Rupprecht | |
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Crown Prince of Bavaria | |
Prince Rupprecht and his second wife, Princess Antonia of Luxembourg
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Born |
Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria |
18 May 1869
Died | 2 August 1955 Schloß Leutstetten, Starnberg, Bavaria, Federal Republic of Germany |
(aged 86)
Burial | Theatine Church, Munich |
Spouse |
Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria Princess Antonia of Luxembourg |
Issue | Luitpold, Hereditary Prince of Bavaria Princess Irmingard Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria Prince Rudolf Prince Heinrich Irmingard, Princess Ludwig of Bavaria Princess Editha, Mrs. Schmert Princess Hildegard, Mrs. de Loayza Princess Gabrielle, Duchess of Croÿ Princess Sophie, Duchess of Arenberg |
House | Wittelsbach |
Father | King Ludwig III |
Mother | Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este |
Rupprecht or Rupert, Crown Prince of Bavaria (German: Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern) (18 May 1869 – 2 August 1955) was the last Bavarian Crown Prince.
His full title was His Royal Highness Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine.
During the first half of the First World War he commanded the German Sixth Army on the Western front. From August 1916 he commanded Army Group Rupprecht of Bavaria, which occupied the sector of the front opposite the British Expeditionary Force.
Rupprecht was born in Munich, the eldest of the thirteen children of Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria, and of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, a niece of Duke Francis V of Modena. He was a member of the lineage of both Louis XIV of France and William the Conqueror. As a direct descendant of Henrietta of England, daughter of Charles I of England, he was claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland in the Jacobite succession as Rupert I. His early education from the age of seven was conducted by Freiherr Rolf Kreusser, an Anglo-Bavarian. In his youth, he spent much of his time at Schloss Leutstetten, Starnberg, and at the family's villa near Lindau, Lake Constance, where he was able to develop a keen interest in sports. His education was traditional and conservative, but he became the first member of the royal house of Bavaria to spend time at a public school, when he was educated at the Maximilian-Gymnasium in Munich, where he spent four years. Apart from his academic studies and his training in riding and dancing, at school he was also obliged to learn a trade, and his choice fell on carpentry.