Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (1913–2008)

Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (22 June 1913 – 17 October 2008) was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach.

Prince Ludwig was born at Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria.

He was the eldest son of Prince Franz of Bavaria, the third son of King Ludwig III, and his wife Princess Isabella Antonie of Croÿ.

After graduating from the Maximilians-Gymnasium (located in Schwabing, Munich), Ludwig studied forestry at the university in Hungary.

In 1939, as most young German men of his age, he was drafted into the military, serving as a Gebirgsjäger.

However, his career in the German Army was short lived.

In early 1941, Ludwig was relieved from all combat duties as a result of the Prinzenerlass which prohibited members of Germany's royal houses from participating in military operations.

He spent the rest of the war at Sarvar in Hungary where his family owned a castle.

In 1945, his family fled Hungary and settled at Leutstetten near Starnberg in Bavaria.

On 19 July 1950, Ludwig married his first cousin Princess Irmingard of Bavaria (29 May 1923 in Berchtesgaden – 23 October 2010 in Leutstetten), daughter of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and Princess Antonia of Luxembourg.

The civil wedding took place at Leutstetten, and the religious ceremony followed a day later at Schloss Nymphenburg in Munich.

The couple had three children:

After the death of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria in 1955, Ludwig and Irmingard moved into Schloss Leutstetten, where Irmingard continued to live.

Ludwig was a Grand Prior of the Bavarian Order of Saint George, a Knight of the Order of Saint Hubert, and from 1960 a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Ludwig died of pneumonia at Schloss Leutstetten, 17 October 2008, at the age of 95.

On Wednesday, 22 October at 10:00 a.m., a Funeral Liturgy was held in the abbey church at Andechs.

After the Mass, his body was buried in the Wittelsbach cemetery on the abbey grounds.