House of Wittelsbach | |
---|---|
Country | Bavaria, Germany, Greece, Kalmar Union |
Titles |
Duke of Bavaria Elector of Bavaria King of Bavaria Elector of the Palatinate Elector of Cologne Holy Roman Emperor King of the Romans King of Denmark King of Sweden King of Norway King of Greece |
Founded | 11th century |
Founder | Otto I |
Final ruler | Ludwig III |
Current head | Franz, Duke of Bavaria |
Deposition | 7 November 1918 |
Ethnicity | German |
Cadet branches |
Palatinate-Simmern, Palatinate-Sulzbach, Palatinate-Neumarkt, Palatinate-Zweibrücken, Palatinate-Birkenfeld |
The House of Wittelsbach (German pronunciation: [ˈvɪtəlsbax]) is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.
Members of the family reigned as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria (1180–1918), Counts Palatine of the Rhine (1214–1803 and 1816–1918), Margraves of Brandenburg (1323–1373), Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland (1345–1432), Elector-Archbishops of Cologne (1583–1761), Dukes of Jülich and Berg (1614–1794/1806), Kings of Sweden (1441–1448 and 1654–1720) and Dukes of Bremen-Verden (1654–1719).
The family also provided two Holy Roman Emperors (1328–1347/1742–1745), one King of the Romans (1400–1410), two Anti-Kings of Bohemia (1619–20/1742–43), one King of Hungary (1305–1309), one King of Denmark and Norway (1440–1447) and one King of Greece (1832–1862).
The family's head, since 1996, is Franz, Duke of Bavaria.