Prince Karl Theodor of Bavaria

Prince Karl Theodor Maximilian August of Bavaria (7 July 1795 – 16 August 1875); and grand prior of the order of Malta, was a Bavarian soldier.

Early life Charles was born in Munich on 7 July 1795. He was the second son of King Maximilian I of Bavaria and his first wife Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Career Charles fought against Napoleon at the Battle of Hanau in 1813, became a general of division, and took part in the Campaign of 1814. His differences with Prince Wrede led to his retirement from 1822 till some time after the latter's death in 1838, when his brother King Ludwig I of Bavaria appointed him field marshal and general inspector of the army. In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, he was commander-in-chief of the 7th and 8th corps of the Bavarian Army, being allied with Austria. His troops, some 52,000 men, served in the Main Campaign. Afterwards he retired from public service.

Personal life On 1 October 1823 he morganatically married (Neuburg, 27 July 1796 – Munich, 22 February 1838), who was created Baroness von Bayrstorff upon their marriage. She was a daughter of Franz Moritz Petin, Captain in the Bavarian Army, and Baroness Maria Theodora von Branca. Before her death at Tegernsee in 1838, they were the parents of three daughters:

Caroline Sophie von Bayrstorff (17 October 1816 – 25 May 1889), who married Adolf, Baron von Gumppenberg (1804–1877) in 1834.

Prince Karl fell from his horse while riding at Tegernsee in Bavaria on 16 August 1875 and was killed instantly.

Descendants Through his eldest daughter, he was a grandfather of Baroness Maximiliane von Gumppenberg (1850–1937), who married Count Maximilian von Holnstein, a close friend of King Ludwig II who brought Ludwig's "Kaiserbrief" to Otto von Bismarck.

Honours

Ancestry