Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
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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, Franken and Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine.
Rupprecht was the son of Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria and Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria-Este, niece of Francis V, Duke 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 Germany 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 William IV, Grand Duke 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 1939.
The Wittelsbachs moved to their estate at Sárvár, Vas, Hungary. In October 1944, when Germany occupied Hungary, Rupprecht evaded arrest but his wife and children were captured. They were firstimprisoned 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.
Rupprecht died in 1955.
Children
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 Cro˙, Lord zu Dülmen, and has issue.
- Sophie Marie Therese Princess of Bavaria (b. 1935). Married Jean-Engelbert Prince and Duke von Arenberg (among other titles) and has issue.