Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
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Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria |
Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria or
Crown Prince Rupert of Bavaria (German
Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern) (
18 May 1869 –
2 August 1955) was the last
Bavarian
Crown Prince.
His full title was
HRH Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, Franconia and Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine.
Rupprecht was born in
Munich, the eldest son of
Ludwig III, the last
King of Bavaria, and of
Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este, niece of
Duke Francis V of Modena. He commanded the
German Sixth Army at the outbreak of
World War I in
Lorraine. Rupprecht succeeded in holding back the French attack in August
1914, in the
Battle of Lorraine, and then launched a counteroffensive later that month. Rupprecht failed to break through the French lines and remained on the
Western Front during the stalemate that would last until the end of the war. Rupprecht achieved the rank of
Field Marshal (
Generalfeldmarschall) in 1916 and assumed command of Army Group Rupprecht. Rupprecht has been considered by some to be one of the best Royal commanders in the Imperial German Army of World War I.
Rupprecht married firstly, in 1900,
Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria, and secondly, in 1921, Princess Antonia of Luxembourg, daughter of
Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg.
Rupprecht lost his chance to rule Bavaria when it became a republic in the revolutions that followed the war. Some royalists still referred to him as the King of Bavaria. Rupprecht was opposed to the regime of
Nazi Germany and was forced into exile in Italy in 1939.
In October 1944, when Germany occupied Hungary, Rupprecht evaded arrest but his wife and children were captured. They were first imprisoned in the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp at
Oranienburg,
Brandenburg. In April 1945 they were moved to the
Dachau concentration camp, where they were liberated by the United States Army. Crown Princess Antonia never recovered completely from the captivity, and died a few years later.
With Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria:
* Luitpold Maximilian Ludwig Karl Prince of Bavaria (1901-1914, infantile paralysis)
* Irmingard Maria Therese José Cäcilia Adelheid Michaela Antonia Adelgunde Princess of Bavaria (1902-1903, diphtheria)
*
Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (1905-1996)
* Stillborn daughter (1906)
* Rudolf Friedrich Rupprecht, Prince of Bavaria (1909-1912, diabetes)
With Princess Antonia of Luxembourg:
* Heinrich Franz Wilhelm Prince of Bavaria (1922-1958). Married Anne Marie de Lustrac (1927-1999). No issue.
*
Irmingard Marie Josefa, Princess of Bavaria (b. 1923). Married her cousin Ludwig Prince of Bavaria (b. 1913) and has issue.
* Editha Marie Gabrielle Anna Princess of Bavaria (b. 1924). Married first Tito Tommaso Maria Brunetti (1905-1954) and second Prof. Gustav Christian Schimert (1910-1990). Has issue by both.
* Hilda Hildegard Marie Gabriele Princess of Bavaria (b. 1926). Married Juan Bradstock Edgar Lockett de Loayza (1912-1987) and has issue.
* Gabriele Adelgunde Marie Theresia Antonia Princess of Bavaria (b. 1927). Married Carl Duke von Croÿ, Lord zu Dülmen, and has issue.
* Sophie Marie Therese Princess of Bavaria (b. 1935). Married Jean-Engelbert Prince and Duke von
Arenberg and has issue.
*
Robert I and IV*
The Royal Family, the Nazis, and the Second World War
