Germany Celebrates Wedding of Bavarian Prince Ludwig

Raise a stein and say “Glückwunsch!” There was a royal wedding in Germany this weekend.

Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, the 40-year-old great-great-grandson of the last Bavarian King, Ludwig III, wed Singapore-born Dutch-Canadian 32-year-old Sophie-Alexandra Evekink at the Theatine Church of St. Cjetan in Munich on Saturday. The event, which included a ride in a rare 1950s BMW prototype automobile, Bavarian flags, and a reception at Nymphenburg Palace, was called “the biggest German royal event of the year” by the newspaper Bild. The new couple  acquired a new nickname, as well: “the German Kate and William.”

The reception at Nymphenburg was thrown by the Prince’s cousin, the 89-year-old Duke of Bavaria (full name Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern), head of the House of Wittelsbach.

Prince Ludwig is the son of 72-year-old Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, whose business holdings include the König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei, a brewery with roots dating back to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 and earlier. The company’s facilities include the 13th-century castle Schloss Kaltenberg, which offers a Knights’ Dinner for tourists, and a factory in a town called Fürstenfeldbruck. No, I’m not making any of this up.

The Prince studied law, focusing on human rights, at Göttingen University, and has spent a great deal of time in Kenya working with nonprofit organizations. He is the third child of Luitpold and wife Katrin Beatrix Wiegand, but the oldest male and, therefore future head of the royal house of Bavaria. 

Sophie-Alexandra is a graduate of University College London and the University of Oxford, and has worked for the United Nations in Geneva and New York City. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in criminology at Oxford, and teaches there as well. According to People, her Reem Acra gown was tailored locally in Bavaria and included a veil designed by Ukrainian brand WONA. DW News added that the veil’s filigree “incorporated hidden Canadian and Dutch details.”

The new couple’s wider family, the House of Wittelsbach, goes back to the 11th century, and included two Holy Roman Emperors. Its branches are spread throughout Europe, and are connected, via Sofia of Hanover (who died in 1714), to the House of Windsor and the current British monarchy. Fans of the BBC comedy Blackadder may recall that Hugh Laurie played Prince Ludwig in the second season. 

Bavaria, in the south-east of Germany, became a republic in 1918, and finally an official state within what was then West Germany in 1949. The House of Wittelsbach stood in opposition to the Nazi Party, and several members, including the aforementioned Duke, were held in concentration camps during the war. 

News outlets like Britain’s Daily Mail have images from the event that include cute kids in light blue pants and flowers in their hair. Looks like everyone had a really nice day.