Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria

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Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria : biography

11 December 1724 – 16 February 1799

Family and children

Marriages and children

On 17 January 1742, in Mannheim, he married Elisabeth Auguste, daughter of Count Palatine Joseph Charles of Sulzbach and his consort Countess Palatine Elizabeth Augusta Sophie of Neuburg. There was one child of this marriage, Francis Louis Joseph (28 June 1762-29 June 1762).

On 15 February 1795, in Innsbruck, he married Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este. There were no children of this marriage.

Illegitimate children

From his liaison with the actress Françoise Després-Verneuil, later Countess von Parkstein (died 1765):

  1. Karoline Franziska Dorothea, Countess von Parkstein (1762 – 7 September 1816, Ickelheim); married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm zu Isenburg-Büdingen-Birstein (13 December 1730, Birstein – 12 October 1804, Mannheim)
  2. son (1764–1765)

From his liaison with Maria Josefa Seyfert, Countess von Heydeck (1748 1771):

  1. Karoline Josepha von Bretzenheim (27 January 1768 – 27 April 1786); married Count Maximilian Josef von Holnstein (20 May 1760 – 1838) in 1784
  2. Karl August, Count of Heydeck and Reichsfürst von Bretzenheim, (24 December 1769 – 27 February 1823) married Maria Walburga von Oettingen-Spielberg (29 August 1766 – 8 May 1833) in 27 April 1788, Oettingen
  3. Eleonore Karoline von Bretzenheim (9 December 1771 – 23 December 1832); married Prince Wilhelm Karl von Leiningen (5 July 1737 – 26 January 1809) on 21 November 1787 (divorced 1801)
  4. Friederike Karoline von Bretzenheim (9 December 1771 – 2 March 1816), twin with Eleonore; married Count Maximilian von Westerholt-Gysenberg (1772 – 19 April 1854) in 1796

Cultural legacy

Charles Theodore was a great lover of the arts, including drama and especially music. His Mannheim court orchestra was considered one of the finest in its time. The Mannheim School (including composer Christian Cannabich and conductor Johann Stamitz) did groundbreaking work that the celebrated Wiener Klassik would later draw upon. Mozart applied for a position with the Mannheim orchestra in 1777, but was turned down, as the court was about to move to Munich. In 1780, Charles Theodore commissioned Idomeneo from the composer. Mozart quotes him as saying "No music has ever made such an impression on me. It is magnificent." David Cairns, Mozart and his operas, 2006, p.48.

In keeping with the customs of the time, an Italian opera company as well as a troupe of French actors were employed at Mannheim, each performing in their respective tongues. Later, the Nationaltheater (national theatre) was established, one of the first theatres in Germany to exclusively showcase plays in the native tongue (most notably, the first staging of Schiller’s "Die Räuber" in 1782).

In the visual arts, a massive collection of plaster casts taken from celebrated antique works was assembled at Mannheim. The preexisting Düsseldorf gallery, including many works by Rubens, was first transferred to Mannheim, then to Munich, where it was later incorporated in the Alte Pinakothek. While none of the Mannheim painters are particularly notable today (with the possible exception of Kobell, primarily a master of landscapes), the elector had several highly talented sculptors at his disposal, among them Verschaffelt, Simon Peter Lamine and Konrad Linck. Linck also distinguished himself as a designer of porcelain figurines at Frankenthal.see The Catalogue of the paintings in the Old pinakothek, Munich http://books.google.com/books?id=d6hJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA288&dq=karl+theodore+alte+pinakothek+catalogue&as_brr=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Charles Theodore’s chief architect Nicolas de Pigage was charged to complete the Mannheim Palace, design the Schlosstheater and the gardens at Schwetzingen Palace ( including numerous pavilions, among them several artificial “Roman” ruins and a “mosque”) as well as Benrath palace. While these works are in a pure contemporary French style (marked by the transition from late Baroque to early classicism), some of the other architects employed by Charles Theodore were proponents of a more Italianate style. This mixture of influences is, in fact, typical of many German courts of the period.

Charles Theodore liked to style himself as a prince of peace, in contrast to other princes like his chief political opponent, the great warrior Frederick II of Prussia. Allegorically, Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and protectress of the arts, is often depicted as a stand-in for the elector himself. This self-view is best summed up in the inscription of a small monument at Schwetzingen:

“A field of war and death of Romans and Germans has been discovered, through the unearthing of weapons, urns and bones, in the year 1765. – To the arts of peace, which are the sole joys of his life, the elector Charles Theodore has dedicated this spot, excavated to the height of seven feet, and had this monument erected in 1768.”