Category Archives: German Royals

Maximilian, Margrave of Baden

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Maximilian, Margrave of Baden and his wife in July 2017 at the wedding of Prince Ernst August of Hanover and Ekaterina Malysheva; Credit – Von Bernd Schwabe – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60818074

Maximilian, Margrave of Baden was the head of the House of Zähringen and pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Baden from 1963 until his death in 2022. Paternally, he was the grandson of his namesake, Prince Maximilian, Margrave of Baden. Maternally, he was the oldest living grandchild of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Thus, he was a nephew of Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh and first cousin of King Charles III of the United Kingdom and his siblings.

 

Maximilian Andreas Friedrich Gustav Ernst August Bernhard, Prince of Baden, was born on July 3, 1933, in Salem, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the elder son of Berthold, Margrave of Baden and Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark.

He has two siblings:

Max attended the Schule Schloss Salem, founded by his grandfather and Kurt Hahn, and then went on to study agriculture and forestry.

In the early 1960s, Max was engaged to his first cousin Princess Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Beatrix was the daughter of Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark (his mother’s elder sister). However, the engagement was called off in 1961, and several years later, he married Archduchess Valerie of Austria. She was the daughter of Archduke Hubert of Austria and Princess Rosemary of Salm-Salm. Max and Valerie wed in a civil ceremony in Salem on September 23, 1966, followed by a religious ceremony held at Persenbeug Castle in Austria.

They have four children:

  • Marie Louise, Princess of Baden (1969) – married Richard Dudley Baker, had issue
  • Bernhard, Margrave of Baden (1970) – married Stephanie Kaul, had issue
  • Leopold, Prince of Baden (1971) – unmarried
  • Michael, Prince of Baden (1976) – married Christina Höhne, no issue

Upon his father’s death in October 1963, Max became Head of the House of Zähringen and pretender to the former grand ducal throne of Baden. He also inherited the family’s vast estates, including four castles in Salem, Baden-Baden, Zwingenberg and Eberstein, and over 2,000 hectares of forests, vineyards, and land. However, due to poor investments and the overall global economic crisis, Max found himself in debt. In 1995, he auctioned off most of the contents of Schloss Baden-Baden, bringing in over 55 million dollars. Three years later, he appointed his son and heir Bernhard as the administrator of the family’s assets.

Max spent many years overseeing the family’s wine production business, an industry that had been in the family for hundreds of years. Based at Schloss Staufenberg in Durbach, and Schloss Salem, the Margrave of Baden Winery has been producing wine since the late 1700s.

The Margrave of Baden was involved in countless organizations and associations during his lifetime. One lasted many years – his association with the German Red Cross. He served on the honorary council of the Baden Regional Association and was an active participant. Max and his wife Valerie lived in a wing of Salem Abbey, one of the family’s ancestral homes.

On December 29, 2022, Maximilian, Margrave of Baden, aged 89, died at Salem Abbey, a family home, in Salem, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He was buried at the Mimmenhausen Cemetery, in Salem, Germany. His funeral on January 13, 2023, was attended by former and current royalty including King Philippe of Belgium, Prince Albert II of Monaco and his sister Caroline, Princess of Hanover, Prince Hassan of Jordan, Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein, and the heads or representatives of most of the former ruling houses of Germany. Max’s first cousin King Charles III of the United Kingdom was represented by Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse.

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Baden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Christina of Hesse, Queen of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

Christina of Holstein-Gottorp was the second wife of Karl IX, King of Sweden. Born on April 13, 1573, in Kiel, Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, she was the fourth of the ten children and the second of the five daughters of Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and Christine of Hesse. Her father was the third son of King Frederik I of Denmark and Norway and his second wife Sophie of Pomerania. In 1544, Adolf, his brother Johann, and their half-brother King Christian III of Denmark divided the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein which belonged to Denmark. Adolf, as the youngest, got the first choice. Since he selected the part with the Gottorp Castle, the line of the House of Oldenburg founded by him was called the House of Holstein-Gottorp.

Christina had nine siblings:

Christina’s husband the future Karl IX, King of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria of Palatinate-Simmern, the first wife of the future Karl IX, King of Sweden died in 1589 at the age of 28. Three years later, forty-two-year-old Karl married nineteen-year-old Christina, the first cousin of his first wife. The couple was married on August 27, 1592, at Nyköping Castle in Nyköping, Södermanland, Sweden. At the time of the marriage, Karl was a Prince of Sweden and the Duke of Södermanland and so Christina became a Princess of Sweden and the Duchess of Södermanland. Karl was a staunch Lutheran and Sweden was then ruled by Karl’s brother Johan III, King of Sweden who, although Protestant, was married to a Catholic Polish princess and had Catholic sympathies. Karl’s marriage with Christina created a stronger alliance with the German Protestants.

Karl had six children with his first wife Maria but five of them died in infancy or childhood before his second marriage. Christina became the stepmother of Karl’s only surviving child:

Christina and Karl had four children of their own:

In 1592, Karl’s brother Johan III, King of Sweden died and was succeeded by his Roman Catholic son Sigismund III Vasa, who was already King of Poland. Eventually, because of religious issues, the Riksdag (legislature) gained control of the Swedish government and appointed the Lutheran Karl Regent of Sweden. Finally, on February 24, 1604, the Swedish Riksdag declared that Karl’s nephew Sigismund abdicated the Swedish throne and Karl was recognized as the sovereign, Karl IX, King of Sweden. After a delay of three years, Karl and his wife Christina were crowned King and Queen of Sweden on March 15, 1607, at Uppsala Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden.

In 1604, Christina was appointed to be regent if Karl should die before their sons reached the age of majority. As the potential guardian, Christina held an important leadership position. Although Karl did not allow Christina to dictate policy, he did ask for her advice. She did prevent the potential election of her son Karl Philip as Tsar of Russia. Count Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie, a Swedish statesman had proposed ten-year-old Karl Philip as a candidate for Tsar of Russia. When her husband Karl died in 1611, Christina refused to allow Karl Philip to leave for Russia. However, in 1613, Karl Philip went to Denmark to discuss the terms of a potential tsardom. When he got to Denmark, Karl Philip found out that Russian nobles had rejected several candidates, including him, and that Michael Romanov became the consensus candidate and had been elected the first Romanov ruler of Russia. Christina was relieved that the Russian affair was finally over.

On October 30, 1611, at Nyköping Castle in Nyköping, Södermanland, Sweden, 61-year-old Karl IX, King of Sweden died. He was buried at Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, Södermanland, Sweden. After the death of Karl IX, Christina and Johan, Duke of Östergötland, the son of Karl’s brother Johan III, King of Sweden, shared the short regency of Gustavus II Adolphus, King of Sweden. The regency lasted from October 1611 to December 1611, when Christina’s elder son was declared of age. However, Christina remained the guardian of her younger son Karl Philip and was regent for his Duchies of Södermanland, Närke, and Värmland. Despite the short regency for her elder son, Christina was considered the real power behind the throne during the early years of Gustavus II Adolphus’s reign. She prevented his marriage to Ebba Magnusdotter Brahe because she feared the complications of marriage with a noble and realized a dynastic marriage could have substantial political benefits.

Christina’s younger son Karl Filip; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1621, Christina’s younger son Karl Philip accompanied his brother Gustavus II Adolphus on his military campaign in the Baltic States. During the campaign, Karl Philip became seriously ill and traveled to Narva, then a Swedish possession, now in Estonia for treatment and rest. Karl Philip did not recover, dying on January 25, 1622, at the age of only 20. Christina was heartbroken after the death of her younger son, and she retired from public life and lived in seclusion. After Karl Philip’s death, his morganatic, secret marriage to Elisabet Ribbing was discovered, and Christina became the guardian of his posthumous daughter Elisabet Gyllenhielm.

Christina survived her husband by fourteen years, dying at the age of 52, on December 8, 1625, at Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden. She was buried in the family crypt at Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, Sweden, below her husband’s most unusual grave monument, a rider on a horse wearing gold armor placed over the family crypt. The gold armor had been made by twelve of Stockholm’s most prominent goldsmiths.

Karl IX’s grave monument; Credit – Av Kigsz – Eget arbete, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71076804

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Christine von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_von_Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf,_Duke_of_Holstein-Gottorp> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Christina of Holstein-Gottorp – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_of_Holstein-Gottorp> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. Karl IX, King of Sweden. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-ix-king-of-sweden/> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kristina av Holstein-Gottorp – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristina_av_Holstein-Gottorp> [Accessed 14 July 2021].

Berthold, Margrave of Baden

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Berthold, Margrave of Baden was the Head of the House of Zähringen and Pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Baden from 1929 until his death in 1963.

Berthold, Margrave of Baden; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Berthold Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst August Heinrich Karl of Baden was born in Karlsruhe, Germany on February 24, 1906. He was the only son of Prince Maximilian of Baden, Margrave of Baden and Princess Marie Luise of Hanover. Berthold had one older sister:

Berthold, his wife and two elder children, c1936. source: private collection

On August 17, 1931 in Baden-Baden, Berthold married Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, the second daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg (as well as the elder sister of Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh). The couple were second cousins through their mutual great-grandfather, King Christian IX of Denmark. Berthold and Theodora had three children:

 

The last reigning Grand Duke of Baden, Friedrich II, had no children. Although the Headship of the House would pass to Berthold’s father Max, the Grand Duke’s assets would not. As part of an agreement following the end of the monarchy, Friedrich’s assets and estates would pass to the Republic of Baden if he had no legal children. To avoid this from happening, Friedrich and his wife, Hilda, legally adopted Berthold in August 1927. When Friedrich died the following year, his father became Head of the House, but it was Berthold who actually inherited all of the family’s assets.

 

Berthold, Margrave of Baden died suddenly on October 27, 1963, in Spaichingen, Germany, from an apparent heart attack. He is buried in the Mimmenhausen Cemetery in Salem, along with his wife, his parents, and his daughter.

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Baden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Maria of Palatinate-Simmern, Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Södermanland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Karl IX, King of Sweden with his first wife Maria and second wife Christina, 1598 by Hieronymus Nützel; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern was the first wife of the future Karl IX, King of Sweden but she died before he became king. She was born in Heidelberg, Electorate of the Palatinate, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, on July 24, 1561. Maria was the eldest of the twelve children and the eldest of the seven daughters of Ludwig VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse.

Maria had eleven younger siblings but only two siblings survived childhood:

  • Elisabeth (born and died 1562), died in infancy
  • Dorothea Elisabeth (born and died 1565), died in infancy
  • Dorothea (1566 – 1568), died in early childhood
  • Friedrich Philip (1567- 1568), died in infancy
  • Johann Friedrich (born and died 1569), died in infancy
  • Ludwig (1570 – 1571), died in infancy
  • Katharina (1572 – 1586), died in childhood
  • Christine (1573 – 1619), unmarried
  • Friedrich IV, Elector Palatine (1574 – 1610), married Louise Juliana of Orange-Nassau, had eight children
  • Philip (born and died 1575), died in infancy
  • Elisabeth (1576 – 1577), died in infancy

Maria was raised as a fervent Lutheran. Her father gave preference to Lutheranism over Calvinism, removing Calvinists from positions at Heidelberg University. In 1578, Prince Karl of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland traveled throughout the German monarchies looking for a suitable Protestant bride. Eighteen-year-old Karl visited Heidelberg in the Electorate of Palatinate and proposed to fifteen-year-old Maria. Her father accepted the marriage proposal on the condition that she be allowed to practice Lutheranism in Sweden which was then ruled by Karl’s brother Johan III, King of Sweden who, although Protestant, was married to a Catholic Polish princess and had Catholic sympathies. Maria and Karl were married on May 11, 1579, in Heidelberg. The newlyweds remained in Heidelberg until September 1579. In Sweden, they had the use of several castles in Karl’s Duchy of Södermanland.

Maria’s husband Karl; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria and Karl had six children but only one daughter survived childhood:

  • Margareta Elisabeth of Sweden (1580 – 1585), died in childhood
  • Elisabeth Sabina of Sweden (1582 – 1585), died in childhood
  • Ludwig of Sweden (born and died 1583), died in infancy
  • Katharina of Sweden (1584 – 1638), married Count Palatine Johann Kasimir von Pfalz-Zweibrücken-Kleeburg, had eight children including Carl X Gustav, King of Sweden
  • Gustav of Sweden (born and 1587), died in infancy
  • Maria Sweden (1588 – 1589), died in infancy

Marieholm, the former royal estate named after Maria; Credit – By (WT-shared) Riggwelter at wts.wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22603872

Maria and Karl had a happy marriage. She accompanied Karl on his travels when she was not prevented by her pregnancies. Maria had a mild and conciliatory nature and was able to control her husband’s hot temper. No portrait of Maria survives but she was described as beautiful. The town Mariestad, founded in 1583, and the royal estate Marieholm (link in Swedish) in Mariestad are named for her.

On July 29, 1589, Maria died after a long illness, aged 28, at Eskilstuna Castle in Eskilstuna, Södermanland, Sweden, and was greatly mourned by Karl. She was buried at Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, Södermanland, Sweden. Her husband Karl married again in 1592 to Maria’s first cousin Christina of Holstein-Gottorp and had four children. Karl became King of Sweden in 1604. He died in 1611 at the age of 61 and was also buried at Strängnäs Cathedral.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anna Maria von der Pfalz – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Maria_von_der_Pfalz> [Accessed 13 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Louis VI, Elector Palatine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_VI,_Elector_Palatine> [Accessed 13 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria of the Palatinate, Swedish princess – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_of_the_Palatinate,_Swedish_princess> [Accessed 13 July 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. Karl IX, King of Sweden. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-ix-king-of-sweden/> [Accessed 13 July 2021].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria av Pfalz – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_av_Pfalz> [Accessed 13 July 2021].

Prince Maximilian of Baden, Margrave of Baden

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Prince Maximilian of Baden was the heir to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Baden, and served briefly as Chancellor of the German Empire.

Prince Maximilian of Baden, Margrave of Baden – photo: By Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R04103 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5367974

Prince Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm of Baden was born in Baden-Baden on July 10, 1867. He was the only son of Prince Wilhelm of Baden (a younger son of Grand Duke Leopold of Baden), and Princess Maria Maximilianovna of Leuchtenburg (a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia). Max had one older sister:

After his initial education, Max studied law and cameralism at Leipzig University before training as an officer in the Prussian Army. In 1907, upon the death of his uncle, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, Max became heir-presumptive to his childless cousin, Friedrich II. In addition to his new position, he became President of the upper house of parliament in Baden. Four years later, he left the Prussian army with the rank of Major General.

Prince Max with his wife and children, c.1910. source: Wikipedia

On July 10, 1900, in Gmunden, Austria, Max married Princess Marie Luise of Hanover. She was the daughter of Ernst August, Crown Prince of Hanover and Princess Thyra of Denmark. The couple had two children:

Max returned to military service in 1914 at the beginning of World War I, serving as a general staff member, representing his cousin Friedrich II. However, he soon retired due to ill health. He became honorary president of Baden’s chapter of the German Red Cross, using his family connections to help prisoners of war. Staunchly liberal, he remained out of politics but spoke out against military policies he disagreed with. Despite maintaining a relatively low profile, it was through his friendship with Kurt Hahn that Max would later be appointed Chancellor of Germany. He was initially considered for the job in July 1917, and once again in September 1918 but was turned down by Kaiser Wilhelm II. However, later that same month, when it was clear that the German front was soon to fall, the entire cabinet of Chancellor Georg von Hertling resigned. Von Hertling himself recommended Prince Max to succeed him. This time the Kaiser agreed, and Max was formally appointed on October 3, 1918.

Just a month later, it was clear that the German Empire was ending. At noon on November 9, 1918, Prince Max announced Kaiser Wilhem II’s abdication and the formal renunciation of the Crown Prince. Max also resigned as Chancellor. Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the SPD, asked Max to remain in Berlin as Regent, but Max refused and returned to Baden.

With no further role in politics, Prince Max retired to Baden. He wrote and published several books, and in 1920, he helped Kurt Hahn establish the Schule Schloss Salem , a boarding school in Salem, Germany, later attended by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the brother of his son’s wife.

On August 9, 1928, the last reigning Grand Duke of Baden, Friedrich II, died, and Max became the pretender to the former throne and the Head of the House of Zähringen. At that time, he assumed the historic title of Margrave of Baden. Just over a year later, on November 6, 1929, Prince Max, Margrave of Baden died of kidney failure following several strokes. He is buried in the Mimmenhausen Cemetery in Salem.

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Baden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Franz, Duke of Bavaria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Franz, Duke of Bavaria, is the current Head of the House of Wittelsbach and Pretender to the former throne of Bavaria. He is also the current heir to the Jacobite Succession.

Franz, Duke of Bavaria; photo: By Christoph Wagener – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22663494

Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria, Prince of Bavaria was born in Munich on July 14, 1933, the son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan. He has three siblings:

Franz’s family left Bavaria in 1937, eventually settling in Hungary by 1940. In 1944, they were arrested after the German occupation and held in several concentration camps before being freed by American forces in April 1945. Following the war, Franz finished his secondary education at the Benedictine Abbey in Ettal and then studied business at the Universities of Munich and Zurich.

From an early age, Franz had a strong interest in art, which would become a lifelong passion. In addition to amassing a large personal collection, he holds numerous positions on boards and associations of museums and art-related organizations:

  • Chairman of the Association for the Promotion of the Alte Pinakothek, an art museum in Munich
  • Deputy Chairman of the Munich Gallery Association
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Society of Friends and Patrons of the Glyptothek and Antikensammlungen Munich
  • Honorary President of the Friends of the Egyptian Collection Munich
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Munich
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Munich University of Philosophy
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Bavarian History
  • Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Eugen Biser Foundation
  • Honorary Trustee, and Chairman of the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Upon his father’s death in 1996, Franz became Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne. At that time, he took the title Duke of Bavaria. Franz never married, so his heir is his younger brother, Max, Duke in Bavaria.

 

In June 2021, an official portrait was released of Franz with his long-term partner Dr. Thomas Greinwald. This is the first time the head of a European royal dynasty has publicly acknowledged a same-sex relationship. The couple lives in a wing of Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Germany, and uses Berg Castle in Starnberg, Germany as their country home.

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Bavarian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Maria Sophie of Bavaria, Queen of the Two Sicilies

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Maria Sophie, Queen of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Sophie, Duchess in Bavaria was the wife of Francesco II, the last King of the Two Sicilies. Maria Sophie Amalie was born on October 4, 1841, at Possenhofen Castle in Possenhofen, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. She was the sixth of the nine children and the third of the five daughters of Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. Pius August, Duke in Bavaria and Princess Amélie Louise of Arenberg were her paternal grandparents. Her maternal grandparents were Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria and his second wife Caroline of Baden. Maria Sophie was a younger sister of the more well-known Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria (Sisi) who married Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria and was assassinated in 1898. The painting below is a group portrait of the siblings of Empress Elisabeth given to her by her brother Karl Theodor on the occasion of her wedding.

Maria Sophie with her siblings: (left to right) Sophie Charlotte, Maximilian Emanuel, Karl Theodor, Helene, Ludwig Wilhelm, Mathilde Ludovika, and Maria Sophie; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Sophie had eight siblings:

Maria Sophie’s father Maximilian Joseph was from a junior branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Maximilian Joseph did much to promote Bavarian folk music. He played the zither, the national instrument of Bavaria, and composed music for it. Although the family had a home in Munich, Herzog-Max-Palais (Duke Max Palace, link in German), Maria Sophie’s parents had no obligations with the Bavarian royal court and their nine children spent much time living a carefree, unstructured, unrestrained childhood at Possenhofen Castle on Lake Starnberg.

Maria Sophie’s husband Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1858, 16-year-old Maria Sophie of Bavaria was betrothed to 23-year-old Francesco, Duke of Calabria, the eldest son and heir of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies and his first wife Maria Cristina of Savoy. On January 8, 1859, a proxy marriage was held at the Court Church of All Saints in the Munich Residenz, the royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs. The couple married in person on February 5, 1859, in Bari, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy.

Three months after the marriage, Francesco’s father Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies died on May 22, 1859, aged 49 from a strangulated hernia after hesitating for months to have surgery. Francesco began his two-year reign as King of the Two Sicilies and Maria Sophie became Queen of the Two Sicilies. During the reign of Francesco’s father, Ferdinando II, the Italian unification movement led by Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia, later Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Italy, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, a noted general and politician, began. The Second War of Italian Independence began shortly before Ferdinando II’s death. During the reign of Francesco II, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860-1861 invasion called the Expedition of the Thousand led to the fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which then was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861, ending the reign of Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies. After losing the throne of the Two Sicilies, Francesco and Maria Sophie lived in Rome as guests of Pope Pius IX. In 1870, the annexation of the Papal States to Italy, including Rome, forced Francesco and Maria Sophie to find refuge in Austria, France, and Bavaria.

Maria Sophie in the 1860s; Credit – Wikipedia

Francesco had a congenital condition that prevented him from consummating his marriage. Maria Sophie, after having been patient for some time, began having affairs. While in Rome, Maria Sophie fell in love with Belgian Count Armand de Lawayss and became pregnant. To avoid scandal, the pregnancy was kept secret and Maria Sophie stayed at her parents’ home Possenhofen Castle in Bavaria. On November 24, 1862, Maria Sophie gave birth to a daughter at St. Ursula’s Convent in Augsburg, Kingdom of Bavaria. The child was immediately given to the father’s family. A year later, on the advice of her family, Maria Sophie decided to confess the affair to her husband. Subsequently, the relationship between Maria Sophie and Francesco improved, and after nearly ten years after his marriage, Francesco finally had surgery that corrected the condition. Maria Sofia became pregnant and a daughter was born to joyful parents but sadly, she lived for only three months. Francesco and Maria Sophie had no other children.

  • Maria Cristina Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (December 24, 1869 – March 28, 1870)

Garatshausen Castle; Credit – Von 2micha – Eigenes Werk, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8311631

In 1870, Maria Sophie purchased Garatshausen Castle (link in German) on Lake Starnberg in the Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria from her brother Ludwig Wilhelm, and the castle became their home. The former Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies died on December 27, 1894, aged 58, in Arco, where he spent winters, then in Austria-Hungary, now in Italy. He was originally buried with his daughter at the Church of the Holy Spirit of the Neapolitans (link in Italian) in Rome.

After her husband’s death, Maria Sophie lived for a time in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. She also spent time in Paris, France where she lived in a house her husband had purchased. There she presided over an informal Bourbon-Two Sicilies court in exile. Maria Sophie never stopped hoping that the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies would be returned to her husband’s family. It was even rumored she was involved in the 1900 anarchist assassination of Umberto I, King of Italy in hopes of destabilizing the Kingdom of Italy.

During World War I, Maria Sophie was actively on the side of the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in their war against the Kingdom of Italy. Again, some rumors claimed she participated in sabotage and espionage against Italy hoping that an Italian defeat would restore the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Despite her dislike of the Kingdom of Italy, Maria Sophie would anonymously visit Italian soldiers in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, giving them books and food.

Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies on the entrance to the royal crypt at the Basilica of Santa Chiara; Credit – Di Giuseppe Guida – Flickr: Basilica di Santa Chiara., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20267754

After World War I, Maria Sophie returned to her birthplace of Bavaria, Germany, living in Munich. It is there that she died on January 19, 1925, at the age of 83. Maria Sophie was initially buried with her husband and daughter at the Church of the Holy Spirit of the Neapolitans (link in Italian) in Rome. In 1984, their remains were transferred to the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy, the traditional burial site of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in Naples, Italy.

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Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Marie in Bayern – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_in_Bayern> [Accessed 18 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Maximilian_Joseph_in_Bavaria> [Accessed 18 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Sophie of Bavaria – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Sophie_of_Bavaria> [Accessed 18 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/francesco-ii-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 18 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Cristina Pia di Borbone-Due Sicilie – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Cristina_Pia_di_Borbone-Due_Sicilie> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Sofia di Baviera – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Sofia_di_Baviera> [Accessed 18 August 2021].

Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Albrecht with his younger half-brother, Prince Heinrich; Credit – Wikipedia

Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria was Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne from 1955 until he died in 1996. He was the eldest surviving grandson of the last reigning King of Bavaria, Ludwig III, and also the heir to the Jacobite succession.

Prince Albrecht Luitpold Ferdinand Michael of Bavaria was born in Munich on May 3, 1905, the son of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria. He had three siblings, all of whom died young:

  • Luitpold, Hereditary Prince of Bavaria (1901) – died in his youth
  • Princess Irmingard (1902) – died in infancy
  • Prince Rudolf (1909) – died in childhood

Albrecht also had six half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Princess Antonia of Luxembourg:

  • Prince Heinrich (1922) – married Anne Marie de Lustrac, no issue
  • Princess Irmingard (1923) – married Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, had issue
  • Princess Editha (1924) – married (1) Tito Tmmaso Brunetti, had issue; (2) Gustav Schimert, had issue
  • Princess Hilda (1926) – married Juan Lockett de Loayza, had issue
  • Princess Gabriele (1927) – married Karl, Duke of Croy, had issue
  • Princess Sophie (1935) – married Jean-Engelbert, Duke of Arenberg, had issue

Albrecht (left) with his father and elder brother Luitpold. photo: Wikipedia

Upon the death of his elder brother in 1914, Albrecht became Hereditary Prince of Bavaria, second in line to the Bavarian throne. However, four years later, in November 1918, the monarchy was abolished. After leaving Bavaria for a short time, he returned to Munich and began studying Forestry but was unable to complete his studies due to the rising Nazi regime.

On September 3, 1930 in Berchtesgaden, Albrecht married Countess Maria Drawkovich of Trakostjan, the daughter of Count Dionys Draskovich von Trakostjan and Princess Juliana Rose von Tentenuovo. At the time of their marriage, a family council deemed the marriage unequal, thus initially excluding Albrecht and his children from the line of succession. However, in 1948, it was ruled that the Head of the House (Albrecht’s father at the time) had the sole authority to determine the validity of the union, and their marriage was recognized as dynastic in May 1949. This reinstated Albrecht and his descendants as heirs to the former Bavarian throne.

Albrecht and his wife had four children:

  • Princess Marie Gabrielle (1931) – married Georg, Prince von Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchburg, had issue
  • Princess Marie Charlotte (1931) – married Paul, Prince von Quadt zu Wykradt und Isny, had issue
  • Franz, Duke of Bavaria (1933) – unmarried
  • Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria (1937) – married Countess Elisabeth Douglas, had issue, including Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein

After several years living in Bad Kreuth in upper Bavaria, Albrecht and his family left the country in 1937, settling briefly in Croatia and then in Hungary by 1940. In October 1944 following the German invasion, the family was arrested and imprisoned in several concentration camps before finally being freed by American forces in April 1945.

Upon his father’s death in August 1955, Albrecht became Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne. It was at that time that he took on the style ‘Duke in Bavaria’. In addition, he became the recognized heir to the Jacobite succession.

Several years later, in 1959, Albrecht orchestrated an official ceremony at which the Greek Crown Jewels were returned to the Greek king. The jewels were originally made for Prince Otto of Bavaria, who had been elected as Greece’s first modern-day King in 1832, but was formally deposed in 1862, and had taken the jewels with him upon returning to Bavaria. Otto was then succeeded by Prince Vilhelm of Denmark who became King George I of the Hellenes. It was King George’s grandson, King Paul of the Hellenes, who accepted the jewels at the ceremony.

Following the death of his first wife in 1969, Albrecht remarried two years later, on April 21, 1971 in Weichselboden, Austria. His second wife was Countess Marie-Jenke Keglevich of Buzin, the daughter of Count Stephan Keglevich de Buzin and Countess Klára Zichy of Zich and Vásonkeö. They had no children.

Having returned to the study of forestry, Albrecht also developed a passion for hunting. He amassed a large collection of antlers, many of which became part of the Deer Museum at Berchtesgaden Castle. In addition, he and his second wife published two books of their research about deer, for which they received honorary doctorates from the University of Munich.

Berg Castle. photo: By 2micha – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8311566

Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria died on July 8, 1996, at Berg Castle in Starnberg. Germany. Following a funeral at the Theatinerkirche in Munich, he was buried in the Wittelsbach cemetery at Andechs Abbey in Starnberg along with both of his wives.

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Bavarian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Rupprecht was Crown Prince of Bavaria from 1913 until the end of the Bavarian monarchy in 1918. From his father’s death in 1921, he became pretender to the former Bavarian throne, and Head of the House of Wittelsbach. Through his direct descent from King Charles I of England, he also became heir to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland in the Jacobite Succession.

Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria – photo: Wikipedia

Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Bavaria, was born in Munich, then in the Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, on May 18, 1869, the eldest child of the future King Ludwig III of Bavaria and Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este. He had 12 younger siblings:

Rupprecht grew up at Schloss Leutstetten in Starnberg, and the family’s villa near Lindau, at Lake Constance. Initially educated at home, he became the first member of the Bavarian royal family to study at a public school, attending the Maximilian-Gymnasium in Munich. He began his military career serving in the Lifeguards Regiment of the Bavarian Army, quickly rising to the rank of Colonel, and was given command of the 2nd Crown Prince’s Regiment. During this time, he also studied at the Universities of Berlin and Munich.

When Rupprecht was just 17, his future changed when his father was named Regent of Bavaria for both King Ludwig II and King Otto who had been declared insane and unable to reign. From that point, it was likely that he would someday succeed to the throne himself. When his grandfather died in 1912, Rupprecht’s father assumed the regency and the following year was formally named King of Bavaria as Ludwig III. Rupprecht formally became Crown Prince at that time.

Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria. photo: Wikipedia

On July 10, 1900, Rupprecht married Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria, at the Residenz (the Royal Palace in Munich). Marie Gabriele was the daughter of Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, and his second wife Infanta Maria José of Portugal, and was the younger sister of the future Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, the wife of King Albert I of the Belgians. Rupprecht and his wife had four children:

  • Luitpold, Hereditary Prince of Bavaria (1901) – died in his youth
  • Princess Irmingard (1902) – died in infancy
  • Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (1905) – married (1) Countess Maria Draskovich de Trakostjan, had issue; (2) Countess Marie-Jenke Keglevich de Buzin, no issue
  • Prince Rudolf (1909) – died in childhood

After the outbreak of World War I, Rupprecht was given command of the German Sixth Army, serving on the Western front, and rose to the rank of Field Marshal by 1916. He then took command of Army Group Rupprecht, which consisted of the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th armies. Despite the losses at the end of the war, Rupprecht had proven himself to be a skilled military leader. He resigned from his military positions on November 11, 1918 – Armistice Day. The following day, the Bavarian monarchy was abolished.

The next several years saw many changes in Rupprecht’s life. Upon his mother’s death in 1919, he became heir to the Jacobite succession, although he never made any claims based upon this, and discouraged anyone from making any claims on his behalf.

Princess Antonia of Luxembourg. photo: Wikipedia

In April 1921, having been widowed for nine years, Rupprecht remarried. Rupprecht became engaged in August 1918 to Princess Antonia of Luxembourg, the fourth of six daughters of the late Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal. At the time they were engaged, Luxembourg was occupied by German forces, and Antonia’s eldest sister, Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde was facing intense criticism for her perceived close ties with Germany. These concerns forced Marie-Adélaïde to abdicate in early 1919 in favor of her sister Charlotte, who would reign much more successfully than her elder sister as Grand Duchess for over 45 years. Finally, on April 7, 1921, Rupprecht and Antonia were married at Schloss Hohenburg in Lenggries, Bavaria.

They had six children:

  • Prince Heinrich (1922) – married Anne Marie de Lustrac, no issue
  • Princess Irmingard (1923) – married Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, had issue
  • Princess Editha (1924) – married (1) Tito Tmmaso Brunetti, had issue; (2) Gustav Schimert, had issue
  • Princess Hilda (1926) – married Juan Lockett de Loayza, had issue
  • Princess Gabriele (1927) – married Karl, Duke of Croy, had issue
  • Princess Sophie (1935) – married Jean-Engelbert, Duke of Arenberg, had issue

Five months after Rupprecht’s marriage, in October 1921, King Ludwig III died and Rupprecht became Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne. Rupprecht soon began pursuing the restitution of properties and estates the Bavarian state had seized at the end of World War I. After extensive negotiations, an agreement was reached in 1923, and the state established the Wittelsbach Compensation Fund. Properties and assets were placed into this foundation instead of being returned to any specific person. In addition, the family agreed to place numerous assets – including a large art collection – into the fund, with the provision that they be made accessible to the public. With this agreement in place, Rupprecht waived any future claims for properties or assets. Today, the fund is self-supporting, with all income used to maintain the collections and to provide financial resources for the Wittelsbach family.

For many years, Rupprecht promoted the idea of a constitutional monarchy in Bavaria, but soon Hitler came to power. Despite attempts to lure him into the Nazi party, Rupprecht refused. In 1939, he and his family were forced into exile, moving to Italy as guests of King Vittorio Emanuele III. Following the 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler, Rupprecht and his family were targeted by the Gestapo for possibly being involved. Rupprecht managed to remain in hiding and avoid capture. However, his wife and children, who had earlier moved to Hungary, were taken into custody. They spent the remainder of the war in several concentration camps, before being freed in April 1945. Such was the treatment they received that his wife refused to ever return to German soil. Following the war, he established the Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria Foundation for the Reconstruction of Würzburg that focused on rebuilding the damaged city and providing affordable housing for its residents. In addition, he continued his efforts to restore the monarchy, with no success.

Leutstetten Castle. photo: Von Gras-Ober, Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons (cc-by-sa-3.0), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14520511

Widowed in 1954, Rupprecht’s health soon began to fail. On August 8, 1955, surrounded by his family, Crown Prince Rupprecht died at Leutstetten Castle at the age of 86. He was given a state funeral with full royal honors and his coffin interred in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

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Bavarian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Georg Moritz, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Altenburg

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Georg Moritz was the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Altenburg, and the last Head of the House of Saxe-Altenburg. Upon his death with no heir, the House of Saxe-Altenburg merged into the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

photo: By Schlegel, Dresden – Original publication: Published as a postcard in Europe.Immediate source: Private Collection – Wartenberg Trust, PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36003998

Wilhelm Georg Moritz Ernst Albrecht Friedrich Karl Constantine Eduard Maximilian was born on May 13, 1900, in Potsdam, where his father – then 3rd in line to the ducal throne of Saxe-Altenburg – was serving with the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards of the Prussian army. His father was the future Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and his mother was Princess Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe. Georg Moritz had three siblings:

  • Princess Charlotte (1899) – married Prince Sigismund of Prussia, had issue
  • Princess Elisabeth Karola (1903) – unmarried
  • Prince Friedrich Ernst (1905) – unmarried

Georg Moritz became the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Altenburg in February 1908 when his father became the reigning Duke. The family left Potsdam and returned to Altenburg, taking up residence at Altenburg Castle. The young prince was educated privately at home for several years before being sent to the King Georg High School in Dresden in 1913. He also received military training with the 8th Thuringian Infantry Regiment.

In November 1918, his father was forced to abdicate when the German monarchy was dissolved. From an early age, Georg Moritz was interested in anthroposophy – “a philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) which maintains that, by virtue of a prescribed method of self-discipline, cognitional experience of the spiritual world can be achieved.” (source: dictionary.com).  From the early 1930s, he devoted much of his life to his interest, teaching and promoting anthroposophy at Hamborn Castle. He later rented a nearby farm where he lived for many years.

Although anthroposophy was banned by the Nazi regime, thanks to the intervention of Georg Moritz, research with disabled children was allowed to continue at Hamborn until 1941. At that time, the Gestapo put an end to the research, and Georg Moritz was placed in custody for nine months. He returned to Hamborn in 1946 after the war, living in a small apartment in the castle and promoting his research and studies. In addition, he served on the board of the local social charity for many years.

Upon his father’s death in 1955, Georg Moritz became Head of the House of Saxe-Altenburg and pretender to the former ducal throne.

Georg Moritz, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Altenburg died from pneumonia on February 13, 1991, in Rendsburg, Germany. As he had never married, and his younger brother had died several years earlier with no heirs, this brought an end to the House of Saxe-Altenburg. It was merged into the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, led by a distant cousin, Michael, the pretender to the former grand ducal throne of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

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Saxe-Altenburg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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