Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria
The last Queen of Bavaria, her brief reign ended with the fall of the monarchy, after which she dedicated herself to charity and family.
1849–1919 (age 70)·Queen of Bavaria from 1913 to 1918·Birthday: July 2
Biography
Born into the tangled web of European aristocracy, Maria Theresa of Austria-Este was a Habsburg archduchess who became a Wittelsbach queen. Her marriage to Prince Ludwig of Bavaria in 1868 was a strategic union within Catholic royal circles. For 45 years, she lived as a crown princess, raising a family largely away from the public eye while her father-in-law, the eccentric King Ludwig II, and later her brother-in-law, Otto, who was declared insane, occupied the throne. Her husband finally ascended as King Ludwig III in 1913, making Maria Theresa queen on the eve of the Great War. Her reign was defined by wartime austerity and her patronage of charitable causes supporting soldiers and their families. In 1918, the Bavarian monarchy was swept away by revolution. She and Ludwig did not put up a fight, issuing a document releasing officials from their oath of allegiance—a quiet, dignified end. She lived out her days in exile in Hungary, a figure from a vanished world.
#1 When Maria Was Born
The biggest hits of 1849
Maria's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1849Born
1854Started school
1862Became a teenager
President: Abraham Lincoln
1865Could drive
President: Andrew Johnson
1867Could vote
President: Andrew Johnson
1870Turned 21
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1879Turned 30
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1889Turned 40
Eiffel Tower opens in Paris
President: Benjamin Harrison
1899Turned 50
President: William McKinley
1909Turned 60
Robert Peary claims to reach the North Pole
President: William Howard Taft
1919Turned 70
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
Key Achievements
- Served as Queen Consort of Bavaria from 1913 until the abolition of the monarchy in November 1918.
- Actively supported wartime charities and the Red Cross during World War I as Queen.
- Was the mother of thirteen children, ensuring the continuity of the Bavarian royal line.
- Through her mother, she was a descendant of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and the extinct House of Este.
Did You Know?
She was the last Queen of Bavaria in history.
She was a trained singer and had a great love for music.
One of her sons, Prince Franz, served as regent for the head of the House of Wittelsbach from 1949 to 1996.
She died in Sárvár, Hungary, in 1919, less than a year after the monarchy fell.
“My duty is to my family and to the Church.”
