Ludwig III (Ludwig Luitpold Josef Maria Aloys Alfred; 7 January 1845 – 18 October 1921) was the last King of Bavaria, reigning from 1913 to 1918. Initially, he served in the Bavarian military as a lieutenant and went on to hold the rank of Oberleutnant during the Austro-Prussian War. He entered politics at the age of 18, as a member of the Bavarian parliament, and was a keen participant, supporting electoral reforms. Later in life, he served as regent and de facto head of state from 1912 to 1913, ruling for his incapacitated cousin, Otto. After the Bavarian parliament passed a law allowing him to do so, Ludwig deposed Otto and assumed the throne for himself. He led Bavaria during World War I. His short reign was seen as championing conservative causes and he was influenced by the Catholic encyclical Rerum novarum.
After the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the German Empire was dissolved and the Weimar Republic was created. As a result of this revolution, the Bavarian throne was abolished along with the other monarchies of the German states, ending the House of Wittelsbach's 738-year reign over Bavaria. Fearing that he might be a victim of an assassination, Ludwig fled to Hungary, Liechtenstein and then Switzerland. He returned to Bavaria in 1920 and lived at Wildenwart Castle. He died shortly after, when he was staying at Nádasdy Mansion in Sárvár.
Ludwig was born in Munich, the eldest son of Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria and of his wife, Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria (daughter of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany). He was a descendant of both Louis XIV of France and William the Conqueror. Hailing from Florence, Auguste always spoke in Italian to her four children. Ludwig was named after his grandfather, King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
Ludwig spent his first years living in the Electoral rooms of the Munich Residenz and in the Wittelsbacher Palais. From 1852 to 1863, he was tutored by Ferdinand von Malaisé. When he was ten years old, the family moved to the Leuchtenberg Palace.
In 1861 at the age of sixteen, Ludwig began his military career when his uncle, King Maximilian II of Bavaria, gave him a commission as a lieutenant in the 6th Jägerbattalion. A year later, he entered LMU Munich, where he studied law and economics. When he was eighteen, he automatically became a member of the Senate of the Bavarian Legislature as a prince of the royal house.
In 1866, Bavaria was allied with the Austrian Empire in the Austro-Prussian War. Ludwig held the rank of Oberleutnant. He was wounded at the Battle of Helmstadt, taking a bullet in his thigh. The incident contributed to the fact that he was rather averse to the military. He received the Knight's Cross 1st Class of the Bavarian Military Merit Order.
In June 1867, Ludwig visited Vienna to attend the funeral of his cousin, Archduchess Mathilda of Austria (daughter of his father's sister Princess Hildegard of Bavaria). While there, Ludwig met Mathilde's 18-year-old step-cousin Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria-Este, the only daughter of the late Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este (1821–1849) and Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria (1831–1903), and they married on 20 February 1868 at St. Augustine's Church in Vienna.
Until 1862, Ludwig's uncle had reigned as King Otto I of Greece. Although Otto had been deposed, Ludwig was still in line of succession to the Greek throne. Had he ever succeeded, this would have required that he renounce his Roman Catholic faith and become Greek Orthodox. Maria Theresa's uncle, Francis V, Duke of Modena, was a staunch Roman Catholic. He required that as part of the marriage agreement Ludwig renounce his rights to the throne of Greece, and so ensure that his children would be raised Roman Catholic. In addition, the 1843 Greek Constitution forbade the Greek sovereign to be simultaneously ruler of another country. Consequently, Ludwig's younger brother Leopold technically succeeded upon their father's death to the rights of the deposed Otto I, King of Greece. However, after Otto's deposition none of the Wittelsbach family ever pursued a claim.
By his marriage, Ludwig became a wealthy man. Maria Theresa had inherited large properties from her father. She owned the estate of Sárvár in Hungary and the estate of Eiwanowitz in Moravia (now Ivanovice na Hané in the Czech Republic). The income from these estates enabled Ludwig to purchase an estate at Leutstetten in Bavaria. Over the years, Ludwig expanded the Leutstetten estate until it became one of the largest and most profitable in Bavaria. Ludwig was sometimes derided as Millibauer (dairy farmer) due to his interest in agriculture and farming.
Although they maintained a residence in Munich at the Leuchtenberg Palace, Ludwig and Maria Theresa lived mostly at Leutstetten. They had a happy and devoted marriage which resulted in thirteen children:
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria (18 May 1869 – 2 August 1955), married Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria on 10 August 1900. They had four children. He remarried Princess Antonia of Luxembourg on 7 April 1921. They had six children.
Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria (17 October 1870 – 4 January 1958) married Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern on 20 January 1915.
Maria Ludwiga, Princess of Bavaria (6 July 1872 – 10 June 1954) married Prince Ferdinand Pius of Bourbon-Two Sicilies on 31 May 1897. They had six children, including Princess Urraca of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
Karl, Prince of Bavaria (1 April 1874 – 9 May 1927)
Franz, Prince of Bavaria (10 October 1875 – 25 January 1957) married Princess Isabella Antonie of Croÿ on 12 July 1912
Princess Mathilde of Bavaria (17 August 1877 – 6 August 1906) married Prince Ludwig of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on 1 May 1900. They had two children.
Prince Wolfgang Maria Leopold of Bavaria (2 July 1879 – 31 January 1895)
Princess Hildegard of Bavaria (5 March 1881 – 2 February 1948)