Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria

Maximilian Joseph
Duke in Bavaria
File:Max de Baviera.jpg
Born	(1808-12-04)4 December 1808
Died
Spouse	Princess Ludovika of Bavaria
Issue	Ludwig Wilhelm, Duke in Bavaria Wilhelm Karl Helene, Hereditary Princess of Thurn of Taxis Elisabeth, Empress of Austria Karl-Theodor Maria Sophie, Queen of the Two Sicilies Mathilde Ludovika, Countess of Trani Maximilian Sophie Charlotte, Duchess of Alençon Maximilian Emanuel
House	Wittelsbach
Father	Duke Pius August in Bavaria
Mother	Princess Amélie Louise of Arenberg

Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria (4 December 1808 – 15 November 1888), known informally as Max in Bayern, was a member of a junior branch of the House of Wittelsbach and a promoter of Bavarian folk-music. He is most famous today as the father of Empress Elisabeth of Austria ("Sisi").

Early life

Maximilian Joseph was born at Bamberg, the only son of Duke Pius August in Bavaria (1786–1837) and of his wife, Princess Amélie Louise of Arenberg. On September 9, 1828, at Tegernsee, Maximilian Joseph married Princess Ludovika of Bavaria, daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. They had ten children.

In 1834 he purchased Possenhofen Castle on Lake Starnberg; this was his major residence for the rest of his life. In 1838 he acquired Unterwittelsbach Castle (today housing a "Sisi" museum) near the site of Burg Wittelsbach, the ancestral seat of the House of Wittelsbach. Maximilian Joseph died in Munich. He and his wife are buried in the family crypt in Tegernsee Abbey, a former monastery which Ludovika's father, King Maximilian I Joseph, had acquired in 1817. At the same time of the secularisation, Duke Maximilian Joseph's grandfather Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria had also purchased a former monastery, Banz Abbey. Both properties, Tegernsee and Banz, are still today owned by Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria.

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  Possenhofen Castle

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  Unterwittelsbach Castle

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  Tegernsee Abbey

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  The house of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Munich

Middle East trip

In 1838 Maximilian Joseph travelled to Egypt and Palestine. He published an account of this trip: Wanderung nach dem Orient im Jahre 1838 (München: Georg Franz, 1839; reprinted Pfaffenhofen: Ludwig, 1978). While climbing the Great Pyramid he arranged for his servants to yodel as if he were climbing in the Alps. He collected a number of antiquities which he brought back to Bavaria and displayed in his father's home, Banz Abbey; they can still be seen there today. Among the items are the mummy of a young woman, three mummies' heads, several animal mummies, shawabtis, and several stones from tombs or temples including one from the Temple of Dendur. He also bought some children in the Cairo slave market and later freed them. When Maximilian Joseph was in Jerusalem, he paid for the restoration of the Church of the Flagellation on the Via Dolorosa.

Folk-music

Maximilian Joseph was one of the most prominent promoters of Bavarian folk-music in the 19th century. Under his influence the zither started to be used in court circles and eventually became identified as the national musical instrument of Bavaria. Because of his interest he received the nickname Zither-Maxl. He himself played the zither and also composed music for it.

During a visit by his cousin Ludwig II of Bavaria, Ludwig saw some sheet music on Maximilian Joseph's piano by the composer Richard Wagner, which led on to Ludwig's financial support for Wagner from 1863.

Maximilian Joseph's musical compositions have been collected in the work: Die im Druck erschienenen Kompositionen von Herzog Maximilian in Bayern: Ländler, Walzer, Polka, Schottisch, Mazurka, Quadrillen und Märsche für Pianoforte, Zither, Gitarre oder Streichinstrumente (München: Musikverlag Emil Katzbichler, 1992).

Issue

Issue
Name	Portrait	Lifespan	Notes
Ludwig Wilhelm ("Louis")		June 21, 1831- November 6, 1920	Married twice (morganatically): 1. Henriette Mendel, Freiin von Wallersee (1833–1891) in 1859 Issue: 1 daughter, 1 son. 2. Barbara Antonie Barth, Frau von Bartolf (1871–1956) in 1892, divorced 1913 Issue: None.
Wilhelm Karl		24 December 1832- 13 February 1833	Died in infancy
Helene Caroline Therese ("Nene")	60px	4 April 1834- 16 May 1890	Married Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis (1831–1867) in 1858 Issue: 2 daughters, 2 sons.
Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie ("Sisi")		24 December 1837- 10 September 1898	Married Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria (1830–1916) Issue: 3 daughters, 1 son.
Karl Theodor ("Gackl")	60px	9 August 1839- 30 November 1909	Married twice: 1. Princess Sophie of Saxony (1845–1867), his cousin, in 1865 Issue: One daughter. 2. Maria Josepha of Portugal (1857–1943) Issue: 3 daughters, 2 sons.
Marie Sophie Amalie	60px	4 October 1841- 19 January 1925	Married Francis II, King of the Two Sicilies (1836–1894). Issue: 1 legitimate daughter with her husband Also 1 or 2 illegitimate daughter(s) with Armand de Lavayss.
Mathilde Ludovika	60px	30 September 1843- 18 June 1925	Married Lodovico, Count of Trani (1838–1886) Issue: 1 daughter.
Maximilian		8 December 1845	Stillborn
Sophie Charlotte Augustine		23 February 1847- 4 May 1897	Married Ferdinand Philippe Marie, Duke of Alençon (1844–1910) Issue: 1 daughter, 1 son.
Maximilian Emanuel ("Mapperl")	60px	December 7, 1849- 12 June 1893	Married Princess Amalie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1848–1894) Issue: 3 sons.

Ancestry

Family of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria

16. John Charles, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen               8. John, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen                       17. Esther Maria von Witzleben               4. Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria                             18. Karl of Salm, Count of Dhaun               9. Sophie Charlotte of Salm-Dhaun                       19. Louise of Nassau-Ottweiler               2. Duke Pius August in Bavaria                                   20. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken               10. Count Palatine Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken                       21. Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken               5. Countess Palatine Maria Anna of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld                             22. Count Palatine Joseph Charles of Sulzbach               11. Countess Palatine Maria Franziska of Sulzbach                       23. Countess Palatine Elizabeth Augusta Sophie of Neuburg               1. Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria                                         24. Léopold Philippe d'Arenberg               12. Charles, Duke of Arenberg                       25. Maria Francesca Pignatelli               6. Louis-Marie, Duke of Arenberg                             26. Louis Engelbert de La Marck, Duke de La Marck               13. Louise Margarete de la Marck-Schleiden, Countess of Vardes                       27. Marie Anne de Visdelou               3. Princess Amélie Louise of Arenberg                                   28. Louis de Mailly, Comte de Mailly               14. Louis Joseph de Mailly, Marquis of Nesle                       29. Anne Françoise Arbaleste, Vicomtesse de Melun               7. Marie Adélaïde Julie de Mailly                             30. Emmanuel d'Hautefort, Marquis de Sarcelles               15. Adélaïde Julie d'Hautefort                       31. Françoise-Claire d'Harcourt

Bibliography

• Dreyer, Aloys. Herzog Maximilian in Bayern, der erlauchte Freund und Förderer des Zitherspiels und der Gebirgspoesie. München: Lindauer, 1909.
• See also parts of Furst und Arzt : Dr. med. Herzog Carl Theodor in Bayern : Schicksal zwischen Wittelsbach und Habsburg by Richard Sexau, a biography of his son Karl Theodor (Styria Verlag, Graz, 1963)