#otto of bavaria

[earlgodwin]

JOHN MOULDER-BROWN as PRINCE OTTO OF BAVARIA LUDWIG — 1972, Directed by Luchino Visconti

[johnmoulderbrown]

John Moulder Brown as Prince Otto of Bavaria in Luchino Viscont's 'Ludwig' (1973)

[gemsofgreece]

The mystery of the Greek regalia has been solved...?

A mystery counting centuries was solved recently, when the Greek regalia, missing for many decades, were apparently discovered carefully stored in Tatoi Palace during its maintenance works.

The regalia of the Greek Kingdom were commissioned in Paris 1834, before the coronation of Otto of Greece. However, the regalia's transfer was delayed and Otto was coronated before they arrived at the country. As a result, Otto never actually used them but he did take them with him to Bavaria when he was exiled 30 years later.

The regalia reappeared almost a century after their creation when Albrecht von Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria, returned them to the Greek Kingdom during the wedding of King Paul of Greece to Frederica of Hanover, even though Paul belonged to a different house (Glücksburg).

The crown reportedly shortly appeared in the funerals of Paul and Frederica, however after that there was no more information on the whereabouts of the regalia. This led to conspiracy theories or even a conviction shared by historians and the public alike, which accused Constantine II, their son and last King of Greece, of sneaking the regalia out of the country and keeping them to himself, even though those belong to the Greek state and not a particular royal house.

Finally, the regalia were recently found carefully stored in Tatoi palace, outside Athens. This led to some re-evaluation of the theories blaming Constantine although some, including a significant historian, speculate that Constantine's descendants, sneaked the regalia back to the palace after the ex-King's death, to end these rumours casting a shadow over the ex-royal family.

The Greek regalia were commisioned to the French royal goldsmith house, Fossin et Fils, which had crafted the regalia of Napoleo Bonaparte. The sword was commissioned to the famed swordsmith Jules Manciaux. The regalia were made of gold, gilded metal and silver.

Otto tried to diverge a little from Bavarian archetypes for the designation of the regalia and establish a style slightly differing from the western kingdoms. The use of gems is very modest; only the sword is decorated with lapis lazuli. The decorative patterns refer directly to Greece, Christianity and the ancient greek culture. Lapis lazuli was chosen for its blue colour, the trademark colour associated with Greece. The sword case bears the Greek royal flag. The base has a sculpted presentation of a trident and two dolphins, as well as Goddess Nike (Victory).

The crown was very modest compared to most crowns in the west. Its base was crafted to look like a wreath of laurels. It has additional details of acanthus leaves and lion heads. The globus cruciger lies on the top of the crown and the cross resembles that of the Orthodox Church, unlike the ones in western kingdoms. In his own words, Otto had written to the architect Friedrich von Gürtner that his vision was for the architecture and designs used for him to be relatively strict, with noble dignity and simplicity.

The regalia will now be kept in the trophy hall of the Greek parliament.

Sources:

Newsbomb

Θέμα

[ottos-wahn]

it's been a month and i still can't stop thinking about visiting otto's grave, laying flowers on his coffin, actually being in his presence. i miss him every day, i still can't believe how lucky i am to have been able to do that

[astriiformes]

Spotted, a wild Andreas doing art in our hotel room

[walzerjahrhundert]

Joseph Albert

Wilhelm von Hessen-Darmstadt with Prince Otto and Ludwig II. of Bavaria in the studio of Joseph Albert

1863

[alwaysalwaysalwaysthesea]

Wiener Werkstätte Cresta coat designed by Eduard Josef Wimmer-Wisgrill using Bavaria fabric by Carl Otto Czeschka, 1913.

(source: MAK)

[archduchessofnowhere]

Ever heard this story about prolonged strawberry picking during a lakeside picnic got this Contessa placed in a convent? Wondering who she was? trove<dot>nla<dot>gov<dot>au/newspaper/article/180419605

Hello! Sorry it took me so long to answer. Anon is referring to this fragment of this Australian newspaper article they sent me, dated December 17 of 1912:

Honestly I've never heard anything of this, though I don't know much about Otto either. I'll keep an eye on it!

Also, interesting piece of alternative history on that article regarding Ludwig II and Sophie in Bavaria's failed engagement:

As far as I'm aware Queen Marie of Bavaria was content with her son's fiancée. Also, it seems rumors about Sophie being somehow involved with a photographer were already widely known by the early 20th century. Which were true, by the way, Sophie was meeting Edgar Hanfstaengl, son of the court photographer Franz Hanfstaengl, during the time of her brief engagement to Ludwig.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Otto chapel in Kiefersfelden, Bavaria, Germany

German vintage postcard, mailed in 1905 to Berlin

[dream-this-nightmare-over]

anyone who watched this movie, will be quick to notice they are still in their roles on this photo from premier (I think it was held in the Hofgarten in Munich Residenz)

Otto is looking lost everything is bit too much all the spotlights, Ludwig is happy prince fairytale king with his bird and brilliant childlike smile, and Richard is boyfriend material aka trophy boyfriend. Richard is Kenough.

[roehenstart]

Otto of Austria (1301-1339), his successive wives and children:

Elizabeth of Bavaria (1306-1330), Anna of Luxembourg (1323-1338), Frederick II (1327–1344) and Leopold II, Duke of Austria (1328-1344).

[earlgodwin]

being a pr manager for the underrated, abandoned, and misunderstood royal younger sibling who is overshadowed by their more famous older sibling is my whole personality at this point

[johnmoulderbrown]

Helmet Berger as King Ludwig II and John Moulder-Brown as Prince Otto in 'Ludwig' (1973) directed by Luchino Visconti.

[cuties-in-codices]

wild people

illustrated page from a copy of otto von diemeringen's german translation of "mandeville's travels", bavaria/swabia, c. 1476

source: Vienna, ÖNB, Cod. 2838, fol. 149r

[ottos-wahn]

some of my favorite pictures of otto on the anniversary of his death. i love him so much, now and forever

[rulers-of-hungary-tournament]

ROUND 1A, MATCH 5

***

WHAT MY PROFESSOR OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY SAID ABOUT THEM

Kálman (Koloman) 1095-1116

was supposed to become a priest, but because Arpáds gonna Arpád, he stole the throne from his brother Álmos, whom he subsequently blinded and imprisoned together with his son (who was a literal child)

otherwise a pretty cool dude, called Learned or Lawgiver because of all the laws he has passed, more than any other king of Hungary in fact (in medieval history I presume, I refuse to believe neither Maria Theresa nor Joseph II. have him beat)

he called a synod to fight the corruption in the church, which is nice

let the crusaders trough Hungary, but when they started making mess (as crusaders wont to do), he kicked them out

gained the throne of Croatia and for administrative reasons abolished the duchy of Nyitra, no I am not bitter

also I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention the hillarious bit of drama that is his marriage to Kievan princess Euphemia, basically he proclaimed her to be an adulteress and sent her back home, where she gave birth to a son named Boris, who then proceeded to be a pain in the ass of his Hungarian (alleged) relatives for his whole life by attempting to claim the throne

I.Károly (Karol I.) - but be honest, we all know him as Károly/Karol Róbert 1301-1342

spent the first few years on the throne fending off antikings, namely Václav III., who then gave up and passed his claim onto Otto of Bavaria, whom Károly subsequently defeated

upon his ascencion to the throne country basically ruled by the feuding nobles, also know in this period as oligarchs, he managed to consolidate his reign and regain most of the royal power trough a combination of warfare (Rozgony/Rozhanovce 1312 HELLOOO) and appeasing them with court functions

I don't even know where to START with this guy's reforms - seriously, he minted the first gold coins in Hungary, instated the banderial system (levy of the royal army from the soldiers drafted by the cities, comitates and nobles, look it was a big deal, just trust me), reformed the administation of the country and so, so much more I can't get into; basically, this man was Maria Theresa before Maria Theresa

he mostly avoided wars because of the bad shape of Hungarian treasury, though he did lead a couple of them (conflicts with Venice and Wallachia)

initiator of the 1335 meeting in Visegrád with John of Luxembourg and Casimir III. of Poland; basically, we have him to thank for the name Visegrád Four

(admin is from Košice, so he has just inherently won in her eyes because of Rozhanovce)