1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Louis

LOUIS [LUDWIG], Ex-King of Bavaria. (1845-1921), assumed the regency in succession to his father on Dec. 12 1912. In accordance with the bill passed by the Bavarian Diet he assumed the crown on Nov. 5 1913 (King Otto, who had been kept in confinement as a lunatic, died on Oct. 11 1916). On the afternoon of Nov. 7 1918, the King was taking a walk with his daughters in the Englischer Garten, unconscious of the fact that the Socialist demonstration organized by Eisner on the Theresienwiese was developing into a revolution. A plain man of the people met the King and said to him: &ldquo;Get home as quickly as you can, your Majesty, things are not going well.&rdquo; Later in the evening the monarch was informed by his ministers that the republic had been proclaimed. With the Queen and his daughters the King promptly left Munich in one of his motor-cars, the whole luggage consisting of a few handbags. The royal family resided first at Berchtesgaden, and afterwards at a castle assigned to them on the shores of the Chiem See. On Nov. 13 he formally signed his abdication, and relieved all Bavarian officials, officers and soldiers from their oath of allegiance. He died at Sarvar, Hungary, Oct. 17 1921.