Duke Ludwig Wilhelm in Bavaria (1831–1920)

IssueCountess Marie Larisch von Moennich
Karl Emanuel, Baron von WallerseeHouseWittelsbachFatherDuke Maximilian Joseph in BavariaMotherPrincess Ludovika of Bavaria

Ludwig Wilhelm (21 June 1831 – 6 November 1920) was a Duke in Bavaria and official head of the ducal branch of the House of Wittelsbach.^[1][2]

Biography

Ludwig Wilhelm (often called Louis) was the eldest child of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria, and was the brother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.^[3]

He pursued a career in the Royal Bavarian Army, becoming a major in the 1st Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers "Emperor Nicholas of Russia" and rising to the rank of General of the Cavalry by 1859.^[1]

Relationships and issue

He renounced his rights as firstborn when he entered into a morganatic marriage to the actress Henriette Mendel, who was created Baroness von Wallersee on their marriage.^[1][4] Louis became father in 1858 of a daughter Marie Louise Mendel, who, as Marie Louise von Larisch-Wallersee ("jene Gräfin Larisch"), was later involved in the Mayerling Incident. In 1859 his son Karl Emanuel was born but died shortly after.

Henriette died on November 12, 1891.^[2][5]

Louis married a second time to ballet prima donna Antonie Barth, on November 19, 1892^[5][6] in Munich.^[7] The duke was forty years older than his bride,^[2][5] and was not accepted into the duke's family as graciously as his first wife.^[1] She was created Baroness von Bartolf.^[8] In 1906, the duke had declared his intention to marry Fraulein Tordek, a prima donna of the Munich royal opera house.^[3][9] Bartolf left the duke in 1907 after years of physical and emotional abuse.^[8] They divorced in July 1913 after Frau Bartolf gave birth to a daughter, Hélène^[10] that the duke claimed was not his child.^[2][11]

Death

In November 1920, Ludwig died^[1] of a cardiac arrest-induced stroke and is buried in Munich's Ostfriedhof.

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:^[12]

Ancestry

References