32 Spain: Order of Charles III Breast Star to the Grand Cross from the property of Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria.
Small breast star. Silver, the medallion gold and enamel. On a pin. Two carrying hooks on the back. Engraved crowned cipher "LF" of Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria on the reverse.
A magnificent example of the finest Spanish jeweller's quality and, in this somewhat smaller version of royal provenance, a historical collector's item of great rarity.
Ludwig Ferdinand von Bayern (* 22 October 1859 in Madrid; † 23 November 1949 in Munich) was a German physician, artist and philanthropist, Prince of Bavaria, Infant of Spain and General of Cavalry, General of the Medical Corps of the Royal Spanish Army and Honorary Surgeon of the Royal Spanish Academy.
Ludwig Ferdinand Prince of Bavaria was the eldest son of Adalbert Prince of Bavaria (1828-1875), the Hereditary Prince of Greece from the House of Wittelsbach, and his wife Amalia del Pilar de Borbón, Infanta of Spain (1834-1905), daughter of Francisco de Paula de Borbón, Duke of Cádiz and his wife Luisa Carlota of Naples-Sicily. Prince Ludwig Ferdinand was the paternal nephew of King Maximilian II. Joseph, King Otto of Greece and Prince Regent Luitpold, as well as son-in-law of Queen Isabella II of Spain.
Ludwig Ferdinand studied medicine in Heidelberg and Munich - like his relative Duke Carl Theodor in Bavaria, who was 20 years his senior - and worked as a specialist in surgery and gynaecology after passing his state examination and obtaining his doctorate. From 1878, he lived in the Munich Palais Ludwig Ferdinand, which was later named after him. From 1883 to 1918, he was in command of the 18th Infantry Regiment "Prinz Ludwig Ferdinand" and head of the 3rd Silesian Dragoon Regiment No. 15. During the First World War, he was station chief of the surgical department of the Munich garrison hospital. In 1886, he was elected a member of the Leopoldina. In 1894, he became an honorary member of the German Society of Internal Medicine (DGIM). He was an honorary member of the German Society for Gynaecology and Obstetrics (DGGG).
Alongside Kaiser Wilhelm II's motoring enthusiast brother, Prince Heinrich of Prussia, Ludwig Ferdinand was the second member of the high nobility to join the DMV (Deutsche Motorfahrer-Vereinigung, founded in 1903) in 1906, which was renamed ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club) in 1911. Even before that, from 1896, he was honorary president of the Academic Cyclists' Association in Munich.[2] Ludwig Ferdinand von Bayern was also known as a musician; among other things, he set a poem "Die Wolken hängen grau hernieder" by Hildegard Stradal to music.
Ludwig Ferdinand was a first cousin of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, to whom he was the only member of the Wittelsbach royal line to be close. He and his wife were the only relatives of the shy king who were allowed to visit Herrenchiemsee Palace and dine in the conservatory of the Munich Residence. The last letter Ludwig II wrote three days before his death was addressed to Prince Ludwig Ferdinand[3]. When he was captured at Neuschwanstein Castle in 1886, the incapacitated king telephoned his cousin for help, who also wanted to leave Nymphenburg immediately when he was forbidden to leave by Prince Regent Luitpold.
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