Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (b.1982)

Prince Luitpold of Bavaria (German: Luitpold Rupprecht Heinrich Prinz von Bayern) (born 14 April 1951) is a member of the House of Wittelsbach, which reigned as kings of Bavaria until 1918, and a CEO of König Ludwig GmbH & Co. KG Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg.

Early life

Prince Luitpold was born at Schloß Leutstetten near Starnberg, in Bavaria. He is the only surviving child of Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (1913–2008) and his wife Princess Irmingard of Bavaria (1923–2010).

Marriage

On 25 June 1979 Prince Luitpold married Katrin Beatrix Wiegand (born Munich 19 Sep 1951), daughter of Gerd Wiegand and his wife Ellen Schumacher. The civil wedding took place at Starnberg and the religious ceremony followed a day later at the Andechs Abbey in Bavaria. Initially the union was considered morganatic, but on 3 March 1999 the marriage was declared to be dynastic . The couple had five children and four grandchildren:

• Princess Auguste Marie Philippa (born 1979), a research zoologist (working under the name Auguste M.P. von Bayern) who investigates animal cognition as a collaborator of Alex Kacelnik; she is married to Prince Ferdinand of Lippe-Weissenfeld and has a two sons:
  • Prince Louis-Ferdinand Ludwig Beatus Bernhard Christopher Julio Patrick of Lippe-Weissenfeld (born 16 September 2013).
  • Prince Carl-Philipp of Lippe-Weissenfeld (born 22 December 2015)
• Princess Alice Isabella Maria (born 1981), a cognitive biology researcher and manager of the University of Vienna's Goffin Lab (working under the name Alice Auersperg); she is married to Prince Lukas of Auersperg and has a daughter and a son:
  • Princess Olivia Sophie Marie Gobertina of Auersperg (born 13 April 2013).
  • Prince Ludwig of Auersperg (born 8 April 2015)
• Prince Ludwig Heinrich of Bavaria (born 1982)
• Prince Heinrich Rudolf of Bavaria (born 1986); married to Henriette Gruse on 22 April 2017.
• Prince Karl Rupprecht of Bavaria (born 1987).

Because the current head and heir of the Royal House of Bavaria, Duke Franz and his younger brother Max, have no male offspring, their first cousin Luitpold and his son Prince Ludwig are next in line to inherit representation of the House of Bavaria's historically royal legacy.

Business activities

Prince Luitpold is the proprietor and CEO of a brewery located at Kaltenberg Castle (König Ludwig GmbH & Co. KG Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg) which was founded in 1871, and largely extended by the prince who also purchased Marthabräu brewery at Fürstenfeldbruck in 1980, where now most of his dark and white beer is produced. At Kaltenberg he also organizes an annual jousting tournament.

In 2011 he purchased the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory, founded in 1745 by Maximilian III Joseph, Prince-Elector of Bavaria.

Prince Luitpold owns the Bavarian castles of Leutstetten and Kaltenberg, in which he lives with his family.

• Leutstetten Castle

• Kaltenberg Castle

Ancestry