Home
PRINCE REGENT LUITPOLD ‒ KIND-HEARTED REGENT AND PROMOTER OF CULTURE
The period of rule of the Prince Regent is often referred to as the Golden Age of Bavaria. Luitpold’s reign was characterised by a long period of peace, a period during which the economy could thrive and a heyday for both culture and science.
A man of nature at heart; who felt most comfortable in the saddle on the way to a hunt in the Bavarian high mountains, he was also a great lover of art. In order to continue the legacy of his father, Ludwig I, Prince Regent Luitpold dedicated himself to the promotion of visual arts. He supported artists, such as Lenbach, Slevogt and Hildebrand, as a benefactor and patron. Prince Regent Luitpold’s appreciation of art and his kind-hearted, tolerant style of governance ensured that Munich was able to become the Capital of Culture in which progressive schools of thought, such as expressionism and the emerging art nouveau, could find their home. Schwabing became the centre of artistic associations like the Blaue Reiter group around Wassily Kandinsky and the Munich Secession around Franz von Stuck. Writers such as Thomas Mann, Henrik Ibsen and Rainer Maria Rilke were attracted by Munich’s socially-liberal climate.
Munich also has Prince Regent Luitpold to thank for numerous buildings, monuments and fountains, such as the Angel of Peace, the Hubertusbrunnen well and the Prince Regent Theatre.
