Franz, Duke of Bavaria

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Franz
Duke of Bavaria
File:Franz Herzog von Bayern (cropped).jpg
Franz wearing the ceremonial robes of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, 2012
Head of the House of Wittelsbach
Tenure 8 July 1996 – present
Predecessor Albrecht
Heir presumptive Max-Emanuel
Born (1933-07-14) 14 July 1933 (age 91)
Munich, Germany
House Wittelsbach
Father Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
Mother Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan
Religion Catholicism

Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern (born 14 July 1933), commonly known by the courtesy title Duke of Bavaria, is the head of the House of Wittelsbach, the former ruling family of the Kingdom of Bavaria. His great-grandfather King Ludwig III was the last ruling monarch of Bavaria, being deposed in 1918.

Franz was born in Munich. During the Second World War, the Wittelsbachs were anti-Nazi.[1] The family initially left Nazi Germany for Hungary but were eventually arrested when Germany invaded the country in 1944. Franz was 11 at the time. He spent time in several Nazi concentration camps, including Sachsenhausen concentration camp, then Flossenbürg concentration camp and finally Dachau.[1]

After the war, Franz was a student at the University of Munich and became a collector of modern art. Franz succeeded as head of the House of Wittelsbach, and as pretender to the Bavarian throne, on the death of his father in 1996. He lives at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich and Berg Palace.[2]

Birth

Franz was born on 14 July 1933 in Munich, the son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, and his morganatic wife, Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan of the House of Drašković, a Croatian noble family. On 18 May 1949, when Franz was 15, his grandfather Crown Prince Rupprecht recognised the marriage of Franz's parents as dynastic, and Franz became a prince of Bavaria.[3]

The Wittelsbach dynasty were opposed to the Nazi regime in Germany, and in 1939, Franz's father took his family to Hungary. They lived in Budapest for four years before moving to their Castle at Sárvár in late 1943. In March 1944, Nazi Germany occupied Hungary, and on 6 October 1944 the entire family, including the 11-year-old Franz, were arrested. They were sent to a series of Nazi concentration camps, including Oranienburg and Dachau. At the end of April 1945, they were liberated by the United States Third Army.[4]

Education

Duke Franz, painted by Dieter Stein in 1985

After the war, Franz received his secondary education at the Benedictine Abbey of Ettal. He then studied business management at the University of Munich and in Zurich. Franz developed a passion for collecting modern art. Items from his private collection are on permanent loan to the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.[5] He is also an honorary trustee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.[1]

Current activities

His 80th birthday party, in 2013, was held at the Schleissheim Palace near Munich. The party was attended by 2,500 guests,[6] including the then-incumbent Minister-President of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer.[7]

In 2016, he became the donor of the project of restoration of the Statue of St. John of Nepomuk in Divina, Slovakia, realised under auspices of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Slovakia. The project was honoured by patronage of Norodom Sihamoni, the king of Cambodia and Simeon II, the last tsar of Bulgaria.[8] The project was completed in the year 2017.[9]

Personal life

Duke Franz has a longtime partner, Thomas Greinwald, although they have never married. In August 2011, the duke appeared at Prince George Frederick of Prussia's wedding, accompanied by Greinwald and his first cousin once removed (and future heir) Prince Ludwig.[10] They also sat for a photo portrait for Erwin Olaf that was widely published in spring 2021. [11]

Succession rights

Franz has never married. The heir presumptive to the headship of the House of Wittelsbach is his brother Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria. Because Max has five daughters but no sons, he is followed in the line of succession by his and Franz's first cousin (second cousin in the male line) Prince Luitpold[12] and, in the next generation, by the latter's son Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (born 1982).

Link to the Stuarts

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See also: Jacobite succession

Franz is a direct descendant of the House of Stuart. Were it not for the Act of Settlement 1701, Franz would be the successor to the British and Irish crowns of the Stuart kings.[13] His spokesman has, however, made it clear that this is a purely "hypothetical issue",[13] not a claim that he pursues, and Franz personally issued condolences to the British royal family upon Queen Elizabeth II's death.[13][14][15][16][17]

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

File:3 Generationen Bayerisches Königshaus.jpg
Prince Franz (right) with his father Duke Albrecht (centre) and his grandfather Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, in 1948

Franz is traditionally styled as His Royal Highness the Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia,[18] Count Palatine of the Rhine.[19][6] [20] [21]

Franz was styled Prinz von Bayern at birth.[22] In 1996, after the death of his father, he changed his style to Herzog von Bayern ('Duke of Bavaria').[23]

Honours

See also

References

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Bibliography

  • Adalbert, Prinz von Bayern. Die Wittelsbacher: Geschichte unserer Familie. München: Prestel, 1979.
Franz, Duke of Bavaria
Born: 3 May 1905 Died: 8 July 1996
Titles in pretence
Preceded by — TITULAR —
King of Bavaria
8 July 1996 – present
Reason for succession failure:
Kingdom abolished in 1918		 Incumbent
Heir presumptive:
Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria
Jacobite succession
8 July 1996 – present

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Carla Schulz-Hoffmann and Peter-Klaus Schuster, Deutsche Kunst seit 1960 aus der Sammlung Prinz Franz von Bayern (München: Prestel-Verlag, 1985).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Photo of Ludwig (left), and Franz of Bavaria, with Thomas Greinwald (right), August 2011 in Potsdam
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Genealogie des Hauses Wittelsbach. München: Verwaltung des Herzogs von Bayern, 2000.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ The title assumed by the Kings of Bavaria was Duke in Swabia, with the in indicating that only parts of the Swabian territory was ruled by them, while the larger parts of Swabia were part of the Kingdom of Württemberg. Unlike their other title Duke of Franconia which made clear that the whole of Franconia had become part of the Bavarian kingdom.
  19. ↑ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Band 50, Fürstliche Häuser, Band IX, Limburg an der Lahn 1971, S. 7
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Band 50, Fürstliche Häuser Band IX. Limburg an der Lahn: C. A. Starke, 1971, page 7.
  23. ↑ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Band 141, Fürstliche Häuser Band XVIII. Limburg an der Lahn: C. A. Starke, 2007, page 2.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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