Napoleon broke up the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. One of the new kingdoms which he carved out of the decayed giant was the kingdom of Bavaria, based around a duchy which dated back to the middle of the first millennium. The new kingdom of Bavaria was twice the size of the old duchy and it contained many of the prettiest parts of Germany (today Bavaria makes up 20% of Germany’s territory) thanks to the fact that he first king of Bavaria, Maximillian I, was a Francophile and an ardent French ally.
The kingdom of Bavaria survived the destruction of Napoleon’s empire. Because of its large population and area (and since it contains the important city of Munich) Bavaria played a major part in the Prussian-lead unification of Germany in the late nineteenth century. By playing Prussia off against its rival Austria, Bavaria incorporated into the German Empire on favorable term–indeed the army, train-system, and postal services of Bavaria remained distinct from the rest of Germany. The unification of Bavaria with Germany took place in 1871. Bavaria’s eccentric king, Ludwig II was the monarch who called for a German empire with the Prussian king Wilhelm I as emperor. Coincidentally, the life of Ludwig II was a fascinating Gothic melodrama of swans, and operas, and castles, and alienists (see more next week).
In November 1918, as World War I ended, Kaiser William II abdicated the throne of Germany. King Ludwig III, soon followed him into exile, thus bringing the Wittelsbach dynasty to an end. Overnight the Kingdom of Bavaria became the Free State of Bavaria (which it is still is today–although a bizarre attempt to found a communist republic nearly caused the state to leave Germany as the Bavarian Soviet Republic).
At any rate, here is a picture of the Crown of Bavaria, which can today be found at the Residenz palace in Munich. The crown, which is purely ceremonial and was never worn, was made by the most famous French goldsmith of the Napoleonic era (in accordance with Maximillian’s love of all things French) and is set with rubies, emeralds, sapphires, pearls, and a huge blue diamond–the Wittelsbach Diamond. Or, at any rate it was originally set with this huge gem stone. In the dark days of 1931, the Wittelsbach family pried the Wittelsbach diamond out and sold it in order to stay solvent.
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July 27, 2013 at 5:01 AM
twixraider
Bah, the Bavarian Bolsheviks have been just a short episode during the painful birth of the Freistaat. Check out modern Bavarian separatism:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfried_Scharnagl
Germany is far, far away from a Jedi republic, but close to cold clone wars…
July 27, 2013 at 10:56 AM
Wayne
I saw mention of the separatists when I was researching this and it did surprise me: I guess sometimes even Germany’s friends forget that it isn’t as monolithic as it seems on TV and that the German state was (recently) welded together out of really different pieces. You would think that East German integration would have reminded us!
August 4, 2013 at 4:44 AM
twixraider
Google “Schwabenhass” and you will be even more surprised… similar shit here, Augsburg advertises itself in Munich newspapers with “low rents” which we can’t afford, a real estate sellout to Munich’s “poverty”. A new form of “Klassenkampf”, expect “Bayernhass” soon.
September 9, 2013 at 2:52 PM
Wayne
Munich’s poverty? Yikes, I’m glad I don’t have to pay rent in Germany (not that Brooklyn is any bargain, mind you).