Father King Maximilian II of Bavaria

The state portrait of King Maximilian II (1811-1864, ruled from 1848) by Max Hailer (1818-1854) shows the king in coronation robes standing in front of the throne, similar to the portrait of his father. His right hand is resting on his coronation oath, which protrudes unrolled over the edge of the table. Above it lies the constitutional charter (under the sceptre) and behind it the royal crown. In contrast to Ludwig I, the statues of Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian (ruled 1314/28-1347) and King Rupprecht III (ruled 1400-1410) can be seen in the background in the Residence’s throne room, bearing witness to the important ancestors of the Wittelsbach kings and illustrating the monarch’s awareness of history.

Ludwig II did not have a close relationship with his father. The king ruled Bavaria after the upheavals of the revolution and the abdication of his father Ludwig I from 1848. He promoted science and industry and governed the Bavarian state on the eve of German unification. He was not very involved in his children’s upbringing. He only saw Ludwig and his brother Otto at mealtimes and usually treated them austerely and formally. Max II had little to do with his son’s romantic raptures. Afflicted by illnesses throughout his life, which also forced him to make frequent trips to Italy for recuperation, the third Bavarian king died in Munich on 10 March 1864.

Stefan Schnupp