Dukes in Bavaria - Since 1799

Since 1799

On 16 February 1799, the head of the House of Wittelsbach Charles Theodore of Bavaria died without issue. Wittelsbach had been the ruling house of Bavaria since 1180 with the title of a Duke of Bavaria, and the higher title of an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire since 1648. As after the Landshut War of Succession primogeniture was established, there could only be one Duke of Bavaria anymore, resulting in the actually quite unprecedented decision to create a title of Duke in Bavaria for the rest of the family, which all members of the House took for themselves, even the older Palatine branch – the other major Wittelsbach possession. Reversely, all Wittelbachs were also Counts Palatine by Rhine. After Charles Theodore's death, who had unified Bavaria with the Palatinate and the other major possessions of Jülich and Berg in his person, two cadet branches were surviving: one headed by Maximilian I Joseph, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, the other by William, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen, and both Zweibrücken and Gelnhausen were occupied by the French, which might explain why the custom was abandoned to name cadet branches by the title of their cadet possessions no matter how small.

The both agreed in the House Treaty of Ansbach that the Wittelsbach inheritances should be indivisible further on. Maximilian Joseph, as from the senior branch, inherited Charles Theodor's title of Elector of Bavaria, while William, his brother-in-law in addition to rather distinct a relative, was compensated with the title of Duke in Bavaria. As head of a specific family branch, it is possible since to speak somewhat paradoxically of The Duke in Bavaria. When Wittelsbach became a Royal House, the Dukes in Bavaria were lifted to the dignity of a Royal Highness. Then if not earlier, the title of Duke in Bavaria came into formal disuse by the Royal branch, who were quite content to be Princes of Bavaria. It should be kept in mind that even if we commonly speak of a Royal and a Ducal branch of the House, it was clear that the Dukes as well were of royal rank, and to make things more complicated, the head of the royal branch is now again called the Duke: the Duke of Bavaria, of course. Among the notable members of the Ducal branch were Duke Max, who, a talented Zither player and composer himself, ranks among the most important promoters of Bavarian folk-music; his daughters Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Queen Mary Sophie of the Two Sicilies; and in more recent times Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein.

In 1965 there were only two male members of the family, Duke Ludwig Wilhelm and his cousin Duke Luitpold; both were elderly and had no children. On 18 March 1965 Duke Ludwig Wilhelm adopted Prince Max of Bavaria, the second son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and the grandson of Ludwig Wilhelm's sister Marie Gabrielle. From this point onwards Max has used the surname "Herzog in Bayern" in place of the surname "Prinz von Bayern". Max has five daughters, including the Sophie mentioned already, all of whom were born with the surname "Herzogin in Bayern".