A Jacobite Gazetteer - Bavaria

The town of Kreuth is located about 65 kilometres south of Munich and about 10 kilometres south of the town of Tegernsee. At the southern end of the town is the estate of Wildbad Kreuth.

In 1818 King Max I Joseph of Bavaria purchased the spa at Kreuth which had formerly belonged to the Abbots of Tegernsee. From that time onwards it has been used by the Wittelsbachs as a country residence. The estate consists of several buildings, the most significant of which is Haus Nr. 1 (Neues Bad). The estate's chapel is located to the left of the main buildings.

Hanging in the hall to the right of the main entrance is a portrait of Marie Gabrielle, Duchess of Cornwall and Rothesay (first wife of King Rupert).

Princess Irmingard (eldest daughter of King Rupert) was born here in 1902.

After his marriage in 1930 the Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay (later King Albert) and his family lived here in the "Ökonomiehaus" (farm steward's house). ¹ This long one-storey building was destroyed by fire after World War II. In 1956 some of the buildings became a sanatorium. The Royal Family, however, continued to have apartments here. In 1969 King Albert's first wife Queen Marita died at Wildbad Kreuth; before her transfer to Munich her body lay in state in the estate chapel.

For some years Prince Max lived at Wildbad Kreuth with his family until in the 1980's he transferred his country seat to Schloss Wildenwart. In 1967 Princess Sophie was baptised in the estate chapel. In 1973 Prince Max closed the sanatorium and the pump house, and leased most of the property to the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung (a charitable foundation connected with the conservative Bavarian political party, the Christian Socialist Union). ² The foundation uses Wildbad Kreuth as an educational centre.

This page is maintained by Noel S. McFerran (noel.mcferran@rogers.com) and was last updated November 28, 2004.
© Noel S. McFerran 2000-2004.