because of this, it is not surprising that Sophie wanted to hold fast to a working formula and she fully approved of the idea of her eldest marrying a Bavarian princess as his father had. She did not, however, approve of that choice falling on the beautiful young Princess Elisabeth, “Sissi”. Sophie warned that she was too young, too liberal and too immature but Francis Joseph would have no other and the two married.

To be sure, Sophie and Sissi were polar opposites. It seems clear that Sissi did suffer from some degree of depression and she was willful and headstrong. Sophie could not begin to understand her daughter-in-law. For her, duty always came before personal happiness. She also could not understand the way Sissi seemed always downcast for no apparent reason. When Sophie had determined that it was her duty to marry Archduke Francis Charles she said, “I have decided to be happy, and I will” and for her, with her level of self-discipline, it was as simple as that. She also could not abide the liberal affiliations of her daughter-in-law as Sophie was ever on the alert for any potential threats to the Hapsburg empire and, remembering 1848 all too clearly, saw Sissi’s fascination with Hungary, particularly dissident elements within Hungary, as not only foolish but possibly dangerous to the dynasty. It also did not help their relationship that, concerning issues over which the two clashed, Sophie was usually proven correct.

This relationship, should also been seen in context. Sophie was extremely optimistic about the marriage of her second son, Ferdinand Max, to Princess Charlotte of Belgium and was greatly impressed by the charm and intelligence of the young lady. When Mexican monarchists enlisted the Archduke to become Emperor of Mexico, Francis Joseph was adamantly opposed and Sophie had to work to keep the two from an open break and when the Emperor demanded that his brother renounce all rights to the Austrian throne in order to accept, Princess Charlotte enlisted Sophie’s help in trying to dissuade her son from such a drastic measure. She wished her son well on his new enterprise, he had always been something of a favorite, and Sophie was positively devastated when word came in 1867 that her son, Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, had been shot by a republican firing squad. He had written her regularly and though news of the slow deterioration was widespread, Maximilian had always been hopeful and optimistic. Sophie was heartbroken and retired from public life, never really recovering from the loss of her beloved boy.

Princess Sophie of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria, died at the age of 67 on May 28, 1872 from what was determined to be a brain tumor.

Monarch Profile: King Ludwig III of Bavaria

The last King of Bavaria was born Ludwig Luitpold Josef Maria Aloys Alfried on January 7, 1845 in Munich the firstborn son of the long-serving Prince Regent Luitpold and Archduchess Augusta of Austria. He came from pretty solid roots as the regency of his father was known for being conservative, traditional and opposed to the “culture war” that Bismarck waged against the Catholic Church but all of that was still to come. His mother was the daughter of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany (link to profile), came from Florence and always spoke to her children in Italian. As a boy Ludwig loved the outdoors and in 1861, when he was sixteen, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the 6th Jägerbattalion by his uncle King Maximilian II, the start of what would be a long military career. The following year he started attending classes at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich to study law and economics, fine fields for a future monarch, but he would have preferred agriculture. That same year, upon turning eighteen, he was appointed to the Senate in the Bavarian Legislature as was custom for all princes to gain some practical experience in government.

In 1866 Prince Leopold served in the Seven Weeks War between Prussia and her allies and Austria and her allies, which included Bavaria. By then a First Lieutenant he was shot in the thigh at the battle of Helmstedt and for his service in the conflict was awarded the Knight’s Cross 1st Class of the Bavarian Military Merit Order. However, Austria was defeated and by the conflict was displaced by Prussia as the dominant German-speaking country. The following year, while in Vienna for the funeral of one of his cousins Ludwig met Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este, a step-cousin of his and a beauty at eighteen years old. On February 20 the following year the two were married in Vienna. It was a real coup for Ludwig who obtained a good wife and vast estates in Bohemia and Hungary. This allowed him to further his interest in farming and agriculture and brought in sufficient funds for him to purchase and build his model estate in Bavaria which was very successful. His wife also had quite an illustrious lineage of her own and in time was recognized as heiress to the British throne by the handful of Jacobites still lingering around (the Jacobite succession having passed from the House of Stuart, to the House of Savoy and then to the House of Modena and Austria-Este). She would also give Ludwig thirteen children, doing more than her duty to secure the succession.

Ludwig and Maria Theresa were a happy couple, very devoted to each other and their children and Ludwig would have liked nothing better than to have spent all of his time with his family and dabbling in his favorite pastimes such as farming, livestock and harnessing water power for energy production. However, royal duty came first and often interfered with his pastoral interests. In 1870 the Franco-Prussian War broke out and the Prince-Regent led the Bavarian forces in alliance with the Prussians and afterwards joined in the formation of the German Empire under Prussian leadership in 1871. In 1912 his father died and Ludwig succeeded him as Prince-Regent still ruling on behalf of the nominal King Otto who had been supposedly suffering from insanity and kept locked away since 1875. Because the regency has been a fact of life for so long there were soon calls to made Ludwig the King of Bavaria. This made sense to everyone and when the legislature reconvened in 1913 a new law was passed which made the regent King Ludwig III of Bavaria, though Otto continued to be titled King and treated as such for his few remaining years as well, meaning that from 1913-1916 there were actually two Kings of Bavaria.

King Ludwig III was very close to his people, quite concerned with their welfare and always looking for ways to improve his kingdom. However, he was not without his critics. The Prussians tended to view the Bavarians as difficult and somewhat pretentious for so minor a power, no matter how cooperative they were, but there were also some in Bavaria who criticized King Ludwig, as they had his father before him, for being too subservient to the Prussians. This was, however, quite unfair. Just as the Prince-Regent Luitpold has clashed with Bismarck over his anti-Catholic policies, so too did King Ludwig III take great care to preserve the unique culture of Bavaria, especially her Catholic character, and to limit Prussian influence. He saw Bavaria as the southern counter-weight to Prussia and was always concerned with Prussia becoming too powerful at the expense of his own kingdom within the German Empire. This was seen particularly after the outbreak of World War I only a year after Ludwig III became King.

Some accounts like to portray Ludwig III and to an extent Bavaria as a whole as unwilling participants in what was a Prussian conflict. This, however, is not entirely true. As with most countries the German public as a whole was very enthusiastic about the war and anxious for a final showdown with the nations which had, they felt, denied them their “place in the sun”. Where King Ludwig III was concerned was in preventing Prussia from becoming inordinately powerful as a result of the conflict. Again, as he viewed Bavaria as the only major counter-weight to Prussian dominance within the German Empire, Ludwig III felt it essential that Bavaria have her own share of the spoils. These included, most famously, a plan for the Bavarian annexation of Alsace (Alsace-Lorraine having previously been imperial lands not associated with any particular member state) and the Belgian city of Antwerp to provide Bavaria with an outlet on the North Sea as the King had long been interested in maritime developments.

Yet, despite these actions, as the war situation worsened for Germany, the King was again accused by many opposed to the monarchy of being a puppet for the Prussians, which was certainly untrue. However, the losses Bavaria incurred were major given her status as the second most powerful state within the German Empire. At the outset of the war Bavaria contributed three Army Corps, the largest contingent after Prussia among the German states and Munich was headquarters to a separate Bavarian General Staff, War Ministry and her Army Corps were almost totally autonomous with their own commanders, their own uniforms and military establishment. In 1917 Georg von Hertling of the Catholic Center Party (the dominant power in Bavaria) left his post of Prime Minister in Munich which he had held since 1912 when appointed by the King’s father to become Imperial Chancellor in Berlin. However, the government remained dominated by Field Marshal Hindenburg and General Ludendorff and the course Germany was on remained unchanged.

Separatist attitudes increased along with opposition to the war and Bavaria was especially hard hit by the infiltration of Marxist and other left-wing revolutionaries. At the very end in 1918 there was even an effort by Bavaria to come to a separate peace with the Allies but this failed. Revolution broke out in the streets and King Ludwig III was forced to leave Munich with his family in fear of their lives. The revolutionaries declared the King deposed (the first German monarch to suffer such an indignity) and seeing no other option Ludwig III released all soldiers and government officials from their oath of loyalty. He did not, however, abdicate even though the republican leaders announced as much to the crowds. However, legal formalities aside, the monarchy had fallen and Ludwig III was forced to leave the country, moving from Hungary to Liechtenstein to Switzerland. However, in time, after more conservative forces put down the Marxists and restored order, the Royal Family was able to return in 1920 and they continued to enjoy a sizeable minority of monarchist support. There remained for quite some time a cautious optimism that a restoration would be possible but only the following year, while visiting Hungary, King Ludwig III died on October 18, 1921. Because there continued to be such a strong monarchist presence in Bavaria the republican government gave him a state funeral. He never abdicated and his son, Crown Prince Rupprecht, who succeeded to his rights likewise refused to accept the republic until the people of Bavaria were given the choice in a free referendum to decide between a republic or a monarchy. To date, such a vote has never been held.

Consort Profile: Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria

Probably no Hapsburg consort has been so celebrated or so lastingly famous as Elisabeth of Bavaria, the legendary beauty best known to all as “Sissi”. Over time, the Empress has become iconic, mostly as a tragic figure. However, while tragedy is certainly far from unknown in royal history, and that of the House of Wittelsbach or Hapsburg particularly, in the case of Sissi, I think the “tragedy” of her life has been somewhat exaggerated and, to some extent, much of her sorrow appears self-inflicted. Yet, there is no denying that there was, and still is, just “something” about her that has fascinated people all over the world for over a century. Even as a historical figure she commands attention. Whether or not she deserves our sympathy is a more complicated, and probably controversial, question.

A Christmas Eve baby, Sissi was born Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, Duchess in Bavaria, on December 24, 1837 in Munich to the music loving (and somewhat morbid) Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. She grew up in Possenhofen Castle, the fourth of ten children, and a pretty normal upbringing, perhaps a bit on the liberal side, for a young girl of minor Bavarian royalty. Her father impressed upon her a love for the circus and a genuine concern for the common people. She liked taking long walks and loved horses but was not a particularly attentive student. Sissi was not considered extraordinarily gifted nor, interestingly enough for someone who became such a famous beauty, was she considered especially attractive as a child. She liked the zither, liked looking at things from alternate points of view and she was terribly shy around strangers; all qualities she would never completely lose.

Contrary to what some think it was actually Princess Ludovika (rather than Princess Sophie) who was most interested in pushing another Hapsburg-Wittelsbach marriage. In 1853 Princess Elisabeth and her older sister Helene were taken by their mother on a little vacation to Upper Austria where the Duchess Helene was to be aimed at the young Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph. Yet, it was the 15-year old Duchess Elisabeth, a luminescent beauty to be sure, who captivated the Emperor and he determined to marry her. His mother, Princess Sophie, advised against it, fearing that Elisabeth was too immature, but Francis Joseph would not be dissuaded and on April 24, 1854 he and Elisabeth were married in Vienna. From that point on she became Empress of Austria. The strict protocol of the Hapsburg court was quite a change from the relaxed, informal life she had lived in Bavaria and there was a clash, from the very beginning, with her new mother-in-law Princess Sophie (or Archduchess Sophie). She had not been overjoyed with Sissi as a wife for her son, thinking her too young and immature and, from the start, Sissi did not do much to prove her wrong.

As Archduchess Sophie set out to make Sissi her own special project, to train her for the “job” of Empress, Sissi snubbed her and did not take kindly to instruction. Whenever there was a problem Sissi would rush to Francis Joseph to take her side, which he tried not to do, and thus the man with the cares of an empire on his shoulders was often caught in the middle of squabbles between the two most important women in his life. Sissi became rather offended when the Emperor did not always take her side, however, Francis Joseph has always been brought up to be a loyal son and, in a very real way, he owed his throne to his mother who had persuaded her own husband to abdicate his rights to the throne so that the Hapsburg crown could be passed directly from the Emperor Ferdinand I to Francis Joseph. Many at court, and Archduchess Sophie certainly among them, were also alarmed that Sissi seemed to have more sympathy with the people they saw as the enemies of the monarchy than she did for the House of Hapsburg itself. One area which became something of a sore point was her fascination with Hungary.

Many in Vienna were still haunted by memories of the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1848 when rebel leaders declared a republic and nearly brought down the whole of the Hapsburg empire. Because of this, there were many who remained very nervous about any and all things Hungarian. Empress Sissi, however, was enthralled by Hungary, loved the people and at great effort learned the history of the nation and to speak Hungarian (which was not easy as it is a very unique language). There was, of course, nothing wrong with this, she was the Queen of Hungary and it was completely proper for her to take an interest in the country. In return the Hungarians adored her and Sissi came to be seen by the Hungarians as their highest advocate in Vienna, which she was. Yet, others in the German-speaking half of the empire were put off by her sudden fascination with all things Hungarian and tended to see it as a slight against the Austrians, as if Sissi was siding against them in being so sympathetic toward Hungary.

All of this made Archduchess Sophie even more worried that Sissi did not have the best interests of the House of Hapsburg at heart. She feared this interest came about for the wrong reasons and could be taken advantage of. On that count she may have been correct as there were some anti-Hapsburg republicans among the network of those affiliated to varying degrees with the Empress. In any event, family matters continued on and in 1855 Sissi gave birth to her first child, Sophie, who was named by her grandmother after herself without the Empress having anything to say about it. The following year Archduchess Gisela was born and Sophie largely took charge of them both, not really trusting her daughter-in-law to raise them properly. This was unfair but Sissi did herself no favors by constantly persisting in doing exactly the things that would make people uncomfortable about her. She was constantly at odds with Sophie over the children and became increasingly depressed about her life. Of course, she wanted for nothing, lived in lavish surrounding, had a devoted husband and so on, yet she seemed to have made up her mind to be unhappy and nothing could change it.

The first great tragedy of her life came when, to her delight, Emperor Francis Joseph decided to undertake a state visit to Hungary in 1857 in order to foster better relations and Austro-Hungarian goodwill. He of course would take his Empress along with him, regarding her as his most valuable asset on such a mission given how beloved she was in Hungary and counting on her ability to charm the Hungarian nobles. Sissi was thrilled with the idea but ran afoul of Sophie again when she insisted on taking the children along. The girls had been sick with diarrhea and their grandmother insisted that they stay behind with her so she could take care of them. The doctors agreed that it would be unwise to take them on such a trip but Sissi would not hear of it. If the children could not go, she would not go. Emperor Francis Joseph could hardly make the trip without her, she was the most beloved member of the Imperial-Royal Family in Hungary and most cared far more about seeing her than they did their king. So, for a change, Francis Joseph took the side of his wife and let her bring the children along. However, as the doctors had predicted, the girls became even more ill. Archduchess Gisela managed to recover but the little Archduchess Sophie did not.

There was immense sadness and some anger over the death of the little archduchess. Sophie took it as proof that Sissi was an unfit mother. The Empress was devastated of course and the situation was not helped by the attitude taken by many who has been against her all along that the tragedy confirmed their view that Sissi was headstrong and immature, more concerned with having her own way rather than what was best for the family. The fact that the court doctors had urged against the children making the trip only made things look worse and even Emperor Francis Joseph was never quite the same toward his wife as he had been. For Sissi, her depression deepened, not much relieved with the birth of an heir to the throne, the Crown Prince Rudolf, in 1858. Needless to say, Sophie took charge of the baby boy at the outset and Sissi never had much to say about his upbringing. Sissi made herself sick and finally had to leave Vienna for lengthy periods of time, only returning when she feared that the military training young Rudolf was going through would hurt him. Sissi went to the Emperor and threatened to leave him if she was not given complete control over the upbringing of their children and Francis Joseph had little choice but to agree. Yet, after this, she took very little interest in her son which caused many to think, again, that this was a matter of Sissi having her own way rather than a genuine interest in the upbringing of the Crown Prince.

In 1867, with restlessness still strong in Hungary, Empress Sissi was key in working out the compromise, agreed to by her husband, which put aside the Austrian Empire and created Austria-Hungary. This was the one political issue she was instrumental in, due to her love of Hungary and her great popularity amongst the Hungarians. From that time on the Hapsburg empire would be one monarchy reigning over two countries, separate but equal, each with their governments and each with their own legal systems. Franz Joseph and Sissi reunited to go to Budapest for their formal coronation as King and Queen of Hungary. In 1868, in Hungary, Sissi gave birth to her last child, Archduchess Marie Valerie, who she had all to herself from day one and who she always favored best.

By that time, Sissi had become famous all across Europe for her beauty and, may have been the first “royal celebrity”. People eagerly read anything about her, trying to follow her example in fashion, diet, exercise and anything else. Anything Sissi did instantly became fashionable. With all of this attention, though always a very shy person, Sissi became obsessively vain, determined to remain on the pedestal the public had placed her on. She went to extreme lengths to maintain her youthful, beautiful appearance such as bathing in olive oil or starving herself. This was of less interest to the Emperor than her increasingly vocal liberalism, witty criticism of the Hapsburg monarchy or the radicals, even republicans, she often associated with. She became increasingly pessimistic regarding the survival of the Dual-Monarchy. Still, there was little to be done as the Empress was often traveling abroad and only rarely visited her husband in Vienna. Nonetheless, she was deeply disturbed when she learned of the death of Crown Prince Rudolf, allegedly at his own hand, and it was she who was the first to know and who had the unfortunate duty of breaking the news to the Emperor and the mother of her son’s mistress who died with him.

Sissi did not take the loss well. First, in quite a cruel display, she blamed Rudolf’s wife Princess Stephanie of Belgium. Given the problems she had with her own mother-in-law, it may surprise some how cold Sissi had always been toward Stephanie, dismissing her as altogether too pious and unattractive (as a woman who was rather obsessed with her own attractiveness) and she accused Stephanie of driving her husband away by being unaffectionate and aloof. Likewise, for a woman who held such liberal views and who was generally disdainful of monarchy she had always considered the Belgian Royal Family too lowly to be tied by marriage to the venerable House of Hapsburg. All of this was quite unfair to Princess Stephanie who had given the Crown Prince a daughter and might have given him a son were it not for the fact that Rudolf gave her a venereal disease, picked up during his frequent carousing, that made her infertile. Later, however, Sissi began to blame herself or more particularly the history of insanity in the Bavarian Royal Family and she began to fear that her blood had caused Rudolf to take his own life.

The Empress withdrew even further and wore mourning for the rest of her life, though she remained the most famous royal figure of her time. Her behavior became increasingly erratic and self-destructive, traveling compulsively and dieting to the point of near starvation. She rarely saw her husband and was seldom even in Austria-Hungary. Her seemingly endless travels around the Mediterranean finally did come to an end, in another one of her favorite places to visit; Switzerland. She happened to be walking along the shores of Lake Geneva at the same time as an Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni. For no other reason than that she bore the title of “Empress” the anarchist attacked Sissi with a knife, stabbing her in the heart on September 10, 1898. It was a sudden and violent end for a woman who seemed to have been unhappy for most of her life, even if few could understand exactly why. In all the years since her fame and attraction have not diminished as she has been featured in countless books, plays, ballets, television shows and movies. Few other consorts have ever been or remain so famous, particularly considering how little time she actually spent at court or with her husband.

To this day, the Empress known to everyone as Sissi, continues to hold a special place in the hearts of many. Personally, I cannot count myself among her many admirers, yet she remains an undeniably attractive figure. Although I can understand the fascination with her life, I cannot have a great deal of sympathy for her. Being a royal, and a royal consort for certain, requires a certain selflessness and devotion to duty which, it seems to me, Sissi simply did not possess. Taking all I know of her story, the impression I am left with (forgive me Sissi fans) is that of a basically self-centered woman, concerned more with her own feelings and her own image than the welfare of her family, country or dynasty. Her marriage seems ill-fated indeed considering that duty and obligation were the constant principles for her husband. I regret that she was to such a large extent an unhappy woman, yet, it seems to me that she simply made up her mind to be unhappy and that was that, despite having what most people would consider more than enough to make a happy life. In any event, I hope she has found peace, where she is now.