es, Luis Fernando María Carlos Enrique Adalberto Francisco Felipe Andrés Constantín , image = ludwigferdinandofbavaria.jpg , caption = Prince Ludwig Ferdinand in 1906 , spouse = , house =

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate o ...

, father = Prince Adalbert of Bavaria , mother = Infanta Amalia of Spain , birth_date = , birth_place =

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain , death_date = , death_place =

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

,
West Germany , place of burial = Michaelskirche, Munich , issue = Prince Ludwig Ferdinand Maria Karl Heinrich Adalbert Franz Philipp Andreas Konstantin of Bavaria (22 October 1859 – 23 November 1949) was a member of the

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n House of

and a

General of Cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers ...

. Following his marriage to

Infanta María de la Paz of Spain Infanta María de la Paz of Spain (23 June 1862 – 4 December 1946) was a Spanish infanta. A daughter of Queen Isabella II, she married her cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria. She lived the rest of her life in Germany, dedicating her tim ...

, he was also created an Infante of Spain.

General information

He was the eldest son of Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (1828–75) and Infanta Amalia of Spain (1834–1905). He was a paternal grandson of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and his wife Princess Therese of Saxe-Altenburg. His maternal grandparents were

Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles IV of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Parma , birth_date = , birth_place = Aranjuez, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Madrid, Spain , burial_place = El Escorial Infante F ...

and his wife Princess Luisa Carlotta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Ludwig Ferdinand's paternal uncles were King Maximilian II of Bavaria, King

Otto I of Greece Otto (, ; 1 June 181526 July 1867) was a Bavarian prince who ruled as King of Greece from the establishment of the monarchy on 27 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed on 23 October 1862. The second son of King Ludw ...

and

Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria ''Leopold Charles Joseph William Louis'' , image_size = , image = Luitpold Wittelsbach cropped.jpg , succession = Prince Regent of Bavaria , reign = 10 June 1886 – 12 December 1912 , reign-type = Tenure , regent = Ludw ...

. His maternal uncle was King-Consort

Francis of Spain Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

(1822–1902) and maternally his first cousin was King

Alfonso XII of Spain Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 1885 ...

(1857–85), two years his senior. Ludwig Ferdinand was born in Madrid, but his younger siblings in Bavaria, where they had returned.

Ludwig II Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

and

Ludwig III Ludwig III (Ludwig Luitpold Josef Maria Aloys Alfried; 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 Oberl ...

, Kings of Bavaria, were his first cousins. Alfonso XIII (reigned 1885–1931) was a first cousin's son. Prince Ludwig Ferdinand was the only member of the Bavarian Royal Family who always remained on friendly terms with his cousin, King Ludwig II (with the exception of

Elisabeth, Empress of Austria Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898. Elisabeth was ...

) – and the only cousin to ever be invited, together with his wife, at

Herrenchiemsee Herrenchiemsee is a complex of royal buildings on Herreninsel, the largest island in the Chiemsee lake, in southern Bavaria, Germany. Together with the neighbouring isle of Frauenchiemsee and the uninhabited Krautinsel, it forms the municipality ...

Palace as well as for private dinners at the

Munich Residence The Residenz (, ''Residence'') in central Munich is the former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors for its architecture, room decorations, and displ ...

. When Ludwig II was arrested at

Neuschwanstein Castle Neuschwanstein Castle (german: Schloss Neuschwanstein, , Southern Bavarian: ''Schloss Neischwanstoa'') is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The pa ...

in 1886, he called Ludwig Ferdinand for help; the latter immediately intended to follow this call, but was prevented from leaving Nymphenburg Palace by his uncle Luitpold who was about to take over government as the ruling Prince Regent. Medal Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria 1906 Landau Pfalz 25th Anniversary of his Regiment

Medal Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria 1906 Landau Pfalz 25th Anniversary of his Regiment

Ludwig Ferdinand was one of only a few European princes doing an ordinary job outside government or military, by working as a surgeon and

gynaecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

however he worked as head of the surgery department of the Munich military hospital, in spite of being nominal Royal colonel of the 18th Bavarian Infantry-Regiment as well as of a Prussian Dragoons regiment.

Marriage

Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria was married in 1883 to his maternal first cousin,

(1862–1946), the second-youngest daughter of his uncle King Francis and Queen Regnant

Isabella II of Spain Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...

(reigned from 1833 up to 1868 when deposed, abdicated 1870 and died 1904) and the 845th

Dame ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...

of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa. The wedding took place in Madrid, during her brother Alfonso XII's reign.

In 1885 the young couple returned to Bavaria and resided chiefly in a side wing of the royal Nymphenburg Palace, left to them by Ludwig II. Later, they occupied an acquired palace in the inner city of Munich, the

Palais Ludwig Ferdinand The Palais Ludwig Ferdinand (also called the Alfons Palais and the Siemens Palais) is an early 19th-century palace in Munich, Germany, designed by Leo von Klenze. It is located on the Wittelsbacherplatz (at number 4) but forms part of an ensemble ...

at Wittelsbacherplatz, together with Ludwig Ferdinand's brother

Alfons Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

and his family. Ludwig Ferdinand and María de la Paz established the so-called ''Spanish branch'' of the Bavarian royal family, started with Ludwig Ferdinand's parents' marriage but strengthened by successive Spanish marriages in altogether three generations.

Children

They had the following children: *

Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria Prince Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria (Ferdinand Maria Ludwig Franz von Assisi Isabellus Adalbert Ildefons Martin Bonifaz Joseph Isidro; 10 May 1884 – 5 April 1958) was a prince of the House of Wittlesbach and Infante of Spain, the eldest son and c ...

, Prince of Bavaria (1884–1958), born in Madrid and settled permanently in Spain in 1905, married Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain * Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (1886–1970). Married Countess Augusta von Seefried auf Buttenheim and had two sons; lived in Germany. *

Princess Pilar of Bavaria Princess Pilar of Bavaria (''Maria del Pilar Eulalia Antonia Isabella Ludovika Franziska Josepha Rita Euphrasia von Wittelsbach, princess of Bavaria'') (March 13, 1891 – January 29, 1987) was the only daughter of Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Ba ...

(1891–1987), unmarried. Ferdinand died in

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

, in Madrid. Ludwig Ferdinand's sisters were Isabella, Duchess of Genoa; Elvira, Countess von Wrbna-Kaunitz-Rietberg-Questenberg und Freudenthal; and Clara, Abbess of St. Anna; and his younger brother was Prince Alphonse of Bavaria, husband of Louise of Orléans, daughter of Ferdinand, Duke of Alençon and Duchess Sophie in Bavaria. Alphonse's son Prince Joseph Clemens of Bavaria lived 1902–90 and died childless and unmarried. A daughter, Elisabeth, became Countess von Kageneck.

Honours and awards

He received the following orders and decorations:

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludwig Ferdinand Of Bavaria, Prince 1859 births 1949 deaths Spanish infantes Princes of Bavaria House of Wittelsbach Members of the Bavarian Reichsrat German gynaecologists German surgeons Burials at St. Michael's Church, Munich Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Knights of Santiago Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Knights of the Order of Saint Joseph