The Palais Leuchtenberg was built in the 19th century for Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, and it was the largest palace in Munich. Between 1853 and 1933, it was known as the Luitpold Palais. It currently houses the Bavarian State Ministry of Finance.
Eugène de Beauharnais, husband of Princess Augusta of Bavaria, the sister of the future King Ludwig I of Bavaria, commissioned Leo von Klenze to build the palace between 1817 and 1820. It was based on the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. At the time, it was the first building on the Ludwigstraße.
Eugène and Augusta moved into the palace in 1821. She had found her suite too small upon their first inspection in September 1821, but luckily, there was still time for it to be enlarged. She thought “all the furnishings rich and elegant.”1 Eugène did not enjoy his new home for very long, and he died there in 1824. Augusta was a widow for 27 years. At her beloved Palais Leuchtenberg, Augusta died on 13 May 1851 of pneumonia following a stroke. Tragically, none of her four surviving children were with her. She was interred with her husband at the St. Michael’s Church in Munich.
After Augusta’s death, the palace was sold to Prince Luitpold, who later became Prince Regent of Bavaria. Their son, the future King Ludwig III, made his home there with his wife, Archduchess Maria Theresa. Their son, Crown Prince Rupprecht, was born there in 1869.
Following the end of the monarchy in 1918, it remained in private property but some of the smaller outbuildings were converted. Rupprecht’s son, Albrecht, lived there until 1939. The palace was badly damaged during the Second World War. It was acquired by the Free State of Bavaria in 1957 and demolished.
A new building was built there between 1963 and 1967. The façade is a reconstruction of the original palace with a few differences. A few bits of the interior can now be found at Nymphenburg Palace.
Be the first to comment