Ludwig III. (Wittelsbach) König von Bayern
(07.01.1845 - 18.12.1921)
place of birth:  München, Bayern  (Munich, Bavaria)
Königreich Bayern:  König; Generalfeldmarschall

                          

The eldest son of Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, Ludwig briefly served in 1912 as Prince Regent in place of his insane cousin Otto, upon the death of his father Luitpold. With assent of Bavarian Parliament, Ludwig then deposed Otto by constitutional amendment and proclamation. He thereafter ruled from 1913 to 1918 as Bavaria's last king.

During the Great War, Ludwig was ceremonially promoted to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall in August of 1916. He had in fact previously served as a military commander, having fought against the Prussians during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, becoming wounded while fighting at Helmstadt. Ludwig III's son Crown Prince Rupprecht and his younger brother Leopold were highly respected army commanders, both serving the Imperial German Forces at the rank of field marshal during the Great War.

On the eve of revolution in November 1918, Ludwig and his family ultimately fled Munich, signing a paper that Kurt Eisner's government termed an abdication. Thus ended 738 continuous years of rule by the Wittelsbach dynasty. When Eisner died in 1919, Ludwig moved to Vaduz, Liechtenstein and from there to Schloß Nádasdy in Sárvár, Hungary, where he died in October 1921.