OTHO

otho, king of greece). for this unfortunate issue louis was not without blame; for from the very first, owing to an exaggerated idealism and love of antiquity, he had totally misunderstood the national character of the greeks and the problems involved in the attempts to govern them by bureaucratic methods. in bavaria, too, his government became more and more conservative, especially after karl abel became the head of the ministry in 1837. the king had not yet, it is true, altogether committed himself to the clerical ultras, and on the occasion of the dispute about the bishops in prussia in the same year had taken up a wise attitude of compromise. but in bavaria itself the strict catholic party influenced affairs more and more decisively. for a while, indeed, this opposition did not impair the king's popularity, due to his amiable character, his extraordinary services in beautifying his capital of munich, and to his benevolence (it has been reckoned that he personally received about 10,000 letters asking for help every year, and that the money he devoted to charity amounted to about a fifth of his income). the year 1846, however, brought a change which had sad consequences. this was due to the king's relations with the spanish dancer lola montez, who appeared in munich in october 1846, and soon succeeded by her beauty and wit in fascinating the king, who was always susceptible to feminine charms. the political importance of this lay in the fact that the royal mistress began to use her great influence against the clerical policy of the abel ministry. so when the king was preparing the way for ennobling her, in order to introduce her into court circles, which were unwilling to receive her, the ministry protested in the famous memorandum of the 11th of february 1847 against the king's demand for her naturalization as a bavarian, the necessary preliminary to her ennoblement. the position was still further embittered by the fact that, owing to an indiscretion, the memorandum became known to the public. thereupon the king, irritated and outraged, replaced abel's clerical ministry by a more accommodating liberal one under zu rhein under which lola montez without more difficulty became countess landsberg. meanwhile, the criticism and opposition of the people, and especially of the students, was turned against the new leader of the court of munich. on top of this came the revolutionary movement of 1848. the king's position became more and more difficult, and under the pressure of popular opposition he was forced to banish the countess. but neither this nor the king's liberal proclamation of the 6th of march succeeded in establishing peace, and in the capital especially the situation became increasingly threatening. all this made such a deep impression on the king, that on the 20th of march 1848 he abdicated in favour of his son maximilian. he now retired entirely into private life, and continued to play the maecenas magnificently, frequently staying at his villa in rome, the villa malta, and enjoying extraordinary vigour of mind and body up to the end of his days. his popularity, which had been shaken by the montez affair, he soon recovered, especially among artists. to him munich owes her finest art collections and most remarkable buildings. the monarch's artistic sense led him not only to adorn his house with a number of works of antique art, but also to study german medieval art, which he did to good effect. to him munich owes the acquisition of the famous rhenish collection of the boisseree brothers. the king also worked with great zeal for the care of monuments, and the cathedrals of spires and cologne enjoyed his special care. he was also an unfailing supporter of contemporary painting, in so far as it responded to his romantic tendencies, and he gave a fresh impulse to the arts of working in metal and glass. as visible signs of his permanent services to art munich possesses the walhalla, the glyptothek, the two pinakotheken, the odeon, the university, and many other magnificent buildings both sacred and profane. the role which the bavarian capital now plays as the leading art centre of germany would have been an impossibility without the splendid munificence of louis i. he died on the 28th of february 1868 at nice, and on the 9th of march was buried in munich, amid demonstrations of great popular feeling. the chief part of louis's records is contained in seven sealed chests in the archives of his family, and by the provisions of his will these were not to be opened till the year 1918. these records contain an extraordinarily large and valuable mass of historical material, including, as one item, 246 volumes of the king's diary. bibliography.--of the numerous pamphlets, especially of the years 1846-1848, we need only mention here: p. erdmann, _lola montez und die jesuiten_ (1847); _geheimbericht uber bayern_ (1847), published by fowmier in _deutsche revue_, vol. 27. see also f. v. ritter, _beitrage zur regierungsgeschichte konig ludwigs i._ (1825-1826) (2 vols., 1853-1855); sepp, _ludwig i. augustus, konig von bayern und das zeitalter der wiedergeburt der kunste_ (1869; 2nd ed., 1903); ottokar lorenz, _drei bucher geschichte_ (1876; 2nd ed., 1879); k. th. v. heigel, _ludwig i._ (1872; 2nd ed., 1888); "ludwig i. und martin wagner," _neue historische vortrage_ (1883); "ludwig i.," _allgemeine deutsche biographie_ (1884); "ludwig i. als freund der geschichte" and "kronprinz ludwig in den feldzugen von 1807 und 1809," in _historische vortrage und studien_ (1887); _die verlegung der universitat nach munchen_, rektoratsrede (1887); "ludwig i. und die munchener hochschule," _quellen und abhandlungen zur geschichte bayerns_, n.s. (1890); "ludwig i. als erzieher seines volkes," ib.; reidelbach, _ludwig i. und seine kunstschopfungen_ (1887; 2nd ed., 1888); l. trose, _ludwig i. in seinen briefen an seinen sohn, den konig otto von griechenland_ (1891); l. v. kobell, _unter den vier ersten konigen bayerns_ (1894); a. fournier, "aus den tagen der lola montez," _neue deutsche rundschau_ (1901); m. doebere, "ludwig i. und die deutsche frage," _festgabe fur heigel_ (1903); e. fuchs, _lola montez in der karrikature_ (1904); l. brunner, _nurnberg 1848-1849_ (1907). (j. hn.)