Maximilian II of Bavaria

Uncommon card · No. 104432

Maximilian II (28 November 1811 – 10 March 1864) was King of Bavaria from 20 March 1848 until his death in 1864. He was the firstborn child and eldest son of King Ludwig I and his wife Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Ascending the throne upon his father's abdication during the German Revolution of 1848, King Maximilian restored stability in his kingdom. The rest of his reign was characterized by attempts to maintain Bavarian independence during the wars of German Unification and to transform his capital city of Munich into a cultural and educational city. He was very popular and took a greater interest in the business of government than in personal extravagance. In 1842 he married the Hohenzollern princess Marie Friederike Franziska Hedwig, the niece of King Freidrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, with whom he had two sons. Upon his death, Maximilian was succeeded by their eldest son, Ludwig II.

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