Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria
Encyclopedia
Charles Theodore, Prince-Elector, Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria reigned as Prince-Elector
and Count palatine
from 1742, as Duke of Jülich
and Berg
from 1742 and also as Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria
from 1777, until his death. He was a member of the House of Palatinate-Sulzbach
, a branch of the House of Wittelsbach.
house Palatinate-Sulzbach
. His parents were Johann Christian
, Count Palatine of Sulzbach and Marie-Anne-Henriette-Leopoldine de La Tour d'Auvergne
, margravine of Bergen op Zoom
, a grandniece of Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
. Charles Theodore was born in Drogenbos
near Brussels
and educated in Mannheim
.
Charles Theodore was margrave of Bergen op Zoom
from 1728 onwards. He then succeeded his father as Count Palatine of Sulzbach in 1733 and inherited the Electoral Palatinate and the duchies of Jülich and Berg in 1742, with the death of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine. To strengthen the union of all lines of the Wittelsbach
dynasty Charles III Philip had organized a wedding on January 17, 1742 when his granddaughter Elizabeth Augusta was married to Charles Theodore and her sister Maria Anna to the Bavarian prince Clement
.
As reigning Prince Elector Palatine, Charles Theodore won the hearts of his subjects by founding an academy of science, stocking up the museums' collections and supporting the arts. When Maximilian III Joseph
of Bavaria died in 1777, Charles Theodore became also Elector and Duke of Bavaria and moved to Munich
.
.jpg)
of the Middle Ages.
So, on 3 January 1778, shortly after the death of Max Joseph, Charles Theodore signed an agreement with Emperor Joseph II
to exchange southern Bavaria for part of the Austrian Netherlands.
This plan was strongly opposed by Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony
, the widow of Max Joseph, and Charles Theodore's cousin Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken
, the head of the House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld
and next heir of Bavaria and the Palatinate. They were supported by Frederick II of Prussia
, and most of the German minor states.
The ensuing diplomatic crisis led to the War of the Bavarian Succession, which was ended by the Peace of Teschen (1779). Charles Theodore accepted the Bavarian succession, but agreed that his illegitimate descendants could not inherit Bavaria. Austria acquired the Innviertel
, a part of Bavaria in the basin of the Inn river.
Charles Theodore had only one son with his wife, Countess Elizabeth Augusta of Sulzbach, who died a day after birth. His wife died in 1784. In 1795, he married Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este, Joseph's niece, but they had no children. A second proposal to exchange Bavaria for the Austrian Netherlands in 1784 also failed.
When Charles Theodore died, Bavaria and the Electorate passed to his cousin, Max Joseph, Duke of Zweibrücken, the younger brother of Charles August, who had died in 1795.
In 1989, Marvin E. Thomas in Karl Theodor and the Bavarian Succession, 1777–1778 argued that in fact Charles Theodore wanted to maintain possession of his new territory, and that this is shown in his diplomatic correspondence. Thomas is the only scholar to produce such an analysis. It is more widely understood that Charles Theodore continued the despotic and expensive habits he had developed as Elector Palatine.
. He attempted without success to exchange the ducal lands of Bavaria for the Austrian Netherlands and a royal crown, and he never managed to control the mounting social tensions in Bavaria. After a dispute with Munich's city council Karl Theodor even moved the Electoral residence in 1788 to Mannheim but returned only one year later.
In 1785, he appointed the American Loyalist
exile Benjamin Thompson
as his aide-de-camp and chamberlain. Over the next 11 years, Thompson reformed the army and many aspects of the state, rising to high ministerial rank with Charles Theodore's backing, and becoming Count von Rumford.
Charles Theodore is also known for disbanding Adam Weishaupt
's order of the Illuminati
in 1785.
In 1794, the armies of revolutionary France
occupied the Duchy of Jülich
, in 1795 they invaded the Palatinate, and in 1796 marched towards Bavaria. Charles Theodore begged Francis II
for help which in essence would have made Bavaria a puppet state of Austria. When he died of a stroke in Munich in 1799, the population in Munich celebrated for several days. He is buried in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.
Despite the mutual dislike and distrust between the Duke and his Bavarian subjects, Charles Theodore left a distinctive mark on the city of Munich: it was during his reign that the English Garden
, Munich's largest park, was created, and the city's old fortifications were dismantled to make place for a modern, expanding city. One of Munich's major squares, Karlsplatz, is named after Charles Theodore. Munich natives, however, seldom use that name, calling the square instead Stachus
, after the pub "Beim Stachus" that was located there until construction work for Karlsplatz began. One of the main reasons for this is that Charles Theodore, as noted above, never enjoyed the popularity in Bavaria that he enjoyed in the Palatinate.
The French foreign minister, Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes
, who knew him, described Charles Theodore's foibles even more succinctly:
In the course of his career, Charles Theodore acquired a celebrated secretary when the Florentine
noble, Cosimo Alessandro Collini (1727–1806), who had been Voltaire's secretary, accepted his patronage, and remained in the Palatine. Although Charles Theodore certainly wished to acquire more territory, he had only natural
sons, thus he preferred territory that he could dispose of through his testament
, rather than territory encumbered by a legal entailment
that could only pass to a legitimate son.
(including composer Christian Cannabich
and conductor Johann Stamitz
) did groudbreaking 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."
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
.
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.”
, 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.
From his liaison with Maria Josefa Seyfert, Countess von Heydeck (1748 1771):
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
and Count palatine
Count palatine
Count palatine is a high noble title, used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to Palatine, which can have other meanings as well.-Comes palatinus:...
from 1742, as Duke of Jülich
Duchy of Jülich
The Duchy of Jülich comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay left of the Rhine river between the Electorate of Cologne in the east and the Duchy of Limburg in the west. It had territories on both sides of the river Rur, around its capital...
and Berg
Berg (state)
Berg was a state – originally a county, later a duchy – in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed from the early 12th to the 19th centuries.-Ascent:...
from 1742 and also as Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria
Electorate of Bavaria
The Electorate of Bavaria was an independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria....
from 1777, until his death. He was a member of the House of Palatinate-Sulzbach
Palatinate-Sulzbach
Palatinate-Sulzbach was the name of two separate states of the Holy Roman Empire located in modern Amberg-Sulzbach, Bavaria, Germany.-Palatinate-Sulzbach :...
, a branch of the House of Wittelsbach.
Family and ascent to rule
Charles Theodore was of the WittelsbachWittelsbach
The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.Members of the family served as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria , Counts Palatine of the Rhine , Margraves of Brandenburg , Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland , Elector-Archbishops of Cologne , Dukes of...
house Palatinate-Sulzbach
Palatinate-Sulzbach
Palatinate-Sulzbach was the name of two separate states of the Holy Roman Empire located in modern Amberg-Sulzbach, Bavaria, Germany.-Palatinate-Sulzbach :...
. His parents were Johann Christian
John Christian, Count of Palatinate-Sulzbach
John Christian was the Count Palatine of Sulzbach from 1732 until 1733....
, Count Palatine of Sulzbach and Marie-Anne-Henriette-Leopoldine de La Tour d'Auvergne
Maria Henriette de La Tour d'Auvergne
Maria Henriette de La Tour d'Auvergne was a noblewoman born into the House of La Tour d'Auvergne. She was the Margravine of Bergen op Zoom in her own right from 1710 at the death of her father...
, margravine of Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.-History:Bergen op Zoom was granted city status probably in 1266. In 1287 the city and its surroundings became a lordship as it was separated from the lordship of Breda. The lordship was elevated to a margraviate...
, a grandniece of Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family. He achieved military fame and became a Marshal of France...
. Charles Theodore was born in Drogenbos
Drogenbos
Drogenbos is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality only comprises the town of Drogenbos proper. On January 1, 2006 Drogenbos had a total population of 4,876. The total area is 2.49 km² which gives a population density of 1,957 inhabitants per...
near Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and educated in Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
.
Charles Theodore was margrave of Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.-History:Bergen op Zoom was granted city status probably in 1266. In 1287 the city and its surroundings became a lordship as it was separated from the lordship of Breda. The lordship was elevated to a margraviate...
from 1728 onwards. He then succeeded his father as Count Palatine of Sulzbach in 1733 and inherited the Electoral Palatinate and the duchies of Jülich and Berg in 1742, with the death of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine. To strengthen the union of all lines of the Wittelsbach
Wittelsbach
The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.Members of the family served as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria , Counts Palatine of the Rhine , Margraves of Brandenburg , Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland , Elector-Archbishops of Cologne , Dukes of...
dynasty Charles III Philip had organized a wedding on January 17, 1742 when his granddaughter Elizabeth Augusta was married to Charles Theodore and her sister Maria Anna to the Bavarian prince Clement
Clement, Duke of Bavaria and Count Palatine
Klemens Franz de Paula, Prince of Bavaria was the son of the Imperial Field Marshal, Ferdinand of Bavaria , and the grandson of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria....
.
As reigning Prince Elector Palatine, Charles Theodore won the hearts of his subjects by founding an academy of science, stocking up the museums' collections and supporting the arts. When Maximilian III Joseph
Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria
Maximilian III Joseph was Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Bavaria from 1745 to 1777.-Biography:...
of Bavaria died in 1777, Charles Theodore became also Elector and Duke of Bavaria and moved to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
Bavarian succession
Charles Theodore did not immediately take up his new title. He had several mistresses and many illegitimate children. However, these bastards could inherit neither the Electorate of Bavaria nor that of the Palatine; Charles Theodore needed territory that he could bequeath to his illegitimate children. Charles Theodore also dreamed of resurrecting the Burgundian EmpireKingdom of Burgundy
Burgundy is a historic region in Western Europe that has existed as a political entity in a number of forms with very different boundaries. Two of these entities - the first around the 6th century, the second around the 11th century - have been called the Kingdom of Burgundy; a third was very...
of the Middle Ages.
So, on 3 January 1778, shortly after the death of Max Joseph, Charles Theodore signed an agreement with Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
to exchange southern Bavaria for part of the Austrian Netherlands.
This plan was strongly opposed by Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony
Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony
Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony was a daughter of King Augustus III of Poland and his wife Maria Josepha of Austria who became Electress of Bavaria.-Biography:...
, the widow of Max Joseph, and Charles Theodore's cousin Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken
Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken
Charles II/III August Christian was Duke of Zweibrücken from 1775 to 1795. He was the son of Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and Maria Franziska of Sulzbach...
, the head of the House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld
House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld
Palatinate-Birkenfeld , later Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, was the name of a collateral line of the Palatine Wittelsbachs. The Counts Palatine from this line initially ruled over only a relatively unimportant territory, namely the Palatine share of the Rear County of Sponheim; however, their...
and next heir of Bavaria and the Palatinate. They were supported by Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
, and most of the German minor states.
The ensuing diplomatic crisis led to the War of the Bavarian Succession, which was ended by the Peace of Teschen (1779). Charles Theodore accepted the Bavarian succession, but agreed that his illegitimate descendants could not inherit Bavaria. Austria acquired the Innviertel
Innviertel
The Innviertel is a traditional Austrian region south-east of the Inn river. It forms the western part of the state of Upper Austria and borders the German state of Bavaria...
, a part of Bavaria in the basin of the Inn river.
Charles Theodore had only one son with his wife, Countess Elizabeth Augusta of Sulzbach, who died a day after birth. His wife died in 1784. In 1795, he married Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este, Joseph's niece, but they had no children. A second proposal to exchange Bavaria for the Austrian Netherlands in 1784 also failed.
When Charles Theodore died, Bavaria and the Electorate passed to his cousin, Max Joseph, Duke of Zweibrücken, the younger brother of Charles August, who had died in 1795.
In 1989, Marvin E. Thomas in Karl Theodor and the Bavarian Succession, 1777–1778 argued that in fact Charles Theodore wanted to maintain possession of his new territory, and that this is shown in his diplomatic correspondence. Thomas is the only scholar to produce such an analysis. It is more widely understood that Charles Theodore continued the despotic and expensive habits he had developed as Elector Palatine.
Rule as Elector of Bavaria
Charles Theodore never became popular as a ruler in Bavaria according to his critic Lorenz von WestenriederLorenz von Westenrieder
Lorenz von Westenrieder was a well known author and historian in Bavaria and a critic of the Elector Karl Theordor and supporter of Maximilian IV Joseph...
. He attempted without success to exchange the ducal lands of Bavaria for the Austrian Netherlands and a royal crown, and he never managed to control the mounting social tensions in Bavaria. After a dispute with Munich's city council Karl Theodor even moved the Electoral residence in 1788 to Mannheim but returned only one year later.
In 1785, he appointed the American Loyalist
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
exile Benjamin Thompson
Benjamin Thompson
Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford , FRS was an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th century revolution in thermodynamics. He also served as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Loyalist forces in America during the American...
as his aide-de-camp and chamberlain. Over the next 11 years, Thompson reformed the army and many aspects of the state, rising to high ministerial rank with Charles Theodore's backing, and becoming Count von Rumford.
Charles Theodore is also known for disbanding Adam Weishaupt
Adam Weishaupt
Johann Adam Weishaupt was a German philosopher and founder of the Order of Illuminati, a secret society with origins in Bavaria.-Early life:...
's order of the Illuminati
Illuminati
The Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
in 1785.
In 1794, the armies of revolutionary France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
occupied the Duchy of Jülich
Duchy of Jülich
The Duchy of Jülich comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay left of the Rhine river between the Electorate of Cologne in the east and the Duchy of Limburg in the west. It had territories on both sides of the river Rur, around its capital...
, in 1795 they invaded the Palatinate, and in 1796 marched towards Bavaria. Charles Theodore begged Francis II
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
for help which in essence would have made Bavaria a puppet state of Austria. When he died of a stroke in Munich in 1799, the population in Munich celebrated for several days. He is buried in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.
Despite the mutual dislike and distrust between the Duke and his Bavarian subjects, Charles Theodore left a distinctive mark on the city of Munich: it was during his reign that the English Garden
Englischer Garten (Munich)
The Englischer Garten, German for "English Garden", is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Germany, stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits...
, Munich's largest park, was created, and the city's old fortifications were dismantled to make place for a modern, expanding city. One of Munich's major squares, Karlsplatz, is named after Charles Theodore. Munich natives, however, seldom use that name, calling the square instead Stachus
Stachus
Stachus is a large square in central Munich, southern Germany. The square has been named officially Karlsplatz in 1797 after the unpopular Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria...
, after the pub "Beim Stachus" that was located there until construction work for Karlsplatz began. One of the main reasons for this is that Charles Theodore, as noted above, never enjoyed the popularity in Bavaria that he enjoyed in the Palatinate.
Character
Charles Theodore was more interested in arts and philosophy than in politics. The historian Thomas Carlyle referred to him as a "poor idle creature, of purely egoistical, ornamental, dilettante nature; sunk in theatricals, bastard children and the like; much praised by Voltaire, who sometimes used to visit him; and Collini, to whom he [Charles Theodore] is a kind master."The French foreign minister, Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes
Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes
Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes was a French statesman and diplomat. He served as Foreign Minister from 1774 during the reign of Louis XVI, notably during the American War of Independence....
, who knew him, described Charles Theodore's foibles even more succinctly:
Although by nature intelligent, he has never succeeded in ruling by himself; he has always been governed by his ministers or by his father-confessor or (for a time) by the [E]lectress [his wife]. This conduct has increased his natural weakness and apathy to such a degree that for a long time he has had no opinions save those inspired in him by his entourage. The void which this indolence has left in his soul is filled with the amusements of the hunt and of music and by secret liaisons, for which His Electoral Majesty has at all times had a particular penchant.
In the course of his career, Charles Theodore acquired a celebrated secretary when the Florentine
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
noble, Cosimo Alessandro Collini (1727–1806), who had been Voltaire's secretary, accepted his patronage, and remained in the Palatine. Although Charles Theodore certainly wished to acquire more territory, he had only natural
Legitimacy (law)
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
sons, thus he preferred territory that he could dispose of through his testament
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
, rather than territory encumbered by a legal entailment
Entailment
In logic, entailment is a relation between a set of sentences and a sentence. Let Γ be a set of one or more sentences; let S1 be the conjunction of the elements of Γ, and let S2 be a sentence: then, Γ entails S2 if and only if S1 and not-S2 are logically inconsistent...
that could only pass to a legitimate son.
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 SchoolMannheim school
Mannheim school refers to both the orchestral techniques pioneered by the court orchestra of Mannheim in the latter half of the 18th century as well as the group of composers who wrote such music for the orchestra of Mannheim and others.-History:...
(including composer Christian Cannabich
Christian Cannabich
Johann Christian Innocenz Bonaventura Cannabich , was a German violinist, composer, and Kapellmeister of the Classical era...
and conductor Johann Stamitz
Johann Stamitz
Jan Václav Antonín Stamic was a Czech composer and violinist. Johann was the father of Carl Stamitz and Anton Stamitz, also composers...
) did groudbreaking work that the celebrated Wiener Klassik would later draw upon. Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
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
Idomeneo
Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712...
from the composer. Mozart quotes him as saying "No music has ever made such an impression on me. It is magnificent."
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
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
"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
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
gallery, including many works by Rubens
Rubens
Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
, was first transferred to Mannheim, then to Munich, where it was later incorporated in the Alte Pinakothek
Alte Pinakothek
The Alte Pinakothek is an art museum situated in the Kunstareal in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses one of the most famous collections of Old Master paintings...
. 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
Peter Anton von Verschaffelt
Peter Anton von Verschaffelt was a Flemish sculptor and architect.Verschaffelt designed, among other things in Mannheim, the High Altar of the Jesuit church , the arsenal and the Bretzenheim Palace, as well as the church Wallfahrtskirche Mariä Himmelfahrt in Oggersheim .-Life and work:Verschaffelt...
, Simon Peter Lamine and Konrad Linck. Linck also distinguished himself as a designer of porcelain figurines at Frankenthal
Frankenthal
Frankenthal is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.- History :Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, after the founder, as the Erkenbertruine — still stand today in the town...
.
Charles Theodore’s chief architect Nicolas de Pigage was charged to complete the Mannheim Palace
Mannheim Palace
Mannheim Palace is a large Baroque palace in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was originally the main residence of the Prince-electors of the Electoral Palatinate...
, design the Schlosstheater
Schlosstheater Schwetzingen
Schlosstheater Schwetzingen is a theater in Schwetzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The historic building, opened in 1753, is part of the Schwetzingen Castle and since 1952 the principal venue of the Schwetzingen Festival. It is also called Hoftheater , Hofoper , and Comoedienhaus...
and the gardens at Schwetzingen Palace
Schwetzingen Castle
Schloss Schwetzingen, or Schwetzingen Castle is a palace in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Schwetzingen was the summer residence of the Electors Palatine Karl III Philip and Charles Theodore. It is situated in Schwetzingen, roughly equidistant from the electors' seats at Heidelberg and...
( including numerous pavilions, among them several artificial “Roman” ruins and a “mosque”) as well as Benrath palace
Schloss Benrath
Schloss Benrath is a Rococo maison de plaisance near Düsseldorf, Germany, erected for the Elector Palatine Charles Theodore by his garden and building director and garden supervisor, Nicolas de Pigage...
. 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
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. Allegorically, Minerva
Minerva
Minerva was the Roman goddess whom Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic...
, 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.”
Marriages and children
On 17 January 1742, in Mannheim, he married Elisabeth AugusteElizabeth Augusta of Sulzbach
Elisabeth Auguste of Sulzbach was the eldest granddaughter of the Elector Palatine Charles III Philip, and by her marriage to Elector Palatine Charles IV Theodore, Electress Palatine and later Electress of Bavaria.- Biography :Elisabeth Auguste's parents were Joseph Charles of Sulzbach and...
, 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
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
, 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):- 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)
- son (1764–1765)
From his liaison with Maria Josefa Seyfert, Countess von Heydeck (1748 1771):
- Karoline Josepha von Bretzenheim (27 January 1768 - 27 April 1786); married Count Maximilian Josef von Holnstein (20 May 1760 - 1838) in 1784
- 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
- 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)
- 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
See also
- History of BavariaHistory of BavariaThe history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empires to its status as an independent kingdom and, finally, as a large and significant Bundesland of the modern Federal Republic of...