Luitpold Prince Regent of Bavaria

Luitpold Wittelsbach (1821 - 12 Dec 1912) ruled Bavaria as Prince Regent in place of his nephews, Kings Ludwig II and Otto. Luitpold was the youngest son of King Ludwig I, and brother to King Maximillian II of Bavaria, and Otto King of Greece.

Claim to the Greek Throne

In addition to being third in line for the Bavarian throne after his childless nephews Ludwig and Otto, he was also the heir to the Greek throne as long as his brother Otto remained childless. Due to a legal requirement that the King of Greece be a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, Luitpold was ineligible for the rule of Greece after his brother Otto was deposed, as he was a devout Roman Catholic and had stated his unwillingness to convert.

Rule as Prince Regent

In 1886, King Ludwig II was declared insane and removed from the Bavarian throne. Ludwig's heir, Otto, had been committed for paranoia (Paranoid Schizophrenia), and was ineligible for the throne. As both men were childless, the line of succession went up a generation to the brothers of Maximillian II. Luitpold was the sole surviving brother of Maximillian II and was given the position of Prince Regent. Conspiracy theorists have suggested that Luitpold engineered the deposing and death of King Ludwig II. One of the first acts of his reign was to open Ludwig's castles, Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, and Herrenchiemsee to the general public for tourism. Luitpold became one of the most popular rulers of Bavaria, and many cities in Bavaria have a street named for him.