Ludwig III of Bavaria

King of Bavaria (1845-1921)

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Lived 1845–1921, aged 76Germany

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Wikipedia
46 languages
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Era
1845–1921
Aged 76
Awards
25
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-06-21

The last king of Bavaria, who seized the throne from his own cousin in 1913, led the kingdom through World War I, then fled into exile when revolution swept away 738 years of Wittelsbach rule.

Biography

About

Ludwig entered the Bavarian parliament at 18 and served as a junior officer in the Austro-Prussian War, supporting electoral reforms while rising through military ranks. He ruled as regent for his incapacitated cousin Otto from 1912 until the parliament passed a law allowing him to depose Otto and take the throne outright in 1913. His short reign steered Bavaria through World War I with a conservative hand shaped by the Catholic encyclical Rerum novarum. The German Revolution of 1918–1919 dissolved the empire and abolished the Bavarian monarchy along with the other German royal houses. Fearing…

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